I had a conversation with a friend over the weekend about the Little Feat singer and slide guitarist Lowell George, who died thirty years ago at the age of 34. Some (yes: me included) think that Little Feat were never as interesting or innovative afterwards.
The night he died I was working an night shift (as a young trainee) in the BBC Radio newsroom writing the overnight bulletins for Radio 1 and 2; the ‘copy taster‘ – also a fan of Little Feat – gave me the story and I went to the Night News Editor and told him I thought it was a story for R1/R2 bulletin. He looked at the wire copy and said, ‘who’s he, never heard of him’, which taught me something about never assuming that your audience is the same as you.
Later, in Sean O’Brien’s first poetry collection, The Indoor Park, I found this elegy. For a short while I had this off by heart. And since The Indoor Park is now out of print, I trust that he won’t mind my re-printing the poem here.
For Lowell George
What fills the heart is felt to make amends,
Until the flooded heart can no more choose
Release than never sing its staggered blues.
I wish you had not found such special friends.
At thirty-four, at three a.m., in bed,
Of overweight, helped on by dope and booze,
Before your talent bored you you were dead.
Sean O’Brien
The illustration above comes from yu-shio’s rock and roll illustration site, Everyday Rock, in Japan (and in Japanese). Thanks to thumbrella for the pointer. The illustration below is of a ticket for Lowell George’s last concert.
January 12, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Well, I too lament the passing of Lowell George, and have for these thirty-odd years. So do the extant members of Little Feat (ALL of them), including the two or three new comers that have been in the band since reformation. But to say they have never been as interesting suggests one thing: you have not seen them since 1989 and quite possibly have not given their output since then a fair, unbiased listen. Lowell most definitely had a way with words and phrases that can never be replaced. But Paul Barrere and Billy Payne are not slouches as lyricists, either … I dare you to listen to Borderline Blues (a tribute to Neon Park) and not weep. As far as instrumentation, the band just grows better and better. Lowell was a phenomenal slide guitarist … but the two current guitarists in LF (Paul and Fred Tackett) are technically just as good, and since re-enlisting in the jamband approach, much more inventive.
But LF is, as it always has been, primarily a performance-based band. You have to see them live. In their shows, they honor Lowell in everything they do, while having grown skilled and confident enough to make every classic Lowell song they do something recognizable but at the same time new and fresh. And then there’s the new stuff. Listen to Shaun. Watch her. She brings a dimension to the band that Lowell never could provide. And then there’s the guy who is the lynchpin … the conductor … the musical genius — Billy Payne. Ask almost any band if they would like him in their ensemble.
January 13, 2009 at 2:26 am
Wow, look closely at that bill and read who opened for Little Feat at George’s last concert. Catfish Hodge! Brings back memories. I’m an Allman Brothers freak myself. “Blue Sky” is my absolute, all-time favorite song. Know every lick by heart. The last tune, so the urban legend goes, that Duane ever worked on in the recording studio before his fatal motorcycle crash. Anyhow. I must confess I have a weak spot for that movie “Almost Famous” (like a major weak spot — no comment). I’m willin’.
February 6, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Thanks for dropping by my place – I saw Feat with Lowell twice and I’ve seen the new band too – I love them all – everything they do is great – Lowell can still move me to tears with his voice, his words, his slide – I was talking to Paul Barrere in November (interview at my place) and had a great chat about Lowell and stuff. My middle son is called Rory Lowell – Rory Gallagher and Lowell George, of course
March 14, 2009 at 8:54 am
On another list Gordon Taylor posted the lyrics of the song written by Jackson Browne for Lowell George’s daughter:
Your father was a rounder
He played that rock and roll
A leaper and a bounder
Down to his gypsy soul
The music was his angel
And sorrow was his star
And those of us who follow
Might hope to reach as far
They’re walking slow in Houston
Speechless in D.C.
There’s no way I could tell you
What he meant to me
Your mother’s a survivor
She’ll do what must be done
Her children will revive her
And help her see the sun
She almost knew that unison
But the singing stopped too soon
Now she shares the silence
With a man up in the moon
To speak of missing persons
Tonight there’s only one
And we all carry with us what the man’s begun
And you can sing this song
On July the Fourth
In the sunny south and the frozen north
It’s a day of loss, it’s your day of birth
Does it take a death to learn what a life is worth?
Your brothers are all older
And they’ll take it in their stride
The world’s a little colder
But manhood’s on their side
Now you’re the little girl-child
And you look so much like him
And he’s right there inside you
Each time you want to sing
Sing of missing persons
Tonight there’s only one
But he’s where you can find him when it’s said and done
And we will sing this song
On July the Fourth
From the sunny south and the frozen north
This will always be your day of birth
May you always see what your life is worth
March 14, 2009 at 9:16 am
A fantastic song – off to listen to it now!
March 14, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Jackson’s song IS a great song. There is a dvd circulating of the Lowell George Tribute Concert performed in LA shortly after Lowell passed (August 4, 1979, Inglewood Forum). It features Little Feat, Jackson, Bonnie Raitt, Emylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, Nicollete Larson (another GREAT singer taken before her time), and a host of other (almost) recognizable musicians … including Craig Fuller, who was a member of Little Feat from 1989-1993. Jackson performed Of Missing Persons during the show, but it did not make it to this truncated version. The quality is not very good (hand held super-8 camera), but it’s a moving concert nonetheless.
The daughter for whom Jackson wrote “Of Missing Persons” is Inara George. You might have heard her if you own the Rock-n-Roll Doctor compilation (the tribute to Lowell George album) … she sings the Feat lullaby “Trouble” that Lowell wrote for her, and that her mother sang to her when she was a little girl. Today, you can see Inara … she has a new album out that she did with Van Dyke Parks, and she tours and performs in a group (mostly a duo, but sometimes some other folks in a variety of configurations) called The Bird and the Bee Project. Check her out … if you haven’t heard, she does sort of psychedelic pop with a Brazilian twist. Good stuff
October 3, 2009 at 3:00 pm
@ Shays: Have been looking for this DVD for ages! Would be VERY grateful for any hint where to find it (does it have a special title – other than “tribute to Lowell…”?)
November 20, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I was 19 when he died and I remember when I first heard the song, Willin.” Wow. I was hooked and then saddend learning of Lowell’s death. For me now, music is dead. Who replaces a talent like, Lowell, Elvis, Marvin Gaye, John Lee Hooker, nobody. And sadly nobody has? Thank God we can still play his music throughout our lifetime and hopefully into eternity.