If you've never heard Little Feat then you don't fully understand the concept of "Groove." Go out and get their live album "Waiting For Columbus" and skip straight to track 6 "Time Loves a Hero" (although you should listen to the whole thing over and over.) The drum intro to that song is a perfect intro to Richie Hayward's playing; impressive but not flashy, both loose and tight, and simply, utterly, GROOVING. It's no surprise that Richie is one of the most recorded drummers ever, both with Feat and as a session drummer for the likes of Robert Plant, Buddy Guy, Bob Seger, Robert Palmer, and many, many others (check out his credits page on Allmusic.com.)
I was lucky enough to spend a day with Richie when he recorded the Gryphon Labs song "Felt Like Love (Another)," and I was marveling at my fortune to have such a legend play on my album. I wish I could say I paid him thousands of dollars for his time, but the fact is he was willing to help out for free, simply because our producer Roger Cole asked him to. This song was a little different for him, a few bars of odd-time, some strange phrasing, yet he dove right in and gave us the most perfect pocket to build the rest of the song on.
The world is a whole lot less groovy now, we lost Richie last Thursday (or, as the guys in Little Feat are saying, he found a ride home) to the liver cancer that had kept him off the road for the last few years. Head over to LittleFeat.net to keep up on official memorials for Richie, including a tribute page. Check out the Labs tune he played on below, and of course, pick up any or all of the incredible body of work he left behind and get an education on "Groove."
Felt like Love (Another) by RColeMusic
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