Little Feat HOY HOY

Producers include: Bill Payne, George Massenburg, Paul Barrere.
Although it offers a retrospective of the years Lowell George spent with Little Feat, HOY-HOY is not a greatest hits package, nor is it a collection of leftovers a la Led Zeppelin's CODA. Rather, HOY-HOY inhabits a middle zone between the two, collecting a few early album tracks, then supplementing them with unreleased live tracks and demos.
Many familiar songs are represented here--albeit not always in their most familiar incarnations--and enough pleasant surprises are thrown in to make HOY-HOY a real treat for both fans of the band and lovers of classic '70s rock. Among tracks in the latter category are George's funkified remake of the Hank Williams classic "Lonesome Whistle," an early take on The Coasters' "Framed," and a great slow shuffle that was inexplicably left off George's solo album ("China White"). Of the live tracks, some bring something new to old favorites, while others simply remind listeners of what it was that made this band so special. Because of its haphazard focus, HOY-HOY isn't the first Little Feat album to get, but it is a record that belongs in the collection of any fan of the group.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Oldies