V.A - Rock and Roll Doctor: Lowell George Tribute - 1998 (Little Feat related)

Various Artists - Rock and Roll Doctor: Lowell George Tribute - 1998 - CMC International

A sincere tribute album to the late,great singer/songwriter/slide guitarist, and founder of Little Feat, Lowell George, who began his career doing sessions for Frank Zappa. Lowell George's unique style of slide playing has never been equalled by others. He also was a wonderful vocalist, and his brilliant songwriting never got the credit it deserved. In fact, Little Feat are the type of band who are more criticially acclaimed than commercially successful. In the seventies, Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page once cited Little Feat as one of their favourite bands. This album is a big gamble, as any attempt to interfere with Lowell George's great songs can produce some very negative reactions. However his songs here are given very sympathetic interpretations, and the incredible list of musicians on this album have taken Lowell's music very seriously. Lowell's daughter Inara sings "Trouble" on the album, but people like J.D. Souther, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Phil Perry, Valerie Carter and many, many more give it all they've got. Lowell George's idiosyncratic sense of humor and surreal lyrics were probably the most distinguishing features of Little Feat in the band's early history, not to mention his guitar style. Songs like "Dixie Chicken" and "Fat Man in the Bathtub" are examples of this sound. Paul Barrere who plays the slide parts for Little Feat has never made a conscious effort to copy the legato lines that Lowell George magically squeezed out of his guitar . Paul is quoted as saying, "The fact that we are playing his songs is the big tribute". Check out Lowell's "Thanks I'll Eat It Here" album, and listen to Little Feat's masterpiece, "The Last Record Album".The tracks, ""Long Distance Love" and "One Love Stand" on TLRA are perfect examples of Lowell George's beautifully extended compressed guitar lines. If you're interested in some great Little Feat live recordings, check out Little Feat/Live Read Lowell George's biography @ LGEORGE/BIO/WIKI

TRACKS / PERFORMERS

01. Cold, Cold, Cold - Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat
02. Feets Don't Fail Me Now - Taj Mahal
03. Roll Um Easy - J.D. Souther
04. Rocket In My Pocket - The Bottle Rockets and David Lindley
05. Sailin' Shoes - Randy Newman and Valerie Carter
06. I've Been The One - Jackson Browne
07. Two Trains - Allen Toussaint/Leo Nocentelli
08. Long Distance Love - Keisuke Kuwata/Merry Clayton
09. Rock And Roll Doctor - Eddie Money/Buddaheads
10. Straight From The Heart - Chris Hillman/Jennifer Warnes
11. Honest Man - Little Feat
12. Spanish Moon - Phil Perry/Merry Clayton/Ricky Lawson
13. Trouble - Inara George
14. Lowell's Voice - Lowell George

MUSICIANS

Paul Barrére Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Slide Guitar
David Lindley Slide Guitar
Chris Hillman Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Tony Maiden, Scott Goudeau, Taj Mahal, Fred Tackett, Tom Parr, John Porter, Ry Cooder Guitar
John Jorgenson Acoustic Guitar, Guitar
Brian Henneman Guitar, Vocals
Bonnie Raitt Slide Guitar, Vocals
Ingber Ira Guitar, Organ
Mark Goldenberg Guitar, Keyboards
Alan Mirikitani Guitar, Percussion, Background Vocals
Cory Sipper, Bobby Schneck Guitar, Background Vocals
Carl Sealove, Shaun Murphy, Jimmy Haslip, Charles Moore, Randy Jackson, Larry Fulcher, Tom Ray Bass
Kevin McCormick Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass
Norman Ludwin String Bass
Bill Payne Piano, Hammond Organ, Wurlitzer
Mick Weaver, Jeffrey Young Organ
Van Dyke Parks Piano, Accordion
Jai Winding, Jon Cleary Piano
Leo Nocentelli Piano, Vocals
Arlan Schierbaum, Ellis Hall, Skip Edwards Keyboards
Richard Hayward Drums, Vocals
J.D. Souther Percussion, Drums, Background Vocals
Mark Ortman, Bernard "Bunchy" Johnson, Mauricio-Fritz Lewak, Steve Duncan, Kenny Aronoff, Tony Braunagel Drums
Ian Zenith, Ricky Lawson Percussion, Drums
Stephan "Kenyatta" Simon Percussion
Sam Clayton Percussion, Vocals
Brian "Breeze" Cayolle Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Don Markese Tenor Saxophone
Joe Sublett, Clarence Clemons Saxophone
Cory Reeves Alto Clarinet
Tracy Griffin, Wil Miller, Harry Kim, Darrell Leonard Trumpet
Arturo Velasco Trombone
John Wittenberg, Mario de Leon Violin
Erika Duke-Kirkpartick Cello
David Stenske, Karie Prescott Viola
Jennifer Warnes Vocals, Background Vocals
Randy Newman, Kenny Gradney, Valerie Carter, Phil Perry, Allen Toussaint, Keisuke Kuwata, Jackson Browne Vocals
Maxine Waters, America Butler, Carlene Smith, Julia Waters, Karla Bonoff, Raymond Anthony Myles, Eunice Green, Kenny Edwards, Merry Clayton Background Vocals
Peter Kent Concert Master
Jim Keltner Sampling
Eddie Money
Buddaheads
Inara George
The Bottle Rockets



REVIEWS

Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, and Taj Mahal are among the artists assembled here to on Rock and Roll Doctor: A Tribute to Lowell George give the late Little Feat founder his props. Cynics could carp that these respectful takes on George's funk-inflected Southern boogie and winsome country blues might have been a tad less trad (the guy was a one-time Frank Zappa sideman, after all), but Doctor is still as dependably satisfying as a plate of greasy barbecued ribs. One question: How come no one saw fit to try their hand at George's masterpiece, ''Willin'''? B © Tom Sinclair, © 2008 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved

As the guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter for Little Feat, Lowell George was one of the biggest cult heroes of the '70s, creating a body of work that was deeply set within the blues tradition yet fiercely idiosyncratic and weird. It was the kind of music that earns a large cult following, but doesn't guarantee good covers, since its very quirkiness is among its most appealing traits. Basically, it's a question of matching the right artist with the right song, something that happens about half of the time on Rock N Roll Doctor (A Tribute to Lowell George). By the time the tribute record was released in 1998, his "Willin'" had long been established as a classic, the kind of song that could be covered by anyone -- along with "Dixie Chicken," it's one of the rare universal songs in George's catalog -- but Rock N Roll Doctor doesn't include either of those songs, or "Fat Man in the Bathtub." Instead, its 13 tracks are all relatively obscure, known to hardcore fans but not casual listeners, and this album is a record made by hardcore fans for hardcore fans. That doesn't mean it's necessarily all successful. Eddie Money wasn't really meant to sing the title track, and a couple of cuts, ironically including Little Feat's reworking of "Honest Man," are a bit too reverant to his memory (the group erases that negative with a storming "Cold, Cold, Cold," performed as a duet with Bonnie Raitt). But the best songs -- the Bottle Rockets and David Lindley's "Rocket in My Pocket," Jackson Browne's "I've Been the One," Taj Mahal's "Feats Don't Fail Me Now," J.D. Souther's "Roll Um Easy," Allen Toussaint & Leo Nocentelli's "Tow Trains" and especially Randy Newman & Valerie Carter's "Sailing Shoes" -- demonstrate that George's songs can live on, provided that the artists perform them with as much imagination as he wrote them with. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com