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Little Feat is an American rock music band from Los Angeles, California formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in 1969. The band's classic line-up, in place by late 1972, comprised George, Payne, Hayward, bassist Kenny Gradney, guitarist and vocalist Paul Barrere, and percussionist Sam Clayton. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving members re-formed Little Feat in 1987 and the band has remained active to the present.
There are three stories about the genesis of Little Feat. One has it that George showed Zappa his song "Willin'," and that Zappa fired him from the Mothers of Invention, because he felt that George was too talented to merely be a member of his band and told him he ought to go away and form his own band. The second version has Zappa firing him for playing a 15-minute guitar solo with his amplifier off. The third version says that Zappa fired him because "Willin contains drug references ("weed, whites and wine"). George often introduced the song as the reason he was asked to leave the band. On October 18, 1975 at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester, New York while introducing the song, George commented that he was asked to leave the band for "writing a song about dope".
In any version, Zappa was instrumental in getting George and his new band a contract with Warner Bros. Records. The eponymous first album delivered to Warner Bros. was recorded mostly in August and September 1970 and was released in January 1971. Little Feet first album All music. Retrieved 30 November 2022 When it came time to record "Willin'," George had hurt his hand in an accident with a model airplane, so Ry Cooder sat in and played the song's slide guitar part. Lowell's accident is referenced on the cover art of the band's 1998 album Under the Radar. "Willin would be re-recorded with George playing slide for Little Feat's second album Sailin' Shoes, which was also the first Little Feat album to include cover art by Neon Park, who had painted the cover for the Mothers' Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Park's surrealist art would continue for all of Little Feat's album covers through to his death in 1993.
Sometime during the recording of the first two albums, the band members along with ex-Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black ("the Indian of the group") backed soul singer Nolan Porter on his first album, No Apologies.
The first two albums received nearly universal critical acclaim, and "Willin became a standard, subsequently popularized by its inclusion on Linda Ronstadt's album Heart Like a Wheel.
Despite good reviews of Sailin' Shoes, lack of commercial success led to the band splitting up, with Estrada leaving to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, although he has given other reasons for quitting the band, such as to get away from the Los Angeles pollution and the L.A. city life.
In 1973, Payne, Gradney, Barrere, Clayton and George (incorrectly credited as George Lowell) collaborated with jazz drummer Chico Hamilton on his Stax Records album Chico the Master, which is a strong showcase for the band's leanings toward funk and R&B. In 1973, Little Feat backed Kathy Dalton on her Amazing album on the DiscReet label produced by Warner Brothers. Due to disappointing sales, the band disbanded a second time in late 1973. Payne joined the Doobie Brothers and Hayward joined Ike Turner.
They reformed in 1974, releasing their fourth album Feats Don't Fail Me Now later that year. In 1974, Lowell George, along with the Meters and other session musicians, backed Robert Palmer on his Island Records debut solo release Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley which opened with George's "Sailing Shoes." The whole band chipped in on Palmer's 1975 release, Pressure Drop, which contained another George composition, "Trouble". 1976's Some People Can Do What They Like, Palmer's third opus, opened with the Bill Payne/Fran Tate composition "One Last Look", and later featured George's "Spanish Moon", although George and Gradney sat this one out. In March 1976, Little Feat served as the backing band on the first side of Akiko Yano's debut studio album , released on the Philips label. The band remained based in Los Angeles due to doing session work on the side in addition to band activities.
The release of The Last Record Album in 1975 signalled another change in the Little Feat sound, with Barrere and Payne developing an interest in Jazz fusion. Prior to the recording of The Last Record Album, drummer Richie Hayward had a motorcycle accident and the liner to the LP album release of The Last Record Album was decorated with copies of his many hospital bills. Also present was evidence of a late change to the running order of tracks: the lyrics for Barrere's song "Hi Roller" were printed on the sleeve, but scored out, and the words "maybe next time" scrawled over them. Sure enough, "Hi Roller" was the first track on the subsequent album Time Loves a Hero.
George continued to produce the albums, but his songwriting contribution diminished as the group moved into jazz fusion, a style in which he had little interest. In August 1977, Little Feat recorded a live album from gigs at the Rainbow Theatre in London and Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. Waiting for Columbus is considered by many rock music critics to be one of the best live albums of all time, despite the fact that significant portions of George's vocals and slide work were over-dubbed later in the studio.Liner notes to 2002 CD re-release of Waiting for Columbus. It was released in 1978, by which time it had become apparent that George's interest in the band was waning, as was his health.
At this time Warner Bros. released George's only solo album, Thanks, I'll Eat It Here, for which he had signed a contract in 1975. The album was mostly a collection of cover versions that George had been working on as a side project for several years and, in his biography Rock And Roll Doctor, Mark Brend states that George had hinted he only signed the solo contract to obtain funds to finance Little Feat (and Bill Flanagan states in Written in My Soul that George "didn't want his audience to assume a collection of other people's material marked the direction of Lowell George's solo career").
While touring in support of his solo album in June 1979, at the age of 34, George collapsed and died in his hotel room in Arlington, Virginia. An autopsy determined the cause of death was a heart attack.
The surviving members finished and released Down on the Farm in late 1979. A double album compilation album of rare studio outtakes and live recordings, Hoy-Hoy!, was released in 1981. The album is an overview of the history and sound of Little Feat and includes a cover of the Hank Williams song "Lonesome Whistle".
In 1981 and 1982, Barrere, Clayton, Gradney and Hayward performed several shows as "Barrere, Clayton, Gradney and Hayward" along with singer/guitarist Phil Brown.
Barrere then released two solo albums, 1983's On My Own Two Feet (Mirage) and 1984's Real Lies (Atlantic). Richie Hayward was the drummer on Robert Plant's 1985 funk and new wave flavoured Shaken 'n' Stirred (Es Paranza). Payne has always been a popular and busy session musician, as well as a songwriter, and during the band's first hiatus performed on a variety of albums by many famous musicians including J. J. Cale, the Doobie Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and Stevie Nicks. He was a guest performer on Raitt's Sweet Forgiveness in 1977, which featured his composition "Takin' My Time."
The follow-up album, Representing the Mambo, released in 1990, proved to be the group's last album for Warner Bros., who were uncomfortable with the album's jazzier leanings. The third and final album by this lineup, Shake Me Up (1991), was released on Morgan Creek, as was the soundtrack of the 1992 film White Sands which contained one song by Little Feat called Quicksand and Lies, but this label folded soon afterwards and Little Feat moved from one label to another until the establishment of Hot Tomato Records in 2002.
In the fall of 1991, Clayton was forced to miss several tour dates due to ill health.
Fuller departed in 1993, stating that touring required too much time away from his family. He went on to join a re-formed Pure Prairie League, who in 2005 released their critically acclaimed All in Good Time, which heavily featured his songwriting, singing and acoustic guitar. Up until leaving PPL again in 2011, he performed about 40 shows yearly with them, as well as occasional shows with Little Feat in addition to performing solo shows.
Murphy's first album with the group was Ain't Had Enough Fun. As well as having material specifically written for her, fans attracted to her hard-edged powerhouse voice, further albums Under the Radar and Chinese Work Songs saw Murphy become an integral part of the group sharing lead vocals and writing with Payne and Barrere. Her rendition of Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" was first recorded in studio on Chinese Work Songs and became a favorite in live appearances with Murphy.
In 2008, the group released Join the Band, an album featuring collaborations with Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Bob Seger, Béla Fleck, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Robinson, Vince Gill, Mike Gordon, and Inara George.
After recording five studio albums and performing over 1,400 concerts with the band, Murphy was dismissed in 2009, and the group pared down to a six-piece collective entity.
Hayward married and was living on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with his liver cancer in remission as he awaited a transplant. On July 11, 2010, Little Feat played at the Vancouver Island Music Festival and Hayward was slated to play just a couple of tunes, but once he sat behind his kit, he finished out the night. Hayward had intended to return to the band in the event of recovery, but he died on August 12, 2010, from pneumonia and complications from lung disease.
In 2014, the band Leftover Salmon announced that Bill Payne had joined with them as a permanent member. He left in 2015 to take up a permanent post in The Doobie Brothers' touring band: this restricted his ability to perform longer tours with Little Feat. After this, the full band would perform around 10 dates per year, while Barrere, Tackett, Gradney and Ford would sometimes tour playing Little Feat material as a four-piece called Funky Feat.
In 1994, Paul Barrere had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C and, in 2013, took a leave of absence from touring with Little Feat to combat the disease, and to remain close to his health providers. He later performed a few one-off gigs with Fred Tackett as an acoustic duo and recorded collaborations with longtime friend Roger Cole. In August 2015, it was announced that he was suffering from liver cancer. In 2017, the band was joined for some shows by the Midnight Ramble Horns (Steve Bernstein, Jay Collins, and Erik Lawrence) who then augmented the band for the 50th Anniversary tour of 2018. They continue to often join the band on selected dates. The band then toured more sporadically during the next four years.
Paul Barrere died on October 26, 2019. Scott Sharrard, who had filled in for Barrere during Little Feat's 50th Anniversary tour, was later brought on board as a full-time band member.
On September 16, 2020, the band released a video rerecording of the 1975 Lowell George song "Long Distance Love". The video introduced a new band lineup with Tony Leone, known for his work with Levon Helm and Phil Lesh, joining on drums in place of Gabe Ford. Levon Helm's daughter Amy Helm guested on backing vocals - she and Leone had previously played together in Ollabelle. A new song, the first in eight years, "When All Boats Rise", was released in late October 2020.
The album Sam's Place, an album of blues standards, was released in May 2024, with percussionist Sam Clayton providing lead vocals on every song. The opening track, "Milkman", was co-written by Clayton, Sharrard and Tackett, with lyrics provided by Clayton's wife Joni.
In May 2025, the band released their first album of new material in 13 years, titled Strike Up the Band. A track from the album, "Too High to Cut My Hair", written by Sharrard and Tackett and sung by Sharrard, was released as a single, along with a humorous video featuring group members at a hairdressing salon.
In 2010, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Phish covered Little Feat's album, Waiting for Columbus, for their annual Halloween show. As a result of this concert and the distribution of its recording, the album gained recognition from a wider audience among younger listeners. In 2018, at Peach Fest at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the remaining members of Little Feat joined forces with moe., the Turkuaz Horns and the Ramble Band Horns to recreate and pay homage to the band's classic live album Waiting For Columbus.
Little Feat's songs "Sailin' Shoes" and "Fat Man in the Bathtub" were featured prominently in the 2010 Edward Norton film Leaves of Grass.
Guitarist Jimmy Page stated that Little Feat was his favorite American band in a 1975 Rolling Stone interview.
Critics often compare their fan base to that of the Grateful Dead due to their devoted following and the band's turbulent lineup changes. Rolling Stone has described them as a “cult band” with a sound that drew on the musical traditions of cities like New Orleans and Memphis, but with an idiosyncratic twist, blending Southern and swamp rock elements into a “zany South-West synthesis.” By the late 1970s, they began incorporating jazz-rock fusion, evident in tracks such as Day at the Dog Races, reflecting a shift in their sound toward jazz influences.
Their live performances are celebrated for their jam band qualities, often characterized by extended instrumental sections that capture the improvisational spirit of jazz while retaining a Southern rock foundation. Glide magazine noted that Dixie Chicken and its surreal cover art became iconic for the band, underscoring their fusion of music and visual artistry and cementing their status as a lasting influence in American rock music.
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