Little Feat - Hotcakes and Outtakes (4 CD, 2000) [FLAC]

 

"Thirty years of sophisticated music is often more than any modern rock band is expected to accomplish, but Little Feat has spent the bulk of the last three decades offering the unexpected. This "box set" dovetails nicely with the band's last retrospective, "Hoy Hoy", that came out two years after the band's founder, Lowell George, died (1979). Since then, the band has gone their separate ways, reformed, re-tooled, and have rejuvinated a sound as authentic to our culture as buffalo nickles and velvet art work. "Hotcakes and Outtakes" provides a common ground for old and new fans to observe the rich, musical talents of a band that bravely never quite fit into any programmable radio format. The first three cd's offer a rich menu of the band's talents, humor, and innovative sound. Replete with an 80 page history of the band, the Little Feat story makes both sense and nonsense out of the band constantly in conflict, but totally dependent on the emotional traction each player brought to the table. However, it is the fourth cd that the die hard Little Feat fan will find the most gratifying. Here, demos and outtakes rule the day. It is a poignant reminder of a time when an entire band shunned sleek studio wizardry and produced simple nuts and bolts rock and roll.

Little Feat- Transmission Impossible [3 CD, 2015] (FLAC + 320)

 

With an influence as far reaching still as their musical eclecticism was during the band s golden era, Little Feat remain one of the very finest American groups of the 1970s. And while their classic LPs from that time remain essential, it was during their live shows that they transcended mere excellence and took proceedings to somewhere quite extraordinary, if not supernatural. This delightful triple disc set captures perfectly the mighty Feat doing exactly what they did best, when they were doing it best. Featuring three complete FM radio broadcast recordings from the years 1973, 1974 and 1975 respectively, during which the true nature of this legendary act, nay institution, is revealed in dynamic performance and magnificent audio quality, this collection will surely become a fixed asset in the collections of fans the world across. The first disc here includes the group s performance at the intimate Ebbets Field venue in Denver Colorado, recorded on 19th July 1973, just a few months after the release of Dixie Chicken, arguably Little Feat s most cherished album. Next up comes the 1974 in-studio recording they made for transmission at New York s Ultrasound Studios on 19th September that year, shortly after Feats Don t Fail Me Now came out, another favourite LP among those in the know. Finally, the set concludes with one of the most famous gigs they ever performed, the 1975 Halloween show from Boston s majestic Orpheum Theatre, a recording made a month before The Last Record Album was issued.

Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus (Super Deluxe, 8 CD, 2022) [FLAC]

With their 1978 double concert album WAITING FOR COLUMBUS, Little Feat staked their claim as one of the premier live bands of the ‘70s. Recorded over a series of dates in London and Washington, D.C. over the summer of 1977, WAITING FOR COLUMBUS vividly captures the L.A. sextet at a crossroads between its swampy mid-'70s fusion of blues, country, jazz and New Orleans R&B. This special 8CD SUPER DELUXE EDITION comprises the original album remastered across CDs 1 and 2 with the remaining 6 discs comprising 3 previously unreleased in full live shows from the original run of live recordings that comprised the WAITING FOR COLUMBUS album. CDs 3 and 4 include a previously unreleased live show recorded at Manchester City Hall in Manchester, England on July 29, 1977. CDs 5 and 6 include a previously unreleased in full show recorded at The Rainbow in London, England on August 2, 1977. CDs 7 and 8 include a previously unreleased in full live show recorded at Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C. on August 10, 1977. It’s a deep dive into truly one of the best live albums ever and is the definitive edition of a classic that truly will "boogie your speakers away.

 

Little Feat - 40 Feat: The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011 [3 CD, 2011/FLAC]

As American as rock 'n roll itself, Little Feat's music transcends boundaries, a freewheeling fusion of California rock and Dixie-inflected funk-boogie. Also in the mix are strains of folk, blues, rockabilly, country and jazz, inventing a hybrid sound that is truly Little Feat's own. 

In 2002, this legendary band formed their own label, Hot Tomato Records, ostensibly to release a series of what might best be described as official bootlegs (plus new studio recordings, Kicking It At The Barn, 2003 and Join The Band, 2008). 

Now comes 40 Feat, a thrilling, supercharged dip into the best of Little Feat's own live recordings. From 'The Fan' and 'Crack In Your Door', recorded in Houston in 1971 with the original quartet through to 'Roll Um Easy' and 'Down On The Farm', recorded in 2004 (from Barnstormin' Live Volumes 1 & 2), this three-disc set rattles off one Little Feat classic after another, including Bonnie Raitt guesting on a 1973 version of 'Sailin' Shoes' and Lowell George's solo demo of 'Trouble'. The band's guitarist Paul Barrere explains: "Our first releases, the box sets called Ripe and Raw Tomatoes spanned 30 years of Little Feat live. It was really a great treat for our fans to get to glimpse into the vaults of Little Feat live." "Now thanks to Proper Records, here is a very cool sampling of the best of those live recordings we've done, past and present for Hot Tomato, as well as one song from Kickin' It At The Barn. So check it out, 40 songs from 40 years." 3CD collection of Little Feat's own collection of "official bootlegs" that span 40 years from 1971 - 2011.