Paul Barrere of Little Feat passed away on Saturday at the age of 71. Was especially sad to hear the news since over the summer I marked the 40th anniversary of Little Feat founder Lowell George's death. Paul Barrere was around when Little Feat got started in the late '60s -- he went to high school with George and auditioned to be their bass player -- but wasn't in the original quartet lineup that recorded the first 2 albums. He came on board as their second guitarist when the band expanded to a sextet in 1972 and recorded their most enduring album, 1973's Dixie Chicken. Barrere had an increasingly large hand in the band's songwriting over the course of the '70s, and was, along with founding keyboardist Bill Payne, the driving force of the band after it reunited in the late '80s.

I made an 70-minute best of Paul Barrere playlist of his highlights as a singer and songwriter, from Dixie Chicken up through their only studio album of the past decade, 2012's Rooster Rag. He sang lead on some classic tracks like "Skin It Back" and "Time Loves A Hero." Barrere was only 28 when he wrote "Old Folks Boogie," playfully envisioning the band rocking out with wheelchairs and pacemakers someday, but even that song had oddly poignant turns of phrase like "when your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill." 

Barrere and Payne also wrote a number of tracks that Lowell George sang lead on, although I dug up the demos of "All That You Dream" and "Hi Roller" with Barrere on vocals for the playlist. And even though Little Feat hired a new singer, Pure Prairie League's Craig Fuller, who had a similar tone to Lowell George, to fill out their sound on their reunion albums, Barrere and Payne continued singing a good share of songs, with Barrere taking the lead on singles like "Let It Roll" and "Texas Twister." Much as Lowell George was first the overshadowed second guitarist in Frank Zappa's band and then stepped into the spotlight with Little Feat, Barrere came into his own in Little Feat's later years, showing he could execute the sound that George originated and put his own spin on it. The band continued after the death of founding drummer Richie Hayward in 2010, and played shows celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with and without Barrere. I don't know if Bill Payne will continue to lead Little Feat in any form, but a major chapter has definitely ended.

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