LITTLE FEAT OPEN RECORD CO.
Veteran Rockers debut Hot Tomato Records
by Michael A. Cimino © 2002
Previously published in Rock Society - the
official journal of the Classic Rock Society, UK
After being in the record business for over thirty years, legendary rockers Little Feat have launched their own record label, Hot Tomato Records. The initial releases, Ripe Tomatoes and Raw Tomatoes, are both double disc sets that track the progression of the group from 1971 to the present through previously unreleased live and rare material.
“The difference is supposed to be that the Raw is a little funkier performances, but it’s an arbitrary thing,” says keyboardist/founding member Billy Payne. “I haven’t really distinguished between the two that much.”
“Initially I thought we would put it out as one boxed set to highlight the evolution of the band but that was too much like Hotcakes & Outtakes,” chimes in guitarist Paul
Barrere, who has been with the band since 1972.
Owning and operating their own record company is a far cry from where Little Feat were five years ago. After floundering in the marketplace, and beginning to lose direction, Little Feat were forced to come up with a strategy that would project them into the next century.
“I had been trying to figure out how to get a grassroots campaign started,” explains Payne, “and I took the liberty of reading a book of Hunter Thompson’s - Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. It was a real eye-opener. It’s essentially a mailing list type of thing all about bringing up the profile of whatever it is you’re trying to announce or put a spotlight on. In this case we did it for Little Feat.”
Since that time Little Feat have been busier than ever, touring the world over, releasing finely crafted new studio albums, and selling loads of records without the help of radio airplay.
Recently they had their award winning Waiting for Columbus disc remastered and expanded, and were celebrated with a boxed set of greatest hits - the before mentioned Hotcakes & Outtakes.
Now, with the opening of Hot Tomato Records the band has a myriad of projects waiting in the wings.
Little Feat was formed at the behest of Frank Zappa by multi-instrumentalist Lowell
George and bassist Roy Estrada - then members of Zappa’s Mothers of Invention - when Zappa temporarily folded the group due to apathetic audiences.
Along with Payne and drummer Richie Hayward (still in the band today) Little Feat forged a hybrid of Americana mixing Southern California Rock, New Orleans Boogie, Jazz, Blues, Country, and Rockabilly with stellar musicianship and unconventional lyrics.
“The whole idea of doing Little Feat in the beginning was to establish a platform to play
and experiment with musical genres that we were attracted to and put elements together that overlap,” says Payne. “It’s always been a rather complex band rhythmically, harmonically, and lyrically, but basically we’re reflecting - like most artists - the world we live in.”
With the expansion of the band to include Barrere, percussionist Sam Clayton, and New Orleans bassist Kenny Gradney (replacing the departed Estrada) Little Feat hit their stride winning audiences over and recording the acclaimed Dixie Chicken, Feats don’t Fail me Now, and Time Loves a Hero, all which would eventually achieve gold status. After the live Waiting for Columbus (platinum) Lowell George, who had been threatening to disband the group for years, recorded a solo disc and returned to the road with his own group. During that ill fated tour in 1979 George passed away of a heart attack at the age of 35.
The group finished the recordings begun before George’s death (Down on the Farm) and compiled Hoy - Hoy!, a collection of live tracks and rarities before going on hiatus. They returned, with Pure Prairie League vocalist Craig Fuller and multi-instrumentalist Fred Tackett replacing George, in 1987 which resulted in the hits “Let It Roll” and “Hate to Lose your Loving” and another gold record. Afterwards more quality recordings continued but with a lack of radio support sales began to wane and the group, who had been with Warner Brothers Records for twenty years, moved to an independent label and into relative obscurity.
When Fuller announced his need to spend more time with his family Little Feat found themselves at a crossroads.
“Paul and I talked about what we should do,” says Payne. “Should we
con
tinue on with just six people? Should we get another singer? In the course of working up some songs Shawn Murphy came over and we had her sing “Romance without Finance,” and I looked at Paul and it was like ‘Boing!’
Shawn Murphy was the beginning of Little Feat’s renaissance. She had previously fronted her own Blues band and backed up Michigan Rock hero Bob Seeger before being tapped for a prominent role on Eric Clapton’s Behind the Sun tour in 1985.
“When Bob was thinking he was going to do his farewell tour in ‘86 he asked Fred and Billy to be on the tour with him,” explains the attractive and
convivial vocalist.
“That’s how I met them. Little Feat decided to re-form in ‘87 and they asked Bob and I to come in and do some backgrounds on the record, and then on the next record, and the next record, and here I am!” she laughs.
Since that time Little Feat have recorded a trio of studio albums
(Ain’t had Enough Fun, Under the Radar, Chinese Work Songs) that stand up to nearly everything that has come before, and a double live disc that emphasizes their roots as well as their move into Jam-Band territory. On the Ripe and the Raw collections this prolific handling of stylistic changes can be found in abundance. And there is plenty more where that came from.
“What we relish about being in Little Feat is this extraordinary platform that we’ve been given,” says Payne. “Now that we have an addition to that platform, which is Hot Tomato Records, we can proceed with these next years with some adventurous spirit.
“I’ve got to say, in terms of what we have potentially for future recordings, I’ve been coming up with a lot of grooves and a lot of ideas and everyone is working on a lot of stuff.
“I think we should do our own form of Dick’s Picks,” he expands, comparing Little Feat’s archives to that of the Grateful Dead’s. “We are going to borrow from the band as well. Fred Tackett has got a barn that we are going to turn into a recording facility. There’s going to be solo albums. I’ve got a solo album, or three, in me and Fred and his son have come up with something that’s already complete. Maybe at some point we’ll look at [signing] other artists but we want to make sure that we’ve got this thing on a steady course.”
“Eventually we will be putting out complete shows,” adds
Barrere. “We are hoping to make it a more user friendly situation than other record companies. In 2001 we did six shows in Annapolis, Maryland, and we recorded them all. They are all acoustic and we were thinking of putting together a two disc compilation.”
Now that the tip of the iceberg has begun to melt what flows downstream will be a river of tasty delights for Little Feat fans in the very near future.
“This thing is growing,” sums up Payne. “The legacy is intact. We honor Lowell every time we hit the stage and his influence on the music is very much alive.
“I was talking to somebody from the museum in Cleveland and they said, ‘Oh, if it were up to me you guys would be in the Hall of Fame,’ and I said, ‘I’m glad to hear that but don’t do anything until after we retire, and hopefully that will be never.’ Bop ‘til you drop!”
Photos: Little Feat at the Bayou Fest 2000
Photos: Little Feat on Block Island 2002