Little Feat

When your band is hailed by none other than Jimmy Page as his favourite American band while at the height of his powers, you know you're doing something right, but Little Feat are so much more than some famous guy's favourite band. The seeds of the band were sewn when singer, songwriter and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne met George was playing in Frank Zappa's band The Mothers Of Invention. Payne auditioned, was not successful, but the duo struck up a friendship all the same, and along with Roy Estrada, a bass player who George knew from playing in the Mothers with him, and drummer Richie Hayward, the quartet formed the first incarnation of Little Feat together.

While he wasn't in his band anymore, Zappa was still aware of George's talent, and was instrumental in securing the band a record deal with Warner Bros. Records. The band recorded their first album in August and September 1970, and was released the following January. Their first two albums were critically adored but weren't hits, despite their song “Willin'” becoming a modern rock standard of the time. Because of their lack of success, the band briefly split up before getting back together in 1972, and thanks to evolving their sound to incorporate influences from New Orleans funk, the band started to gain enough sales to keep them afloat throughout the 1970's. It would take something truly tragic to take out the band, and that was exactly what happened when George passed away in 1979.

However, George's longtime co-vocalist Paul Barrere, put the band back together in 1987 along with Payne and a host of others who the band had worked with during their hiatus. To this day, the band are still writing and recording, along with playing some of the best live shows of their entire career. The list of artists who've paid tribute to the band is a mile long and filled with names like Bob Dylan, The Black Crowes and Joe Walsh, and they're still going strong to this very day. For that, they come highly recommended.