It was Lowell's high-school friendship with Frank Zappa that eventually lead to his choice of a music career. In the mid 1960's, Lowell  joined The Factory in1966, and made some demos with Zappa as producer. Towards the end of 1967, t, they had failed to create any hit records. While the other members of  The Factory evolved into Fraternity Of Man, Lowell joined The Standells as lead vocalist but only stayed with them for a few  months. He then joined up with Fraternity Of Man until  November 1968, when he  was hired by Zappa and recorded and toured with Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention until May 1969.  George said he was fired from the Mothers Of Invention because "I wrote a song about dope." The song was "Willin."

Lowell decided to form his own band. Choosing a memorable name for a new band is always a challenge. The diminutive Lowell simply looked down at his fat little feet, change the spelling of “feet” to “feat,”  and Little Feat was born. Although the band underwent several changes in its lineup, the music was always an eclectic blend of rock and roll, blues, country, folk, R&B, funk, and jazz fusion. Lowell primarily played lead guitar and lent his distinctive bluesy voice to their memorable songs.

Lowell was also one of the pioneers of the use of slide guitar in rock music,  and contributing to his distinctive slide style was “his use of compression that defined his sound and gave him the means to play his extended melodic lines." In the 1970s, Little Feat released a series of 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 became their best-selling album. and was hailed by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest live recordings ever released.

Ironically, one of Little Feat's best selling singles was "Willin," the song that got him fired from the Mothers Of Invention. The irony continued when Lowell collapsed in his room at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from an accidental drug overdose  and died on June 29, 1979 after playing at Lisner Auditorium where his final encore was a solo acoustic version of “Twenty Million Things (to do).”

So to celebrate Lowell's, birthday, we suggest playing his Dixie Chicken album while enjoying the album's eponymously named Dixie Chioken . Be sure to catch Jack Black's portrayal of Lowell in his Little Feat film.

Dixie Chicken

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