Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now - 1974 - 24/96 Vinyl - Hi-Fi Today Nimbus Supercut - K 56030

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Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now - 1974 - 24/96 Vinyl - Hi-Fi Today Nimbus Supercut - K 56030

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Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now - 1974 - 24/96 Vinyl - Hi-Fi Today Nimbus Supercut - K 56030

Close

Nimbus Supercut LPs were released as part of a special promotion available only to readers of Practical Hi-Fi and Hi-Fi today magazines in the UK during the early 1980s (this one was released for Hi-Fi Today). The records were only available in limited quantities and are now even rarer than releases from Mobile Fidelity, Nautilus, DCC and similar. Nimbus Records established the need for high quality record releases, as most mainstream vinyl at the time was haphazardly mastered from poor master copies and pressed on poor quality recycled vinyl. In contrast with this release, Nimbus Records went back to the original master tapes for an all-analog pressing, at half speed, for the best version of 'Feats Dont Fail Me Now' ever available. Nimbus Records also had the ICI company produce an extremely pure vinyl for the LPs, which has better frequency reproduction and is virtually noise free. Their pressings have dynamics and pack a punch that will blow your socks off!

If Dixie Chicken represented a pinnacle of Lowell George as a songwriter and band leader, its sequel Feats Don't Fail Me Now is the pinnacle of Little Feat as a group, showcasing each member at their finest. Not coincidentally, it's the moment where George begins to recede from the spotlight, leaving the band as a true democracy. These observations are only clear in hindsight, since if Feats Don't Fail Me Now is just taken as a record, it's nothing more than a damn good rock & roll record. That's not meant as a dismissal, either, since it's hard to make a rock & roll record as seemingly effortless and infectious as this. Though it effectively builds on the Southern-fried funkiness of Dixie Chicken, it's hardly as mellow as that record - there's a lot of grit, tougher rhythms, lots of guitar and organ. It's as supple as Chicken, though, which means that it's the sound of a touring band at their peak. As it happens, the band is on the top of their writing game as well, with Bill Payne contributing the rollicking "Oh Atlanta" and Paul Barrere turning in one of his best songs, the jazzy funk of "Skin it Back." Each has a co-writing credit with George – Payne on the unreleased Little Feat-era nugget "The Fan" and Barrere (plus Fred Martin) on the infectious title track – who also has a couple of classics with "Rock and Roll Doctor" and the great "Spanish Moon." Feats peters out toward the end, as the group delves into a 10-minute medley of two Sailin' Shoes songs, but that doesn't hurt one of the best albums Little Feat ever cut. It's so good, the group used it as the template for the rest of their career.