The song appears on their first new album in 12 years

Little Feat has teamed with longtime friend Bonnie Raitt to cover Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call.” The song appears on their new album Sam’s Place, due on Friday, May 17th via Hot Tomato Productions/MRI.

“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 shares.

Sam’s Place marks the legendary band’s first new studio album in 12 years. It’s also their first-ever blues album and the first to feature linchpin conga player Clayton on lead vocals on every song.

“Every Feat fan loves us some Sam,” adds Raitt. “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!”

Little Feat emerged from the pandemic with their sense of humor, chops, and collective joy in playing intact—and their creativity has been renewed with the joyously blues-soaked Sam’s Place. The idea for the album started with Bill, but the whole band jumped in. They started working on songs at sound checks. Sam, Scott and Fred wrote a new song, “Milk Man.” Visiting backstage at a Feat show, Bonnie Raitt suggested the Howlin’ Wolf tune “You Will Be Mine.” Scott suggested “Why People Like That,” a Bobby Charles tune. Sam chose the Willy Dixon-penned “Don’t Go No Further,” a deep Muddy track. And they included a live version of “Got My Mojo Working.”

Scott had recorded in Memphis, and they eventually found their way to the second Phillips (the first was Sun Studios, where Elvis began his career) studio there, complete with Jerry Lee Lewis’s piano, which Bill noted “practically played itself.” FEAT’s a rock band, but as Scott observed, at the end “the blues is home,” and they basically recorded it live in the studio, in the tradition. Their playing is at an all-time high, and Bill thought their musical conversation was “flawless.”

Sam was a happy vocalist. His own “Milk Man,” a song about his nephew, has lyrics from his wife, Joni. The duet with Bonnie on “Long Distance Call,” he humbly admitted, was classic. “We go good together, man.” “Last Night” was done in memory of Sam’s very good friend, the late Ed Bradley of Sixty Minutes. And “Why People Like That” was particularly satisfying. “I just like the way the slide sounds and everything. I knew Scott is a great slide player too, plus he is a great lead guitarist. And I know we would put our touch to it, the Little Feat touch. So we just sort of did it. Scott just adds a lot to it and he answers to what I’m singing.”

Sam’s Place scratches a deep itch. Sam added, “I’m very happy because I was never expecting anything like that. 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.”

Little Feat will be busy this summer on the road. From touring with the Tedeschi Trucks Band to headline shows with The Wood Brothers, Los Lobos, Marc Broussard, Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel, The Steel Wheels, and Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, there will be plenty of chances to boogie with the band. For their Baltimore, Maryland show on June 14th, Little Feat will perform their classic 1973 album, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, in its entirety.