We Lost Lowell George 42 Years Ago Today!

Legendary singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Lowell George died of a heart attack on this day in 1979. The Little Feat front man was found dead at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. George joined Zappa’s Mothers of Invention as rhythm guitarist in 1968, He  produced and played on many artists albums including playing guitar on John Cale’s 1973 album Paris 1919, Harry Nilsson’s Son of Schmilsson album, Jackson Browne’s The Pretender and Robert Palmer’s first two solo albums. But when one thinks of Lowell George one thinks of his band Little Feat. I sat with Lowell at WXRT in 1975 and did an interview and then got to see the band at The Aragon that night! What a treat! Still a great memory. Little Feat released several other studio albums in the 1970s after “Little Feat” and “Sailing’ Shoes” including: “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”, “The Last Record Album” and “Time Loves A Hero”. The group’s 1978 live album “Waiting For Columbus ” turned out to be their best-selling album. Here’s the best story I found about Lowell’s passing. Fred Tackett guitarist w/ Little Feat tells it this way: “We were driving down the New Jersey Turnpike  in this bus and we stopped at this pizza joint off the highway. Everybody in the band shared a cheese pizza but Lowell bought a large pizza with everything on it, carried it to the back of the bus, and he ate the entire pizza by himself. He died two or three days later. So, when people ask me, ‘What really killed Lowell?’ I say, ‘It was a pizza on the New Jersey Turnpike.’

Lowell George gone way too early (at the young age of 34).