Feat Firmly on the Ground : Re-Formed Band Has Been Tested Time and Again, but a Love for Music Keeps It Standing

At this point in its 25-year chronology, Little Feat has worked through its share of changes and has weathered the rough waters of controversy. Survivor instinct seems to run hot in its collective blood.

Its greatest challenge came when the band dared to start up again several years ago minus its founding father. Lowell George, the charismatic, volatile, possibly ingenious, cerebral soul man, ended the richest chapter of the band’s life when he died of heart failure in 1979. Now, the story of Little Feat must be divided into the Lowell era and post-Lowell era.

The band--which shows up in Orange County this week, at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano tonight and at the Galaxy Concert Theater in Santa Ana on Wednesday--has entered yet another phase of its saga. The latest transition period involved a number of unrelated, disconcerting incidents including the departure of singer Craig Fuller, the dissolution of Feat’s record company (the noble but doomed Morgan Creek) and the death of the band’s longtime visual soul mate, Neon Park, whose cover art for Feat albums captured an earthy absurdity that reflected the band’s musical bent (accent on bent).

Did all of these events conspire to test the band’s fiber? “It gave us a kick in the pants,” answered drummer Richie Hayward, on the phone from a tour stop in Phoenix, “and caused us to analyze why we do it, and we realized that we do it because we just love it. It’s been a part of our lives for 25 years. Life without it would be kind of empty.

“As long as we keep coming up with new songs instead of being some revival band trying to pay the rent, it’s all right. It still feels the same as it always did, as far as the creativity and the vent for our feelings. I’m really glad it’s back on track.”

Along with this new resolve, the band has a new album, its 13th, “Ain’t Had Enough Fun,” on the Zoo label. And it has a new singer--of a new gender for this male-ordered group. Shaun Murphy, whose bluesy style had been tapped for background work on recent Feat albums, has been promoted to lead singer status.

“Someone suggested Shaun,” Hayward recalled, “and we thought that would be just enough of a change that we could, in a superficial way, reinvent the band again and give it another fresh start, so to speak. It wouldn’t be somebody trying to sound like somebody trying to sound like Lowell, which I think would be the kiss of death.

“Her singing style is in keeping with the Little Feat style. She phrases and has a range more like Lowell than Craig did. She loves it like we do. So far, it’s been wonderful. She’s a real trouper and a lovely person.”

*

Hayward himself is unquestionably one of the forces keeping Little Feat alive and well. More than just another timekeeper, he has been churning the band’s turbines and giving the group its trademark pulse from the beginning. This month’s cover boy for Modern Drummer magazine, Hayward is a not-so-unsung hero in rock ‘n’ roll.

What is it about his drumming--which mixes rock drive with laconic New Orleans-y BBQ sauce and sophisticated, jazzy twists--that so defines the Little Feat sound? “I’ve never been able to figure it out,” the self-effacing drummer answered with a verbal shrug. “It’s seat-of-the-pants.

“One of my strongest loves about this band is that I get to play a little more originally than, say, if I were with Pat Benatar. I can express myself better and dig deeper into my soul and try to come up with something different. It’s fun to play. I have big fun with this band.”

The other band members don’t clip his wings?

“They do a little,” he answered with a laugh. “They come up and say ‘Hey, Richie, you know that really cool thing you did on the bridge? Don’t do that.’ ”

Hayward met up with George in 1965; the two linked up with keyboard player Bill Payne in 1969 to start Little Feat, a sort of avant-blues-rock band out of Los Angeles that leaned as much toward Captain Beefheart as toward swampy rock grooves. Longtime guitarist / singer Paul Barrere joined in the mid-’70s.

*

They all had a keen interest in the music of New Orleans and, as Hayward noted, in “blues in general. And we had in common that we were fans of various jazz artists--John Coltrane, Roland Kirk, Miles Davis.”

George is gone but not forgotten, least of all by Hayward. “He’s been a powerful influence on my playing and interpretation for 30 years now. He’s still there, whispering in my ear, sometimes saying nice things, sometimes not--just like he always did.”

Was the Lowell-era Little Feat a much more volatile experience--ready to explode at any moment--than the current model?

“Oh yeah. That was in the ‘70s, and there was a lot of amateur pharmacology going on,” Hayward pointed out. “That contributed to discord in a lot of ways. It didn’t bring out the best part of our personalities. So there was a lot of tension. You’re right, it was kind of like nitroglycerin. I think that contributed to the music, as well. Paul would go up on ‘Willing’ and whisper the wrong lyrics into Lowell’s ear.”

The new album’s most poignant tune, “Borderline Blues” is dedicated to the late artist Park, whose dizzy visual wit graces all the band’s albums. “He was like a member of the band,” Hayward said. “We thought there wasn’t any better representation for the covers than the work he put out for us.

“He had a very similar sense of humor to ours. You can’t take life too seriously without becoming a victim of your own negativity. When you really look at just about anything, it’s really silly, no matter how serious or tragic it might seem. Life always has an absurd element to it somewhere.”

Is Little Feat in it for the long haul?

“Nobody’s talking about quitting at this moment. No one has breathed a syllable about that since we got back together. As long as we can make a living doing this, we’re going to continue. No end in sight.” Besides, he added, “Neon’s wife has about 10 paintings that we haven’t used yet.”

* Little Feat plays tonight at 7 and 9:30 at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $28.50. Also Wednesday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana. (714) 496-8930.