I recently found myself diving back into the Little Feat catalog, and came across a documentary on the band's founder, guitarist, and frontman Lowell George, called
Feats First - The Life & Music of Lowell George. Music docs, especially on the streaming services, are really hit and miss. Some are very well researched and presented, and others are painfully hard to watch.
Feats First is one of the good ones. Not only does it cover the band's origins, and tell the story in a fairly complete and comprehensive way, it is an excellent look at the Los Angeles music scene in the late-'60s and early-'70s. The archival footage is fantastic, and features interviews with Little Feat/Lowell George collaborators
Van Dyke Parks,
Russ Titelman,
George Massenburg, Little Feat band members, friends, and more.
Whether you are a fan of the music or not, Feats First is a fun watch, with loads of "behind the scenes" music industry insights, music production and studio stories, record label politics, and a look at how Little Feat developed into one of the era's funkier rock bands.
Directed by John Storey. Streaming on Prime Video/Freevee and Apple TV.
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.