Customer Reviews

Ripe Tomatos

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After reading the negative comment about sound quality, I listened to both of these cd's last night before writing these comments. I don't care to argue with someone's ears, so I'll just give my view. If one is only reviewing the Lowell George numbers (in length, about one quarter or so of the entire set), then averaging the sound quality with the quality and rarity of the performances might come out to about three stars--still a very worthwhile listen for a fan of that era of Little Feat. The Beatles, the Grateful Dead, and the Doors (to name a few of many) have all issued "historic" performances of less than stellar sound quality, and fans treasure the opportunity to hear rarities from times that won't come our way again. The same goes for Little Feat. (No complaint at all on the sound quality of the remaining three-quarters of the cd's.) I note that much of Little Feat's "classic" mid-seventies work and performances are not represented on this set, but I assume that (a) they did not want substantial overlap with the recent excellent expanded re-release of Waiting for Columbus, and (b) they may issue entire concerts from that era at some point. The packaging and the liner notes are terrific, by the way.

That said, people won't completely enjoy these cd's unless they come to grips with the Little Feat of the last dozen or so years (and the last three-quarters of these cd's). Little Feat is NOT a "Lowell George tribute band," although they honor his memory and play his songs as well (or better) than ever. With Craig Fuller and, more recently, Shaun Murphy, they have had two great singers and songwriters. They are not Lowell George clones, so forget it if that's all you want. Murphy's "Rock & Roll Every Night" is right up there with "Fat Man in the Bath Tub" as my favorite Little Feat songs. And let's not forget Fred Tackett, a superb multi-instrumentalist that any band would covet. Add these people to the remaining five members of the "classic" lineup, and you have an outstanding band whose performances on these cd's rate five stars, and these cd's make an excellent introduction to these lineups. I have to admit that I've only come to fully appreciate the current Little Feat this year when I saw them in two shows (one featuring a guest return of Craig Fuller). Let's give the current lineup the credit they're due and get on with asking an important question: "Why isn't Little Feat in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame yet?!?!"

You might wonder why buy these sets if you have the Box Set and the remastered/extended Waiting For Columbus CD, but have a look at the track list, wait till you get to read through the great booklets/liner notes and then sit down for about 4 hours and simpy listen to this stuff. Sure, some of it is mixing board quality and is occasionally rough round the edges - but just two things - 1) it's consistently better than the Late Nite Truckstop double set in terms of playing and quality; and 2) just how fussy are you to hear more Lowell George stuff - the guy was a rock & roll genius, so anything previously unavailable has to be worth it. Move into the 80s/90s stuff and the quality of recording and playing just gets better and better.

The entry price is justified by live workouts of Mojo Haiku, Business As Usual, Hangin' on to the good times, Feelin's all gone and the 12 plus minutes Bill Payne dominated version of The Ingenue, plus the new studio reggae version of Under the radar.

It was 28 years between tours down here in Australia till the Feat got here in 2001. They were great live and left me wanting more. These CDs show you just how good they really can be right across their back catalogue of stuff.

If you are a Feat Fan, these CDs are a no brainer....just go buy them.

The Feat have finally done what us longtime and hardcore fans asked by releasing some classic tidbits from shows past and present. Earlier recordings come from cassette tapes & reels but sound quality is nowhere near as bad as another reviewer claims. If you like Feat you'll love RIPE and RAW. Listen for yourself rather than believing what one reviewer writes concerning quality.
Did all of Uncle Dick's Picks sound digitized? No way? Live music is just that-Live. That what makes it so great.

Next time Feat are in town, go see them... I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Okay, I really wanted to like this compilation, so I had to give it some time before I could come to the following conclusion: These are [cruddy] CDs. I cannot justify listening to these songs, no matter how much I like them, because the recording quality is so insultingly bad. Boy, did they scrape the bottom of the barrel with this one. I did not pay good money to hear distortion, fuzzy vocals, muted sections, and, get this, A RADIO ANNOUNCER GIVING HER STATION'S CALL LETTERS DURING A BROADCAST! Love Little Feat? then don't listen to these CDs.

I LOVE Little Feat! The first thing I ever heard by them was the LEGENDARY album "Waiting For Columbus", & to this day when I hear the opening notes of "Fat Man In The Bathtub" from that album, even when I'm in the car, I want to DANCE! I find myself bouncing to the beat behind the wheel! I also like post-Lowell George "Feat", although not quite as much, & I hope they put out more vintage concerts by both line-ups than the "Grateful Dead"! Previously when I wrote my review of this album, I tore it apart. I'd now like to retract that. On first listen, I was judging it by the standards of the afore-mentioned "Waiting For Colombus". NOTHING WILL EVER STACK UP TO THAT! That would be like expecting "The Rolling Stones" to top "Get Your Ya-Ya's Out" or "The Allman Brothers" to top "Live At Filmore East". (It just ain't gonna happen, ny friend!) After reading other reviews of this album, I got a better understanding of it & listened to it for what it was: A collection of rare, collectible performances of Little Feat, & the Late Great Lowell George in particular! In that light, this is an excellent, extremely enjoyable release! Lowell was a genius that was taken from us WAY TOO SOON, & I hope they NEVER stop putting out these vintage shows! If you're a fan of Little Feat, this is a MUST!! If you're looking to get introduced to live "Feat", though, & by some miracle you haven't heard "Colombus" yet, I suggest you get that first. However, when you finally get this, don't be stupid like I was & look for it to be "Colombus" revisited. You'll only cheat yourself out of enjoying great music from this INGENIUS, CRIMINALLY UNDER-RATED & UNDER-APRECIATED BAND!!

what a brilliant set of rarities...for those who don't have it, and for those who don't "get it", ripe tomatos (and its companion, raw tomatos) could be categorized as authorized bootlegs, compiled and sanctioned by the group itself on their own new record label. the closest comparison that comes to mind is the "dick's picks" series that the grateful dead release, prizing performance over sonic sheen. and what performances - too many to list, but suffice to say that it is a gumbo of recordings that show off the breadth and depth of their musicianship and their uniquely skewed cartoon americana perspective.

with this (and hopefully much more of the same) little feat gives further evidence that their legacy equals that of the other great american bands - such as the allmans, the band, los lobos, steely dan and a very few others. not only that, but their continued musical growth is astonishing. buy this, and then go see them. if still not satisfied, i will gladly refund your ignorance.

Slightly better sound than raw tomatos but still not worth the money. Apparantly Little Feat are attempting to cash in by issuing sound board tapes on their own label but the performances are not any better or even any different than what is already available at a higher sound quality.