Welcome back, gentle readers. Let’s get to the
music!
Disc 1279 is… The Last Record Album
Artist:
Little Feat
Year of Release: 1975
What’s up with the
Cover?
A jackelope pauses on a scrub-brushed street. In the background the hills of
Hollywood – composed of orange Jell-O and whipped cream – tower into the sky. Apparently
no matter how bat-shit crazy your album cover is, there is always room for
Jell-O.
How I Came to Know
It: My
friend Elaine first put me onto Little Feat as a band. “The Last Record Album”
was just me digging through their back catalogue to see what else appealed.
How It Stacks Up: Turns out “The Last Record Album” didn’t
appeal much at all. I have four Little Feat albums and I put this one in last
place. As this is my last Little Feat review, here’s a recap:
- Dixie Chicken: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1084)
- Sailin’ Shoes: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1168)
- Feats Don’t Fail Me Now: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 797)
- The Last Record Album: 2 stars (reviewed right here)
Ratings: 2 stars
Little Feat’s prodigious musical talent never
fails to ensorcell me, but it was only a matter of time until their urge to noodle
would break the charm. That moment finally happened with “The Last Record
Album.”
Most of the ingredients that make me love
Little Feat on earlier albums are here. Lowell George is a gifted guitar player
and songwriter, and he knows how to drop his hazy hippy spell on the blues and create
some boogie woogie brilliance. The band takes its lead from George, sitting
down in the pocket and letting the spirit of his songs flow through them. Looking
back, I’m sure that’s what convinced me to buy this record.
All of that musicianship is present on “The
Last Record Album” but unfortunately that’s where the magic ends. The songs don’t
have the same structure or appeal as were present on the earlier records I had
reviewed. Everything sounds as groovy as ever, but groovy just isn’t enough on
its own.
The best track, “Long Distance Love” is
an FM radio masterpiece. The song is lyrically about not being with the one you
love, but musically it feels so chilled out you don’t mind the separation. It
is a solid little number that would sound good played out of a Camaro’s car
stereo as you hang out with your buddies down at the lake on a sunny summer
afternoon.
Unfortunately, “Long Distance Love” is
the exception, and the other tracks tend to have the same relaxation vibe, but
without a compelling melody to draw you in. The record is so mellow it would be
fine as background music, but who wants music just in the background?
Worse, there are songs on this record that transition
from harmless mellow to irksome noodle. “Day or Night” is over six minutes
of song and at least half that time ist taken up with various meandering solos,
each more surreal than the last. Through the latter half of the record we get an
organ solo, a drum solo and – seemingly inevitably – a bass solo. The journey
on the organ is particularly arduous. Everyone plays as great as ever, but I
still badly wanted it to end.
My CD version of the album has two bonus
tracks (three if you count the seven second track consisting of some ballpark-style
organ and someone saying “bonus!”). These tracks are advertised on the back
of the case as “2 ‘live’ bonus tracks” but despite the punctuation do
not feature Prince and are actually live.
One is “A Apolitical Blues” is a traditional
blues number imagining a phone call from Mao Tse Tung. It features some solid
guitar work but fails to be as funny as it thinks it is and isn’t terribly
inventive musically either.
The other “Don’t Bogart That Joint” is
both a good public service message and also the better of the two songs. The
expression is, as I suspected, a reference to the way Humphrey Bogart would
speak while a cigarette dangled from his mouth.
As old movie icons go, I prefer Rock Hudson
over Humphrey Bogart. As Little Feat albums go, I prefer the other three I have
to this one. Consequently, I will not be bogarting this record, but will
instead pass it on without further delay to a new home. I hope they appreciate it
more than I did.
Best tracks: Long Distance Love, Don’t Bogart That Joint
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