‘Feats Don’t Fail Me Now’: How Little Feat Hit The Big Time

The tactic paid off, as George told ZigZag: “I was working with The Meters and Robert Palmer and I got a call from [Little Feat manager] Bob Cavallo saying: ‘Hey, I’ve got a studio, would you like it?’ And I dropped everything and said, ‘Yikes, that’s it!’ – that’s basically all I wanted from the whole thing anyway.”

The recording: “Wait a second, Lowell, you’re not interested in success, are you?”

Little Feat reconvened at Blue Seas Recording Studio, in Hunt Valley, Maryland, in early 1974. A converted barge chosen for its affordability, the facility would sink into the harbour three years later, but it stayed afloat long enough for Little Feat to record the basic tracks for what would become Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, along with early versions of songs destined for future projects (included in Rhino’s recent deluxe-edition reissue of the album are formative takes on Long Distance Love, which would appear on 1975’s The Last Record Album, and an unfinished version of Day At The Dog Races, later completed for 1977’s Time Loves A Hero.

Feats Don’t Fail Me Now marked a shift in the power dynamics of the band. Frustrated with what they considered to be a lack of commitment from George, who was increasingly struggling with the effects of his rock’n’roll lifestyle, Paul Barrère and Bill Payne took the lead during the recording sessions, contributing more songs than ever to a Little Feat album.

Talking to the In The Studio podcast, Payne reflected on the period. “Lowell was older than us and had a sense of direction, or so we thought,” he said. “But as I started to do sessions and go out on a couple of tours with people, I started to see through this guy a little bit for the first time and thought, Hold on a minute, this guy does not have as great a handle on this thing as I thought. I had fears of the guy wanting to take this thing to a certain point and then back off – because he did it 100 times, starting with the first album.”

After being confronted by Payne (“I finally said, ‘Wait a second, Lowell, you’re not interested in success, are you?’”, they keyboardist told In The Studio), the band’s nominal leader suggested that Barrère and Payne start working on their own material and take more control of the band. “The moment we did it,” Payne noted, “I think it was tough for him to take.”

The songs: Reminders of the band’s live reputation

Payne’s gutsy rocker Oh Atlanta and Barrère’s nimble, funk-infused Skin It Back suggest a couple of writers seizing their moment. Still, despite relinquishing some of the production and arranging duties, Lowell George remained the creative powerhouse behind Little Feat, and he had talent to burn.

No doubt influenced by his session work, George’s sizzling Spanish Moon – produced by Van Dyke Parks and driven by Tower Of Power horns – was a masterpiece in syncopated New Orleans funk. Meanwhile, the dense jazz-rock of The Fan dated back to sessions for Little Feat’s self-titled debut album, when its 7/8 time signature had been too difficult for the group to get to grips with in the studio.

The closing medley of Lowell’s Cold, Cold, Cold and Payne and Hayward’s Tripe Face Boogie – both updates of Sailin’ Shoes tracks – begins as a tough funk workout and unfolds into an epic, experimental jam before bringing Feats Don’t Fail Me Now home with an exhilarating blast of high-octane boogie-rock – all reminders of the band’s live reputation.

The release: “It’s almost paid back the money it cost for the other albums”

Released on 9 August 1974, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now was promoted with with a rapturously received European tour which helped the album become a hit. “It was actually more fun than any other tour we’ve done,” George told Melody Maker in 1975. “And Feats Don’t Fail Me Now has almost paid back the money it cost for the other albums.”

Indeed, the hype from the European shows translated to the US, where Feats Don’t Fail Me Now went gold, becoming band’s first album to reach the Billboard 200, peaking at No.36. Despite nearly splitting up, recording on a doomed barge and undergoing inter-band upheaval, Little Feat seemed to be on the up.

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