Little Feat recently lost one of its founding members: the great drummer Richie Hayward died on August 12, 2010 of pneumonia and complications from lung disease. To really appreciate his artistry, its important to understand his group. Little Feat's early leader - its singer and main songwriter - was Lowell George, one of the greatest of rock musicians. His talent, work ethic and democratic leadership allowed the band to grow at an incredible rate. Along the way they seem to have amalgamated virtually every form of American music into their style. They released an excellent self-titled first album in 1971, but their second, Sailin' Shoes (1972) was the first of many masterpieces to come. Over the years the lineup changed to include Paul Barrere (guitar), Sam Clayton (percussion), and Ken Gradney (bass), while the original core of Hayward, George and pianist Bill Payne remained intact. (Other important contributions to the Little Feat legacy have been made by Roy Estrada, Shaun Murphy, Craig Fuller and Fred Tackett.) I'm going to write about them for the next few days, but for today, I'm going to recommend you give a listen to the opening track to Sailin' Shoes, "Easy to Slip". It puts many of Richie's greatest attributes on display - his touch, his funk, his use of space, his technical ability. He'll be missed.