Thirty years after their critically acclaimed live album Waiting For
Columbus, Little Feat have unveiled a new studio recording. But Join
The Band does more than cull its title from the opening cut of the
1978 release; it reintroduces classic Feat songs recorded with an impressive
list of guest performers.
While rock historians are aware of their status as one of the most important
bands of the 1970s, Little Feat enjoyed little major commercial success, especially
after the untimely death of their founder and primary songwriter Lowell George
in 1979. After nearly a decade of performing individually and with different
bands, the remaining members re-formed in 1988. Guitarist Paul Barrere, keyboardist
Billy Payne, bassist Kenny Gradney, drummer Richie Hayward and percussionist
Sam Clayton were joined by new guitarist and trumpet player Fred Tackett, and
this core has been together ever since. Both Barrere and Payne have written
and sung lead on several Feat songs, but there was still the considerable void
where George’s distinctive voice had been. That spot was filled by Craig
Fuller (Pure Prairie League) from 1988 to 1993, followed by female vocalist
Shaun Murphy, who’s remained with the group since then.
Join The Band is the brainchild of Payne and Jimmy Buffett,
who lent his talent and record label, as well as his Shrimpboat Sound Studios
in Key West, Florida, to the project. Buffett sings on the remake of “Time
Loves A Hero” and members of his Coral Reefer Band (Mike Utley, Robert
Greenidge, Ralph MacDonald and Jim Mayer) all perform on this and other cuts.The
album starts with a delightfully different take on George’s “Fat
Man In The Bathtub” featuring Dave Matthews on vocals and mouth percussion.
The liner notes reveal that he recorded 18 different tracks to achieve the lush
sound. Slide guitarist Sonny Landreth shreds it up here as well as on the new
version of “Dixie Chicken” with Vince Gill on the vocals. Gill also
joins his former Pure Prairie League bandmate Fuller on “Spanish Moon.”
The country-influenced “Willin’” is sung by the current stars
of that genre Brooks & Dunn. When Payne heard that The Black Crowes had
been performing “Willin’” as an encore, he invited their singer
Chris Robinson to join him on a rocking rendition of “Oh Atlanta.”
Emmylou Harris sings on “Sailin’ Shoes,” a version that transitions
to double time with the help of electric bluegrass legends Sam Bush and Bela
Fleck. Inara George, Lowell’s daughter, sings a haunting “Trouble”
accompanied by Payne on the piano. This song, written by her father, was often
sung to Inara when she was a child.
Other tracks on the album are a musical travelogue of America — from
Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” (with Mike Gordon
of Phish on bass) to the New Orleans sound of Huey ‘Piano’ Smith’s
“Don’t Ya Just Know It” and the Buffett-penned “I Will
Play For Gumbo.” The Band’s southern-tinged anthem “The Weight”
gets an extra boost from Fleck. There’s also a foot-stomping version of
“See You Later Alligator” and the ballad “Champion of the
World” with Buffett. Join The Band is co-produced by
Payne and Mac McAnally, a recent inductee into the Country Music Songwriters
Hall of Fame, who also plays guitar and sings background on several of the tracks.
While the Dave Matthews track should garner Little Feat some well deserved
and overdue attention on some of the alternative radio stations, it will be
interesting to see if country stations pick up “Willin’.”
Or maybe the rock stations will play “Something In the Water” with
Bob Seger belting out the vocals, Brad Paisley on guitar and Bush on the fiddle.
Of course, there is also the distinct possibility that the diversity of Join
The Band, combined with the music industry’s need to pigeonhole
artists, will keep these great musicians out of the limelight once again. But
don’t let that keep you from joining the band.
~ Paul J. Turgeon
