Photo Credit: Fletcher Moore

Today, May 16, Little Feat continue the rollout of the hotly anticipated forthcoming album Sam’s Place with “Long Distance Call,” the third preview single to date. Progressively upping the ante, this latest selection figures Feat alongside the legendary Bonnie Raitt for a soul-stirring treatment of the Muddy Waters classic, which further defines the outfit’s distinctive sound on its first-ever blues album. Sam’s Place–slated to arrive tomorrow, May 17–also marks the band’s first full-length release in 12 years, sating a fervent five-decade fanbase with a bold new turn led by longtime conga player and vocalist Sam Clayton.

“I’ve always loved Little Feat, and this new incarnation of the band is bringing some serious heat, cred and new blood to their enduring legacy,” Raitt–a longtime friend to Little Feat–offers on the new collaboration. The country legend adds her inimitably warm and dynamic vocals to the gritty, slow-burning select, framing hazy harmonies against Clayton’s aching growl, which assumes the spotlight for the first time on this cycle. “Every Feat fan loves us some Sam,” Raitt adds. “I’m so glad he’s now gotten a chance to step out front and center and put his spin on these wonderful blues songs. I loved singing ‘Long Distance Call’ with him, always one of my favorites, and Scott slayed on slide. Know you’ll enjoy hanging out with us at Sam’s Place!” “ “We go good together, man,” Clayton humbly echoes.

Sam’s Place is the 16th studio album from Little Feat, and the first move the group has made in over a decade. Its blues form draws a latent strain in its classic Southern rock sound to the fore, realizing a long-simmering ambition of Clayton and his bandmates, now comprising keyboardist Bill Payne, guitarist Fred Tackett, bassist Kenny Gradney and newly-minted guitarist Scott Sharrard and drummer Tony Leone, with additional vocals soaring out from the lot through the course of the album. “I’m very happy because I was never expecting anything like that,” Clayton says on the eve of the album’s release. “I mean, I have wanted to, but I just wasn’t expecting it to come to fruition. It was a long wait, but it’s satisfying.” 

The new nine-track LP features fresh cover treatment of blues standards from icons like Willie Dixon, Bobby Charles, Preston Walker and, of course, the great Chicago blues innovator Muddy Waters. As a cherry on top, the album opens with “Milkman,” an original track penned by Clayton, Tackett and Sharrard that follows in the footsteps of those legends before them. The project came together in the hallowed halls of Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, Tenn., harkening back to the origins of the form Feat wears so well. That legacy comes through in the energetic vamp of Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano, which the Payne notes “practically played itself.”

At long last, Sam’s Place will release in full tomorrow, May 16; fans can pre-order and pre-save the album here. Listen to “Long Distance Call” below.

Read on for the complete tracklist for Sam’s Place.

Little Feat’s Sam’s Place Tracklist:
1.   Milkman- Written by Sam Clayton (ASCAP), Fred Tackett for Hoceanna Music (ASCAP), and Scott Sharrard for Brickyard Blues Music BMI 
2.   You’ll Be Mine – Written by Willie Dixon for Hoochie Coochie Music (BMI)
3.   Long Distance Call – Written by Muddy Waters for Watertoons (BMI)
4.   Don’t Go No Further – Written by Willie Dixon for Hoochie Coochie Music (BMI)
5.   Can’t Be Satisfied – Written by Muddy Waters for Watertoons (BMI)
6.   Last Night – Written by Walter Jacobs for ARC Music (BMI)
7.   Why People Like That – Written by Bobby Charles for Street People Songs (BMI)
8.   Mellow Down Easy – Written by Willie Dixon for BMG Bumblebee (BMI)
9.   Got My Mojo Working (Live) – Written by Preston Foster for Dar Music, Inc (BMI)