''Feats Don't Fail Me Now'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

, released in 1974, on the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

label. The cover was designed by

Neon Park Neon Park (born Martin Muller, December 28, 1940 – September 1, 1993) was an American artist, comics artist and illustrator, best known for the images that have strongly defined covers for nearly every Little Feat album except for the band's ...

. According to

Richie Hayward Richard "Richie" Hayward (February 6, 1946 – August 12, 2010) was an American drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player. Hayward also joined ...

, "Wait Till the Shit Hits the Fan" dates back to their

debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...

but the band had had trouble recording it on the previous two albums, due to its irregular

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

. It was scrapped until the sessions for this album when it was recorded live in the studio as "The Fan"; the original version appeared on the 2000 boxed set ''Hotcakes & Outtakes: 30 Years Of Little Feat''. In 2000 the album was voted number 718 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''.

Track listing

Side One #"Rock & Roll Doctor" (Lowell George, Martin Kibbee) – 2:57 (lead vocal George) #"Oh Atlanta" (Bill Payne) – 3:26 (lead vocal Payne) #"Skin it Back" (Paul Barrère) – 4:11 (lead vocal Barrère) #"Down the Road" (George) – 3:46 (lead vocal George) #"Spanish Moon" (George) – 3:01 (lead vocal George) Side Two #"Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrère, George, Martin Kibbee) – 2:27 (lead vocal George) #"The Fan" (George, Payne) – 4:30 (lead vocal George) #"Medley: Cold Cold Cold/Tripe Face Boogie" (George/Richie Hayward, Payne) – 10:00 (lead vocal George)

Charts

Personnel

Little Feat *

Paul Barrere Paul Barrere (July 3, 1948 – October 26, 2019) was an American musician most prominent as a member of the band Little Feat, which he joined in 1972 some three years after the band was created by Lowell George. Career Barrere recorded and per ...

– guitar, vocals *

Sam Clayton Sam Clayton (born March 30, 1952) is an American singer and percussionist, primarily focusing on drums, conga and djembe, throughout his musical career. He is best known as a supporting vocalist and percussionist with the American rock band Lit ...

– percussion, vocals *

Lowell George Lowell Thomas George (April 13, 1945 – June 29, 1979) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who was the primary guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founder/leader for the rock band Little Feat. Earl ...

– vocals, guitar *

Kenny Gradney Kenny Gradney, (born February 25, 1950) a native of Baton Rouge, is an American bassist and songwriter, best known as a member of the band Little Feat. He joined after their second album, replacing founding bassist Roy Estrada in 1972. Gradney ...

– bass *

– drums, vocals *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...

– keyboards, vocals Additional *Gordon DeWitty –

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

("Spanish Moon") * Fred White – drums ("Spanish Moon") *

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

– backing vocals *

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

– backing vocals *Fran Tate – backing vocals *

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the b ...

– horns

Notes

External links

''Feats Don't Fail Me Now'' album review
at ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' * – provided by

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

* – provided by

{{Authority control 1974 albums Little Feat albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Van Dyke Parks Albums produced by Lowell George Albums with cover art by Neon Park Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders