Little Feat 'Rooster Rag" CD
Posted on 1st July 2012
Little Feat
Rooster Rag CD
Decca Records
For those who know and love Little Feat, you're going to have a hard time settling on a favorite song on this new album. For those less familiar with the group, this is not a "classic band" resting on its laurels. This record is a strutting, cocky, powerful display of virtuosity that drives home a rootsy blend of rock, funk, blues, rag time, country and New Orleans spice that adds up to an unmistakable Little Feat sound. Yep, all of that is in this album. And more.
Not since 2003, when the band released its last studio album (Kickin' It At The Barn) has there been so much new material for us to sink our teeth into. And, though everything you hear on the record sounds like something you would expect from Little Feat, everything also demonstrates a new energy and a sense of new directions.
For example, co-founding keyboardist Billy Payne co-wrote four of the songs with long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Paul Barrere co-wrote "Just A Fever" with dearly departed and sorely missed Stephen Bruton. And Fred Tackett really stepped up his songwriting contributions, bringing four songs of his own. Of the remaining three songs, two are Feat interpretations of classic blues tunes, and the last is a collaboration between Payne and the newest member of the band, drummer Gabriel Ford. While there are many surprises on the album, one of the more pleasant is the sure-handed manner in which Ford steps up and handles new material. He has already established the fact that he can competently fill the empty shoes of legendary drummer Richie Hayward, but here he steps out on his own and truly becomes the glue that holds the awesome Feat rhythm section together.
I could spend time commenting on the contributions of amazing guest artists (Larry Campbell, Joe Sublet, Darrel Leonard, Kim Wilson, and Johnny Lee Schell), but their work will jump out at you. Long critically acclaimed, this taste of fresh Feat has the potential to lift it to a level of commercial success long deserved.
Scott Hays
Portland, Oregon
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