The Last Record Album
| The Last Record Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover artwork, with giant orange jelly, by Neon Park | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1975 at The Sound Factory, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Southern rock, swamp rock, boogie rock, blues rock | |||
| Length | 38:17 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Lowell George | |||
| Little Feat chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B–[2] |
| Rolling Stone | (not rated) [3] |
The Last Record Album is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Little Feat, released in 1975.
Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "For a very short album -- only eight songs -- too many of the cuts fall flat. Those that succeed, however, are quite good, particularly Paul Barrere and Bill Payne's gently propulsive 'All That You Dream,' Lowell George's beautiful 'Long Distance Love,' and the sublime 'Mercenary Territory' .... There are enough signs of Little Feat's true character on The Last Record Album -- the three previously mentioned songs are essential for any Feat fan -- to make it fairly enjoyable, but it's clear that the band is beginning to run out of steam."[4]
The album's back cover includes the record's lyrics. One song, "Hi Roller," was marked out in black ink with the annotation "Maybe Next Time". The song was indeed included on their next album Time Loves a Hero.
The track "Long Distance Love" was placed at number 26 in John Peel's 1976 "Festive Fifty".[5]
Writing for The Guardian in 2010, after the death of Richie Hayward, Adam Sweeting commented:
The Last Record Album (1975) was a less cohesive effort, but continued the group's upward commercial progress. In hindsight, there is bleak irony in the way George chose to decorate the album's sleeve with the medical bills racked up by Hayward following a serious motorcycle accident ... During his final illness, when he had moved to Canada, Hayward's lack of medical insurance left him facing huge bills for treatment.[6]
Track listing
Side One
- "Romance Dance" (Barrère, Ken Gradney, Payne) – 3:49 (lead singers: Bill Payne, Paul Barrere)
- "All That You Dream" (Barrère, Payne) – 3:52 (lead singer: Lowell George)
- "Long Distance Love" (George) – 2:43 (lead singer: Lowell George)
- "Day or Night" (Payne, Fran Tate) – 6:24 (lead singers: Bill Payne, Paul Barrere)
Side Two
- "One Love Stand" (Barrère, Gradney, Payne) – 4:26 (lead singer: Lowell George)
- "Down Below the Borderline" (George) – 3:41 (lead singer: Lowell George)
- "Somebody's Leavin'" (Payne) – 5:07 (lead singer: Bill Payne)
- "Mercenary Territory" (George, Hayward, Elisabeth George) – 4:27 (lead singer: Lowell George)
Additional tracks on CD (the omitted tracks from the single CD version of Waiting For Columbus)
- "Don't Bogart That Joint" (live) (Ingber, Wagner) – 1:03
- "A Apolitical Blues" (live) (George) – 3:41
Personnel
Musicians
- Paul Barrère - guitar, vocals
- Sam Clayton - congas
- Lowell George - vocals, guitar
- Kenny Gradney - bass
- Richard Hayward - drums, vocals
- Bill Payne - keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
- Valerie Carter - backing vocals (tracks 3 and 5)
- John Hall - guitar (track 2)
- Fran Tate - backing vocals (tracks 3 and 5)
Production
- Lowell George - producer
- George Massenburg - engineer
- Neon Park - cover artwork
References
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. The Last Record Album at AllMusic
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: L". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 1, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Little Feat: The Last Record Album". allmusic.com/. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ "Little Feat: Festive 50 tracks". bbc.co.uk. November 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ Adam Sweeting. "Richie Hayward obituary | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-02-20.