Little Feat

The musicians comprising Little Feat are notoriously tough to pigeonhole, but if the members of The Band had all been Americans, they might have sounded something like these idiosyncratic, shape-shifting, roots-conscious badasses. Main driver Lowell George was with The Mothers of Invention before starting the band in Los Angeles in 1969 with keyboardist Bill Payne, drummer Richie Hayward, and fellow Mother Roy Estrada on bass. From their self-titled 1971 debut album forward, Little Feat played a slippery blend of country, blues, funk, jazz, New Orleans R&B, and contemporary rock, with George’s effortlessly soulful vocals and nimble guitar at the forefront. On classics like “Dixie Chicken” and “Willin’,” they forged body-moving grooves while upending expectations with sly structural detours. The addition of guitarist/singer Paul Barrere in 1972 deepened both their groove and their sophistication. George suffered a fatal heart attack in 1979 at age 34, effectively ending the band. But they reformed in 1987 and continued delivering on record and onstage for decades.