ROLLING STONE, OCTOBER 24, 19'74 73 j' .- ·-· .: ,· ·.. •' •;: ~{: ... ; ·: .·.~.. ~~.·, _ :f '·.,;':':''' ';.' .. ': : ,. ' . ' "'· ,ll ,. ' J_-' >:.• U· ".· • boardist Bill Payqe and slide guitarist I singer ' Lowell George. By the group's second album; Sllilin' Shoes, George's voice and guitar had pro­ gressed to the point where Lit­ tle Feat was no longer just· a writers' bandr Material, per- : formance and production were held in equipoise through . that all~um and its successor, :Dixie Chicken. On Feats Don't , fail Me '!vow that. perf~ct ten-· Starting Over · sion has slackened. Now the Raspberries .: band's stre~gth 'fl~ driven out Capitol ST 11329 the quirky but affecting vision. · . that made Little Feat unique By Ken Barnes · · and worth ~herishing. The . outfit is a superb, well-oiled The Raspberries have at la~t machine but with some of the realized.-thi:ir potential.' impersonality which such a They've cleai:Iy become( the characterizatio'n implies. premier synthesizer$-of ,Sixties Little Feat has had a ter~ . pop influences extant. Ev_en ' : ribly checkl!red history; 'f'ith · more importantly, the end.re.- ­ near 'breakups .. o,ccurring not sults of their adn.>it collages· of quite as frequemiy as·damag._ musical knowledge often equal ing rumors ·said · they were. or surpass their models' orig- George hopes he ltas· finally . ina! cre11tions~ achieved a measure of -stabil- AS. illt~strations there are . jty! .He is ~ot qulte as domi­ two perfectly. astonishing.; nimt as he once waS,:,....he has tracks ·on Starting Over. "I 'conscimisly 'down, played hii,. ·Don't Know What I Want" is own ·ai.•thority....:.:.~;>ut this may the ultirtuite Who tribute, a su­ not be the root'of the problem. perbly inte&rated pastic!'le of' it is' almost as- if once he· de .. Who styles, 196$-7 L Fr11g-· · cided to ced~ responsibility to . ments ~Townshend melodies the others, hcf also decided to _ surface here and there, and make his writi.ng Jess reflective Eric Carmen's vocal is an ~In­ of his own slant than of the canny . Roger Daltrey imita­ new, corporate Little Feat, a tion. Yet the song stands on its ' ····( group that he no longer com- own merits as a modern teen- but its highest points are · as Rain. bow~ - : i~ ·: very' American, throughout the albu'!l. mand.s. Nearly the same can age frustration. classic. lofty as any · heights rock an odd mix · of country rock On 1side tw9 R;mdy New- . be .surmised of ·payne,. whose . "Overnight Sensation (Hit '74 has scaled. and Randy Newmait. .. man's influence, or the influ- -'"' earlier efforts were as original Record)" boasts_a stunning ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;. i ·, ·: The. Americanizatic>n of ence of Alan Price's interpre- as George's. production, combining an ul­ Michaet d'Abb has been to '';. lations of Randy Newman, is , , The group's.prismatic, L.A.­ tra-complex Beach Boys ap­ ,. the detriment of. his imagtna- : .: 'tqo conspicuous for comfort. dominated view of culture first proach with Phil Spector tech- , · · tion . Brok.en Rainbows's sim-.- · . D'Aho's singing as well as his · gave way to Dixie' Chicken's niques. Lyrically it's a refresh­ pl.e'; .moving rendition of. .. tunes and. piano playing be- earthier, less· frenetic, but still ingly frank confession of tJ1e , :o-"Handbags And Gladrags," ·9ome im_itative, and the com- · witty approach. Peats, in a band's number one goal. Un- ·: . · ~ritten seven years ago, h'as',., J.?inat,ion of arch·_sentimerta_l- further reduction, turns out to ·tike those sensitive, questing . ; ,a. forceful integrity and ·~.: Jty, dr~mken humor.~nd com1c be a-lmost pure funk, situated souls who prof ~ss to disdain . :•:· tfniquen~S~ , missing in' the.:__, '• irony iS all too f;Hntl.ar. squarely below the Mason­ their gold records, the Rasp- . ' ~' more' recent. material~in the : . Its> perivatiyeness d?_es not Dixon line (the first three berries want that hit on the .··. • banal melody and sentiments '.. make :,)Jroken ~?lin bows un- songs m11ke referehce to 'the radio. And they know what it . · of the title track (until the . listenabld~ Eiliot· Mazer's un- State of Georgia) .. But the songs on Feats:-though with takes to get it- "If the pro­ Ill d: · ~losing seconds, Michael obtrusive production, the va- gram director don't pull it/ i Bloomfield's guitar Ys equally · . riety of arrangements and mu­ in the group's chosen specialty ·Then ·it's time to get back a Broken Rainbows cliched), in the trite country · ·. ~ sicians and d'Abo's skills add • -do, not eyoke the frel;\_ZY of bi.Jilet" is a far cry from the Michael d' Abo . tune of ''The .Last · Match" up to an agreeable album. t)n-· ~heir counterparts on Di~ie naive "Please Mr. DJ play my A&M SP~3634 . .• ·: and. in the commonplaces of ' fort~mitely, it lacks that spark' Chicken, like "Two Trains" record" plaints of a dec­ -~-.:__-.,.,---~~~. ~. :._:.._....; "T G~Where My Spirit Leads of originalitY.or.character that _ · and "Fat Man in the Bathtub." ade ago. By Ken Emerson Me.'' On Rachel's Place ' · makes a · recqrd more than The ·syncopations of "Rock Though the Beach Boys and d'Abo's slant was quirkier and . ~ merely nice. apd Roll Doctor" are riveting the Who are historicallY- my · "The Might~' Quinn,;,_ the more 'interesting;. h~re he's a but the tune's over11ll format . favorite artists, I'd have to ad­ original Manfred Mann's·last · very capable journeyman. ,, is too choppy tci be uplifting. mit that ."Overnight Sensa­ · substantial hit in the States, After a promising begin- · Yet along with 'the title song, tioll" and "I Don't K now introduced Mi~hael d'Abo to ·ning,the jaunty ''Fuel To "Down The Road," and guit · What I Want" eclipse anything · American e·ars. -He was the Burn'' (which boasts the Jor- ' tarist Paul Barrere's "Skin It · either. bamt has done recently. · lead singer; . having replaced : · danaires' harmo'nies, Ben · Back,' ~ it qualifies as fine They also overshadow the rest Pa1,1l Jone~ (who )lad d~parted Keith's pedal steel, a banjo · . dance music. The ' latter two · of the album, which is almost to take up acting). But shortly· • and Graham Nash's merry : :also boast some rabulous · gui­ uniformly excellent and con· • thereafter the group broke up, · . harmonica), fJroken R·ain, · ta·r· interplay-between the tains three' other tracks which ·. and · since then d_!Abo -has ' bows's countryish first side· tricky and the breathtakingly likewise outshine most of the . dabbl~d · .. in theater, penned ' quickly runs· ~ut of steam: Jtr· simple. George's whining available product. "I Can .• several numbers 'popularized- perks up again only on the last · slide, which hasn't d.iminished Hardly Believe You're Mine" ' by others ("Build . Me Up, · cut, "I Go · Where My Spirit , . a bit, is on a lev·et with Ry · is a gorgeous rockaballad, Buttercup" and .most notably, .· Leads Me," · ·where a sweet · . Cooder's or Duane Allman's "Play On" has captivating har­ Rod Stt;wart's "Handbags And' melody and d'Abo's lovely pi-_. Feats Don't Fail Me Now but is instantly distinguishable monies over high-voltage·· Gladrags''.} and ' intermittent~ -ano overcome the unremark- · little Feat • from either. rocking and "Cruisin ~us ic" ly pur~ued a'·_rnodest career as able lyrics. This is also one o( ~ Warn'er Bros.· BS.,2784 Little Feat'$ deviations tiere· · is a consummately produced a singer/ songwriter. His la~t . ' d'Abo's finest vocals, although from their standard ure "Span· Beach Boys.style tribute to th~ A&M album, .Down · at Rach­ his easy tenor, which can rise By . Ben. Ger~on . ish Moon" and "Wait Till the . ·car radio. el's Pl'ace, was · quite Bi'itlsh. to im effective falsetto or shift, ' ,. , ,. Shit Hits the Fan." "Spanish . Starting Over is s.till not the and very pop. It sold, poorly, · to a gruffer _lower . register, is Little .. ~eat , beg~n 4!S a writer(, . .. Moon" is . ~ ~ayqM trance •.with ultimate. Raspberries triumph, which may ,_ b~ why Broken app~aling and ~oqyi.nciqg ·. ,:~ 9_!l.P..d ! ,.. tlJ,~ : !i t~is -i~ei~g - ~~.L ' i:.(&t wlinB i~ ,gro_wliogcl .. v-.