Acclaimed for its inspired weave of rock, country, down-home funk, West Coast pop, and a myriad of other subgenres, Little Feat was cofounded in 1969 by former members of Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention, Lowell George and Roy Estrada, with bandmates Bill Payne and Richie Hayward. The group had a huge Southern California following and in 1970 they scored a deal with Warner Bros., which would issue the band’s first 11 albums, from 1971’s Little Feat through 1990’s Representing The Mambo. After the second album, Estrada left, and Paul Barrére, Kenny Gradney, and Sam Clayton became members. Following Lowell’s death in 1979, the group wrapped up an album in the works, then they each went off to do other things -- which included an enormous amount of session work for other major recording artists. It surprised everyone when the band re-emerged in the late ’80s with its unique musical vision intact.   

The four-CD Hotcakes & Outtakes boxed set celebrates the 30th anniversary of this West Coast outfit and covers all the phases, stages, and hiatuses, right up to the late ’90s. (Discs 1 & 2 represent the classic Warner Bros. years, with Lowell George at the helm; disc 3 gathers highlights from all of the albums the group has made since their 1988 reunion; and disc 4 is entirely comprised of previously unreleased Lowell George-era rarities recently found in the Warner Bros. vaults.)