Little Feat Biography

The band known as Little Feat was founded in 1969 by musicians Roy Estrada Lowell George, and Billy Payne. The first two albums released by Little Feat in 1971 and 1972 were met to lukewarm success, and so the group disbanded temporarily. But after Estrada left the band and was replaced by Kenny Gradney, and with the addition of Paul Barrere and Sam Clayton, Little Feat resurfaced.

Little Feat began to earn a local following in the Los Angeles area, and they released a number of albums for the rest of the decade: Feats Don't Fail Me Now (1974), The Last Record Album (1975), Time Loves a Hero (1977), Waiting for Columbus (1978), and Down on the Farm (1979.) Little Feat disbanded before the following decade, after George left, but resurfaced in 1988, adding Fred Tackett and Craig Fuller to the lineup.

After nearly twenty years, Let it Roll was released to tremendous success, going gold. Four albums followed in the 1990’s: Representing the Mambo (1989), Shake Me Up (1991), Ain't Had Enough Fun (1995), and Under the Radar (1988), and in the new millennium they released Chinese Work Songs in 2000. Rocky Mountain Jam arrived in early 2007, and then Little Feat suffered a painful loss: Richie Hayward passed away from complications due to lung disease in 2010.

Little Feat forged forward, however, and found a new resurgence in popularity after the band Phish covered the entire Waiting for Columbus album at its annual Halloween show. Suddenly, Little Feat had a new fan base with an entirely new generation, and so in the next few years, they returned to record, perform, and tour. The result is the recent Rooster Rag, released in 2012, featuring the first new material from Little Feat in nearly a decade.

Today, Little Feat continues to delight fans at music festivals and other venues throughout the country. The group performs with the current lineup of Bill Payne, Paul Barrere, Sam Clayton, Kenny Gradney, Fred Tackett, and Gabe Ford. Little Feat most recently released three live ablums – Hellzapoppin’ (2013), Live in Holland 1976 (2014), On Your Way Down (2014.)