10 Forgotten 70s Rock Bands Worth Rediscovering
8. Little Feat
Singer and guitarist Lowell George, who founded the band Little Feat, remains one of the great what-if's in rock history. A prodigiously talented musician and composer, from an early age George was more drawn to the sophisticated sounds of West Coast jazz than the rock 'n roll teen idols of his day.
In the late '60s he joined Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention, playing on some of that band's classic albums, including Weasels Ripped My Flesh and Burnt Weeny Sandwich. Zappa's avant-garde leanings left a lasting impression on George, though the two parted company on lukewarm terms, the reason for which is still debated.
George formed Little Feat in '69, and what an outfit they were – imagine Zappa's creative talent married to ultra-slick compositions and a wry sense of humour and you might come close to the acknowledged greatness of this band. They could rock, they could dig down into deep, dirty blues, they could funk it up with the best and they were always on point.
Sadly, George was not immune to the usual rock vices of drink
and drugs which, together with a binge-eating addiction, led to his
untimely death in '79. Little Feat carried on without him, producing
fine music until this day, but it is the '70s which provide the true
magic.