Feat. Th' Feat!

How Little Feat got hooked up with jazzbo traps-smacker Chico Hamilton in '73 is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps they met at a craps game, or a lemonade stand. We just don't know. Also a mystery is why the album was allowed out in this beyond-wretched sleeve. Who in his right mind would want to look at this for more than, like, one tenth of a second? *shudder*

Lowell George, Paul Barrere, Kenny Gradney, Sam Clayton and Bill Payne are all over this, like white on rice. Weirdly, Richard Hayward didn't get the call, which is a shame, because he's a better drummer. You'd of thunk Chico would of realised this, but no. Maybe Hayward had a cold or something. We just don't know. Sweet funky jamming album, though but. Like, digsville!

Another mystery is how in the same year - between Dixie Chicken and Feats Don't Fail Me Know, when their career wasn't exactly in a trough, th' Feat also found the time to sit in on Kathy Dalton's album Amazing. There are several amazing things about this album, the most being its complete inability to amaze on any level. Not only does the best band in the world get to play, she's supported by cameos from Van Dyke Parks, Carl Wilson, and a top-dollar list of sessioners, on Zappa's DiscReet label. So it should be very nearly the best album, like, ever, right? Wrong. What we get is a competent bag of generic pop-rock tunes, which Kathy has a tendency to over-sing. Who's to blame? Step up Greg Dempsey, writer and producer. He was also part of the go-nowhere hippie duo Daughters Of Albion with - you guessed it - Ms. Dalton. He never worked again.

Last amazing fact about this album - it was released twice, under different titles with a meaningless track substitution, in equally repellent covers. Check out her beyond-awkward pose on the mustard n' ketchup Boogie Bands & One-Night Stands [left - Ed.]. Yeeuch. Dalton was one swell-looking dame - how could they get it so very wrong, twice? Anyway, it nosedived into the cut-out bins both times. Amazing!