Lowell George's 'Little Feat' ain't so little after all Part I

Taking an eclectic pastiche` of styles as far ranging as blues, rock, gospel, country, honky- tonk, and jazz, and stitching them together in a way that only they could, Little Feat created a sound that was uniquely their own; a sound that seemed to resonate with a highly devoted segment of music fans. Even though they had the feel of a gritty southern band, Little Feat was essentially the brain child of Lowell George, a multi-faceted musician/singer/song writer from Los Angeles in 1969.

Lowell George was born in Hollywood, California in April of 1945 to a family who was loosely connected to the entertainment industry. His father was a well known furrier to Hollywood's elite and on many nights when Lowell was a small child, the George home would be host to some of the more famous movie stars of the time. Lowell's mother was an accomplished pianist who steadfastly encouraged both of her sons' musical ambitions.

At the age of 5, Lowell took up his first instrument, the harmonica, and as young children, Lowell and his brother Hampton played a harmonica duet on a local Los Angeles television talent show. Appearing on the same show was another young man, Frank Zappa, who was performing a puppet act. In later years Frank Zappa would come to have a profound impact on Lowell George. They all lost to a young girl who tap danced her way to the number one spot.

When Hampton left for a stint in the Army, he left behind a classical guitar that almost immediately fell into the hands of Lowell. He developed quickly into a solid guitarist. In high school Lowell also studied banjo, clarinet and the Japanese flute. According to a biographer, Lowell even studied sitar at a Los Angeles school under sitar master Ravi Shankar. Following high school, as one would expect for the time, Lowell's musical taste drifted into jazz and the beatnik scene.

For a time, George haunted the San Francisco beatnik coffeehouses and jazz clubs complete with black beret and turtle neck sweaters, trying to absorb as much of the culture as possible, supporting himself with a job at a service station. It was during his time on the job that, according to George himself, that he was inspired to write perhaps his most well know and most often covered composition "Willin".

By the mid-60's, following a viewing of a performance by the Byrds at The Brave New World Coffeehouse, Lowell purchased an electric guitar and set out to form his own band. The result was The Factory. The line up consisted of friends that he had known since high school; Martin Kibbee (bass), Martin Klein (guitar), and Richie Hayward (drums). Lowell played guitar primarily but would fill in on just about any other instrument that may be needed.

During their time together, The Factory became a staple of the Los Angeles club circuit with their mix of psychedelic funk-quasi punk sound. Oddly enough, the band even made guest appearances on the television shows F-Troop and Gomer Pyle – USMC. But by the end of 1967, The Factory had shut down. However before they completely disbanded, they recorded a demo for the Zappa label – Original Records. Even though the record may have ended up in the vaults, Lowell's song writing captivated Zappa.

After they had disbanded, the remaining members of The Factory reformed as The Fraternity of Man. They did have one semi-hit with "Don't Bogart That Joint" which appeared on the "Easy Rider" soundtrack album. While The Fraternity Of Man struggled on, Lowell took a short stint with The Standells ("Dirty Water"). George told Zig Zag Magazine in 1975 that "I had replaced Dicky Dodds, the lead singer … he quit because he couldn't stand it anymore and I finally quit because I couldn't stand it either".

After leaving the Standells, Lowell crossed paths again with Frank Zappa and ended up joining up with The Mothers Of Invention as the rhythm guitarist for two albums, "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" and "Burnt Weenie Sandwich". His time with Zappa and The Mothers were instructive for Lowell. It was there were he learned how to be a band leader and a composer and he even, as some have suggested, developed the same obsessive nature of Zappa to spend weeks in the studio cutting and looping tracks over and over again until he found some level of perfection.

It remains unclear as to how Lowell George ended up leaving the Mothers Of Invention. Some stories suggest that he was dismissed for drinking and drugs. Others have it that Zappa suggested that Lowell was too good to be a back up player in his band and that he leave to form up his own group and still others have suggested that Lowell's dream was to front his own band again and left on his own.