Lowell George

Lowell George
Background information
Born	April 13 1945(1945--) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Died	June 29 1979 (aged 34) Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Genre(s)	Rock
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1965 - 1979
Label(s)	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Little Feat
Notable instrument(s)
Fender Stratocaster

Lowell Thomas George (April 13, 1945 - June 29, 1979) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and guitarist, most prominently with the rock group Little Feat. His specialty was slide guitar.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Lowell George was born in Hollywood, the son of Willard H. George, a famous furrier who raised chinchillas and supplied furs to the movie studios (he was also known as the "furrier to the stars").

His first instrument was the harmonica. At the age of 6 he appeared on a television talent show (Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour) performing a duet with his older brother, Hampton. At Hollywood High School (Little Feat member Paul Barrere was a schoolmate) Lowell took up the flute in the marching band and school orchestra. He started to play guitar at age 11, continued with the harmonica, and later learned to play the saxophone and sitar.

He is best known and remembered for his outstanding ability on the slide guitar. Although he experimented earlier with playing with a slide, an injury to his hand involving a model aeroplane propeller (see Neon Park's cover for Little Feat's Under the Radar) during the recording of Little Feat's first album prompted him to pursue the style. Rather than the traditional glass or steel slide, George employed a Sears & Roebuck 11/16ths spark-plug socket wrench. Although not the first – since 1965 Ry Cooder had been playing slide live and on albums – George was certainly amongst the pioneers of the use of slide guitar in rock music. Also contributing to his distinctive slide style, it was "his use of compression that defined his sound and gave him the means to play his extended melodic lines."^[1] Both Cooder and George are cited by The Rolling Stones as major influences on the sound of their Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed albums.

George's first band, The Factory, formed in 1965. Members included future Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward (he replaced Dallas Taylor in Sept 1966), and Martin Kibbee (a.k.a. Fred Martin) who would later co-write several Little Feat standards, including "Dixie Chicken" and "Rock & Roll Doctor". Frank Zappa produced two tracks for The Factory.

Following the demise of The Factory, George briefly joined established hit band The Standells, although by this time (1968) they were past their prime, and soon to split. There followed a few months in late 1968 / early 1969 where George was a member of Zappa's band, the Mothers of Invention. According to George's recollection, he was kicked out of Zappa's group after proposing the song "Willin'," ostensibly because it was about drugs. (The song about a truck driver contains references to drug and alcohol use.) "Willin'" and "Dixie Chicken" are his most well known and frequently recorded songs.

Little Feat enjoyed popularity throughout the 1970s, releasing a series of highly regarded studio albums: Little Feat, Sailin' Shoes, Dixie Chicken, Feats Don't Fail Me Now, The Last Record Album, and Time Loves A Hero. The group's 1978 live album Waiting For Columbus, hailed by some as one of the greatest ever live albums, became their best-selling release.

George was also a notable producer, with his most famous work being the production of the Grateful Dead's 1978 release Shakedown Street.

In 1979, George released the solo album Thanks, I'll Eat it Here.

On June 15, 1979, he began a tour in support of the album. The tour included a stop in Washington D.C., where Little Feat and George had a large following. Playing at Lisner Auditorium, on the campus of George Washington University -- a popular venue where he had played many shows with Little Feat -- George put on an excellent show, focused on his new album. George returned to his room at the Key Bridge Marriott hotel in Arlington, Virginia. After falling ill in his room, Lowell George died on June 29, 1979, aged 34. Although George was a long time drug user, the policeman who attended the scene found no evidence of drug paraphernalia, or of drugs having been removed from the scene. Overweight and a habitual heavy smoker, George's hard-working rock and roll lifestyle had apparently taken its toll. An autopsy showed that he died of a massive heart attack. Lowell George's body was cremated in Washington D.C. on August 2. His ashes were flown back to Los Angeles, where they were scattered in the Pacific Ocean from his fishing boat.

Posthumous Tributes

A benefit concert for Lowell George's family was held shortly after his death at The Forum in Los Angeles on August 4, 1979, featuring Little Feat, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Nicolette Larson, among others.

Jackson Browne memorialized George in his 1980 song "Of Missing Persons" ^[2], written about George and addressed to his daughter, Inara George.

In 1997, the CD "Rock-n-Roll Doctor - A Tribute To Lowell George" was released featuring various artists performing versions of Lowell George's songs, including Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Bonnie Raitt, Eddie Money, Randy Newman, and Lowell George's daughter Inara George.

External links

• Lowell George Discography
• Little Feat website
• Lowell George tribute site

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References

1. ^ Rock and Roll Doctor--Lowell George: Guitarist, Songwriter and Founder of Little Feat, by Mark Brend, Backbeat Books, Oct. 2002, p.75,
2. ^ „Of Missing Persons“ «(The Album) „Hold Out“ was released in June 1980 and went straight to #1. (It was certified platinum within 3 months of release and stayed on the charts for 38 weeks.) ... The song „Of Missing Persons“ was written about his friend Lowell George who had recently died and was dedicated to Lowell's daughter.»

• Brend, Mark (2002). Rock and Roll Doctor. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-726-9. 

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