Customer Reviews

Barnstormin Live 1

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Barnstormin' Live Vol. 1 shows Little Feat continuing to battle the Allman Brothers Band in the most live albums competition. However, this album focuses on their lesser known tracks which is a nice surprise. Tunes from the Lowell George era are kept to a minimum and even those present aren't among their classic tracks. As usual, the musicianship is top notch and there's more emphasis on Shaun Murphy's bluesy vocals than on their previous live recordings.

The album opens up with two tunes from the classic era, "Rocket In My Pocket" and "Keepin' Up With The Joneses", which are both great. Paul Barrere's lead vocals are smooth as usual and Fred Tackett provides some trumpet for color on the latter track. The tracks "Changin' Luck" and "Spider's Blues" are both decent enough with Shaun Murphy's vocals making "Changin' Luck" a much stronger version than the original. The easy highlight of the album is "One Clear Moment/Just Another Sunday" which features great vocals from Murphy and a killer jam at the end highlighting Bill Payne's exceptional piano playing. A nice surprise is Payne's short vocal of "Representing The Mambo" from the criminally neglected album of the same name. After this, the album slows down big time. The tracks "Walkin' As Two" and "Why Don't It Look Like The Way That It Talk" are from the Kickin' At The Barn album and are way too mellow for a live setting. "Last Night" is a cool slow blues sung by Sam Clayton and features some great harmonica from Barrere and a tasty guitar solo from Tackett. "Roll Um Easy" is from their classic Dixie Chicken album and continues the mellow theme. "The Blues Don't Tell It All" picks up the tempo but isn't one of their better tunes. Which brings us to the title of the album: Barnstormin' Live Vol. 1. You would think from the title you're getting another great jamming live album. But outside of "One Clear Moment/Just Another Sunday", the album is very mid-tempo and many of the tunes don't represent the title. The album would be more appropriate as well as more enjoyable if there were more "barnstormin'" tunes. And there are plenty of them from the post-Lowell George era that would fit the bill like "Stomp", a monster jam from the aforementioned Kickin' At The Barn, or songs like "Texas Twister" and "Mojo Haiku" from the albums with Craig Fuller. All told, a solid live album that could use more energetic songs to reflect its title.

While not quite as overwhelming as Live From Neon Park (my favorite of the Feats' modern era live recordings), this is a wonderful selection of Little Feat tunes. It is true that the groove is a little mellower than on some of the Feat's other live recordings, but mellow ain't necessarily bad. Fred Tackett's trumpet playing is spotlighted on several tracks, and there's lots of the subtle interplay between the players that makes Little Feat so enjoyable to see and hear.

I happen to completely disagree with E. Voorhies' opinion of Shaun Murphy -- she is a great singer and makes wonderful contributions to everything Little Feat does. She isn't Lowell George -- Lowell was, but he died. Shaun is Shaun and can be appreciated in her own right. Mssrs. Barerre, Payne, Hayward et al are exceptional musicians and they didn't invite her to join the group because they thought she would make it worse -- I mean, they're on the road together for at least 100 gigs a year and that's too much time to spend playing with someone you don't respect.

To summarize, while some may argue that this is not the best live Feat, they are a great band and if you listen with open ears the performances captured here really grow on you. Dig it.

I am a professional guitarist and vocalist and have been a Little feat fan ever since the Civil War. I have tried to like Shaun Murphy's vocals for several years now....tried and tried and tried. I'm tired of trying. Paul Barrere is one of the best blues/rock vocalists out there, and Bill Payne's not bad either, and anything she sings, they could do better. I have been wondering for years why I had never heard them perform my two favorite Little Feat songs...One Clear Moment and Changin Luck from my favorite feat album..Let it Roll. Now they're out, but I strongly disagree with John, the previous reviewer. They nowhere approach their previous magic with Shaun Murphy doing the vocal work. I just don't understand how anybody could say that honestly. Craig Fuller did a damn good job filling a hole left by the absence of Lowell George. His vocals on the original version on "One Clear Moment" made it one of the top five listened to songs on my CD player in the last 10 years. I'm glad to hear them do it live, finally, but either Paul or Bill should be singin the lead vocals. I'll probably wind up buying it anyway.