Every summer I end up digging through my Little Feat discography. There’s something about their Southern swamp music that is the perfect soundtrack for sitting on the front porch with a margarita. However, I must admit, I’m somewhat of a Feat snob - I only listen to Lowell George-era releases. Post-George stuff is decent but it has never grabbed me. George was the heart and soul of the band. His lyrics were both honest and bizarre, and his slide guitar work was out of this world. Not to mention, he had one of the best voices in the business - a master of blue-eyed soul.

It’s funny to think that George was in Frank Zappa’s band ,The Mothers of Invention, at one point. You can hear his guitar on Weasels Ripped My Flesh. The outcome of this foray has gone down as one of the better rock myths. George was kicked out of the band but no one seemed to remember why. Most likely it was drug use, which was something Zappa never tolerated. One version has him kicking out George because he brought a new song “Willin’” to the table, but it had glorified drug use in the lyrics. Another story has George being relieved of his duties for taking a 15-minute slide solo during a concert, which was a bit long even for Zappa. Regardless, I think it says a lot about George’s abilities - if you can hang with Zappa musically, you’ve got it going on.

Anyway, there’s one bootleg Little Feat track that always gets me excited about this band. Check out “The Fan”, live from Ultrasonic Studios in 1974. George (or it might be guitarist Paul Barrere) unleashes one of the best solos and Billy Payne goes off on his keys with some tripped out riffs. Every time I listen to this I’m hooked once again.