ESSENTIALS - Little Feat

Audio Remasterer: Ted Carson.
Warner Canada's 2005 release Essentials does a very good job of rounding up 12 highlights from Little Feat's career. Despite the presence of 1988's comeback hit "Hate to Lose Your Lovin'" and the 1990 fan favorite "Texas Twister," Lowell George dominates this collection, writing or co-writing eight of the tracks (two late-'70s classics, "Down on the Farm" and "Time Loves a Hero," round out the album) -- which is as it should be, since George did pen and sing the band's most enduring work. While there are some big Feat songs missing -- no "A Apolitical Blues," no "Teenage Nervous Breakdown," none of the real gutsy stuff, in other words -- this does feature the core standards ("Dixie Chicken," "Willin'," "Rock and Roll Doctor") and nicely emphasizes the laid-back, New Orleans-inspired, Allen Toussaint-influenced groove that became the group's specialty around the time of their third album, Dixie Chicken. Little Feat made many essential albums -- and the 2000 box set Hotcakes & Outtakes provides a more complete retrospective -- but as a sampler, this Essentials is very good indeed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Genre: Pop
• Released: 10/04/2005
• Released: 10/4/2005
• Released: 10/4/2005
• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop
• Format: CD