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Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who
started out playing the harmonica in concert with his brother on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour,
a contest that also featured a young Frank Zappa doing puppetry. The meeting was more than
serendipitous.
While in high school, Lowell learned to play the flute
in marching band and orchestra.
At the age of eleven, he picked up a guitar, which would eventually
become his signature instrument.
(He would ultimately play it slide-style after a bizarre accident
involving a model airplane propeller.)
Ever musically curious, he also took on the saxophone and the
sitar.
In 1965, Lowell co-founded The Factory, where he met
Richie Hayward and re-united with school chum Martin Kibbee. The Factory shut down and Lowell
gravitated to The Standells in 1968, just in time
for them to break up, then did a brief stint with
Fraternity of Man. In November
of 1968, Frank Zappa hired him on to perform with The Mothers of Invention,
a collaboration that lasted about seven months.
The turn of the decade saw the formation of Little
Feat, which comprised Lowell, Mothers defector Roy Estrada, the
aforementioned Richie Hayward, and keyboardist Bill Payne. Little Feat recorded a string of
successful albums in the seventies, including their eponymous debut, Dixie Chicken, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, The Last Record Album, Sailin’
Shoes, Time Loves a Hero, and
Waiting for Columbus.
After the release of this last album, Lowell split the
band to work on a solo project, which manifested itself in 1979 as Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here. Lowell was on tour in support of
this album in the District of Columbia when he was found dead in at the Key
Bridge Marriott in nearby Arlington, Virginia. He had died of a massive coronary on
29th June 1979. On 2nd
August 1979, he was cremated, his remains flown to L.A. and scattered from
his fishing boat to the four winds of the Pacific Ocean. A scant two days later, a concert
was held in his honour: Guests included Jackson Browne,
Nicolette Larson, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, and
Linda Ronstadt. Browne
immortalized Lowell George in song with 1980’s “Of Missing
Persons”.
Lowell left behind an incredible recording legacy
which included collaborations with Duane Allman,
Blondie Chaplin, Delaney & Bonnie, Yvonne Elliman,
The Grateful Dead, Etta James, Linda Lewis, Martin & Finley, Maria Muldaur, Harry Nilsson, Robert Palmer, John Sebastian, Carly Simon, Steppenwolf, James Taylor, Jimmy Webb, and
Bill Wyman.
A commemorative CD, simply titled Rock-n-Roll Doctor – A Tribute to Lowell George,
featuring Browne, Raitt, Lowell’s daughter Inara, Eddie Money, Randy Newman, and J.D. Souther, was released in 1997.
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_George
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Feat
- http://members.aol.com/tedalvy/lg.htm
- http://www.littlefeat.net/documents/39.html#lowell
- http://www.united-mutations.com/g/lowell_george.htm
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