Little Feat

Steeped in a huge pot of Southern flavors — including gospel, country, and R&B — Little Feat is the stuff of '70s rock legend. The band built on its early cult following to create a weird and wonderful blueprint: effortlessly slick rock 'n' roll delivered with a surreal, rollicking, West Coast swerve. Original members Lowell George and Roy Estrada had cut their teeth with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, and after stumbling out of the gates with a criminally overlooked self-titled debut in 1971, the band offered hints of a funkier future with Sailin' Shoes (Estrada's last LP with the band) — check out the amazing title track and the brilliantly reworked version of "Willin'."

Sample Little Feat's extraordinary gumbo some more, in Next Steps.

Little Feat clearly relished the leadership of guitarist Lowell George whose eight-year tenure ended with his death in 1979. George's keen but skewed and astute lyrical touch was the secret ingredient that guaranteed the band's lasting quality: relish the ease with which he switches from the dirty bar-room of "Apolitical Blues" to kick-back ballad "Roll Um Easy" and the laid-back funk of "Lafayette Railroad." The latter two tracks feature on the band's 1973 landmark release Dixie Chicken, which perfectly melded the lyrical eccentricities of early Little Feat with the easy-jammin' eclecticism that would become a much-loved signature.

Almost four decades separate the oldest and newest Little Feat tracks featured in Deep Cuts.

Die-hard Little Feat aficionados know that to truly grasp the nuts of the band you have to go right back to their self-titled debut album, which didn't exactly fly off the shelves in 1971 and is still sometimes referred to as "lost": the surprisingly tender "Truck Stop Girl" reveals Lowell George's sideways sense of humor and exceptional knack for spinning a yarn, while the band's cover of the Howlin' Wolf tune "Forty-Four Blues" kicks up a cloud of sawdust and features Ry Cooder on slide guitar. Post-George, the band has rocked steadily into the 21st century — 2008 studio album Join the Band features several guests, notably Emmylou Harris on "Sailin' Shoes."

Little Feat had what it takes to become one of the best live bands in rock history — they were tight because they were loose (natural) and technically gifted (piano man Bill Payne was classically trained). The world according to Lowell George and his Southern-fried chums was viewed through a funky pair of shades, and the music remains a delicious brew whether they're cranking it up with a cut like "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" or easing it along at a more relaxed tempo: check out most of Dixie Chicken. Here we offer you the best of Little Feat in its two principal incarnations — the Lowell George-era that covered the bulk of the '70s and the various post-1988 lineups that have kept the flame alive through the '00s and beyond. It's time to meet 'n' greet the Feat.