Friday, September 25, 2020

It's A Factory Record!

Those expecting something from Manchester miserablists New Order, Joy Division, The Smiths etc. will be disappoint. And those hankering for loft-art-noise from Andy Warhol's evil succubi will be equally ill-served. This is the swell album made by most of Little Feat before they became Little Feat, as The Factory. Typically, they disown it (even in the liner notes), and they're damn wrong. It's brilliant psych-pop-rock, and the tracks recorded in '66 are jaw-droppingly ahead of their time.

This version has the added bonus of no prototype Little Feat tracks (bundled as a sales incentive to the CD) which sound better - and right - on a Little Feat album. The CD release also had a below-par Neon Park cover, wrongly suggesting a below-par Little Feat album.

The group featured in a couple of TV shows, and I'll put the clips here if I (or you) can find them. EDIT: Yay!!!!!!


Sitarswami sent in a couple of super-precious B-sides, which I've seamlessly integrated into the whole, and added an improved cover redolent of the times. All this available at no extra cost in the comments. Note: The early Little Feat tracks are not included, because this ain't Little Feat. I'm finding a home for them - stay tuned, subscribers!


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22 comments:

  1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 25, 2020 at 7:22 AM

    Want this?

    ReplyDelete
  2. FiveGunsWestSeptember 25, 2020 at 7:29 AM

    Yip.

    ReplyDelete
  3. jonderSeptember 25, 2020 at 8:11 AM

    I wannit, and I’ll have a teenage -- er, AARP-eligible-age -- nervous breakdown if I can’t have it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 25, 2020 at 8:25 AM

    Well, pals, if ever there was a lost classic in a genre super-saturated with "lost classics", this is it.

    https://workupload.com/file/eQSfmZFAzgS

    ReplyDelete
  5. UncleBSeptember 25, 2020 at 10:46 AM

    And here I thought it aw about to git all artsy rocksy up in heah... Thought fer shure we were about to have something related to ANDY WARHOL served up to us... (Urp) Lou Red that write. I "surmised," "assumed" and "chicken counted," ALL before reading ANYTHING but the Foam-head-line. Who, moi?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 25, 2020 at 11:31 AM

      Good (missed) connection. I'll amend the text.

      Delete
    2. UncleBSeptember 26, 2020 at 7:13 AM

      Amen to Tex?

      Wait.

      Ne-e-e-e-ever mind (Emily Litella).

      I think I need new glasses....

      Delete
  6. pmacSeptember 25, 2020 at 3:43 PM

    Good lawd, F Troop and Gomer Pyle. 60s TV comedies come to the Isle of Foam. Where's my Slinky?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 25, 2020 at 4:52 PM

      Th' Isle O' Foam© has a Lost Ark warehouse full of this stuff. It was here when we arrived - spooky!

      Delete
  7. JJWombatSeptember 25, 2020 at 7:07 PM

    Herewith the artwork for Lowell George & The Factory 's 1993 reissue as 'Lightning-Rod Man': https://we.tl/t-KIHXYaaMLy
    Leiber & Stoller's 'Framed' is less frantic than The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's - but more chillin'

    ReplyDelete
  8. SitarswamiSeptember 26, 2020 at 3:16 AM

    And here are the b-sides to the two Factory 45s, both from 1967. "When I Was A Apple" is the flipside of "Smile Let Your Life Begin, and "Bo Diddley" (not what you think) is the flip of "No Place I'd Rather Be" which are credited to Emil Richards & The Factory. It's a shame no one has turned up a Lowell George recording of his Gary Lewis & the Playboys single "Has She Got the Nicest Eyes" which was recorded around the same time as the Factory.

    Factory b-sides: https://www94.zippyshare.com/v/7wXVULK8/file.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dave HeasmanSeptember 26, 2020 at 6:12 AM

    Martin F Kibbee! aka Fred Martin. Lyricist and, it seems, bassist.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 26, 2020 at 4:27 PM

    New version: https://workupload.com/file/8EMBnmv55ff

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JJWombatSeptember 26, 2020 at 5:28 PM

      Additional five tracks are included on Lowell George & The Factory "Lightning-Rod Man" album: https://bit.ly/3i6GSMX
      Viz:
      11 - Candy Cane Madness (Live Version)
      12 - Crack In Your Door
      13 - Teenage Nervous Breakdown
      14 - Framed
      15 - Juliet

      Delete
    2. JJWombatSeptember 26, 2020 at 5:40 PM

      I should note that, on these extra tracks, the players include:
      Bass – Roy Estrada
      Guitar – Elliot Ingber
      Piano – Bill Payne
      Saxophone – Ian Underwood

      (for the completeists)

      Delete
    3. JJWombatSeptember 26, 2020 at 5:46 PM

      Also just realised that tracks dates are:
      Tracks 1+6: Fall '66
      Track 2 : February/March 1966
      Track 3 : January 1967
      Track 4 : February 1967
      Track 7 : Summer '67
      Tracks 9+10+11 : 8/18/66
      Track 12 : late '69
      Tracks 12-15 are all Lowell George post-Factory

      Only just read your "Note: The early Little Feat tracks"

      Delete
    4. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 26, 2020 at 6:08 PM

      Yup. As punishment for NOT READING THE POST (how hard can this be?) you are hereby sentenced to listen to an Ed Sheeran album.

      Delete
    5. JJWombatSeptember 26, 2020 at 11:32 PM

      Which one? Is there a choice? Is life worth living thereafter?

      Delete
  11. MrDaveSeptember 26, 2020 at 8:47 PM

    Wow, what a treasure trove has been presented for my amusement here -- thanks guys!

    ReplyDelete
  12. apaulingSeptember 26, 2020 at 11:44 PM

    Thanks for the swell proto-Feat tracks, Farq & Sitarswami!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jonderSeptember 27, 2020 at 5:07 PM

      Yes, many thanks to Farq, Sitarswami and JJ Wombat for the baby Feat!

      Delete

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