Guest
With some persistence, a little patience, and a lot of help from the Midnight Special group, the Little Feat performance from the August 9, 1974 Midnight Special can now be shared. The Midnight Special was listed as a Friday show but actually aired at 1:00 am eastern/12am central (Saturday August 10, 1974). The Midnight Special aired on NBC and followed the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. In 1974, the Tonight Show was a 90 minute show (11:30pm to 1:00am)and changed to an hour format in 1980. On this night, Joey Bishop was the guest host on the Tonight Show and his guest were Rod McKuen and a young Susan Sarandon. The Midnight Special was hosted by Sly & the Family Stone and, along with Little Feat, included Roger McGuinn, Elvin Bishop, and Henry Gross. Little Feat taped their segment for the Midnight Special at NBC Studios, Burbank California in early July 1974 and were supporting the album “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now“, which was just released. According to Elizabeth George, the Little Feat segment was taped before July 4th because Lowell was able to fly back to Maryland for the birth of his daughter, Inara George. Little Feat performed “Tripe Face Boogie” and “Willin’”. (Side note: President Richard Nixon had just resigned from his United States Presidency on national television the night before, August 8, 1974) Little Feat: Lowell George - Vocals, Slide Guitar and Acoustic Guitar Bill Payne - Piano Paul Barrere - Guitar Richie Hayward - Drums and Backing Vocals Kenny Gradney - Bass Sam Clayton - Percussion and Backing Vocals Introduction by Sly Stone Please visit the Midnight Special Youtube page
