''Down on the Farm'' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in ...

. The album was completed and released shortly after the death of the band's founder and frontman, Lowell George, in 1979. It was their last original work for nine years. The band had announced their break-up in June 1979 during the making of the album. Little Feat would reform in 1987. The cover shows one of Neon Park's several ''duck-girls''—an allusion to "The Finishing Touch" by painter

Gil Elvgren Gillette Alexander Elvgren (March 15, 1914 – February 29, 1980) was an American painter of pin-up models, advertising and illustration. Best known for his pin-up paintings for Brown & Bigelow, Elvgren studied at the American Academ ...

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that "it's very much an album of songs, with none of the longish solos and other experiments that often seemed out of place on Little Feat albums in the past."

Track listing

Side One #"Down on the Farm" ( Paul Barrère) – 4:16 (lead singer: Paul Barrère) #"Six Feet of Snow" ( Lowell George,

Keith Godchaux Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948 – July 23, 1980) was an American pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979. Following their departure from the Dead, he and his wife Donna formed the H ...

) – 2:30 (lead singer: Lowell George) #"Perfect Imperfection" (Barrère, Tom Snow) – 3:46 (lead singer: Lowell George) #"Kokomo" (George) – 2:58 (lead singer: Lowell George) #"Be One Now" (George,

Fred Tackett Fredrick O. Tackett (born August 30, 1945) is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat. In addition to his work with Li ...

) – 4:05 (lead singer: Lowell George) Side Two #"Straight from the Heart" (George, Payne) – 4:59 (lead singer: Lowell George) #"Front Page News" (George, Payne) – 5:57 (lead singer: Lowell George) #"Wake up Dreaming" (Payne, Fran Payne) – 4:09 (lead singer: Bill Payne) #"Feel the Groove" (Clayton, Gordon DeWitty) – 4:49 (lead singer: Sam Clayton)

Charts

Personnel

Band members

* Paul Barrère – vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Sam Clayton – backing vocals,

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

, lead vocals on "Feel the Groove" * Lowell George – vocals, guitar *

Kenny Gradney Kenny Gradney (born February 25, 1950, in Baton Rouge) is an American bassist and songwriter, best known as a member of the band Little Feat. Biography He joined after their second album, replacing founding bassist Roy Estrada in 1972. Gradney ...

– bass *

Richie Hayward Richard Hayward (February 6, 1946 – August 12, 2010) was an American drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player. Hayward also joined with fri ...

– backing vocals, drums *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949, in Waco, Texas) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest A ...

– vocals, keyboards,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Additional personnel

Rosemary Butler Rosemary Butler may refer to: * Rosemary Butler (politician) Dame Rosemary Janet Mair Butler (''née'' McGrath; born 21 January 1943) is a British politician who served as Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales (now Llywydd of ...

– backing vocals *Gordon DeWitty – keyboards *

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock music, rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets (band), Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harriso ...

– guitar * Jerry Jumonville –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

Sneaky Pete Kleinow Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow (August 20, 1934 – January 6, 2007) was an American country-rock musician and animator. He was a member of the band the Flying Burrito Brothers, and worked extensively as a session musician, playing pedal stee ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

* David Lindley – guitar *

Earl Palmer Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American drummer. Considered one of the inventors of rock and roll, he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Palmer was one of the most prolific studio musicians of al ...

– drums ("Feel the Groove") *Fran Payne – backing vocals *

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

– backing vocals *Dan Smith – backing vocals *

– guitar (solo on "Kokomo") *Lee Thornburg –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

*Julia Waters – backing vocals *Luther Waters – backing vocals * Oren Waters – backing vocals *Maxine Willard Waters – backing vocals

References

{{Authority control 1979 albums Little Feat albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Lowell George Albums with cover art by Neon Park Albums recorded at Wally Heider Studios