I'm 50: Little Feat, LITTLE FEAT

Dropping the needle on Little Feat's January 1971 debut, and it's easy to surmise it as the destination the Rolling Stones were hoping to arrive at when they decamped to France to make Exile on Main Street in 1972. The band's self-titled debut is steeped in down and dusty country-fried rock that plays like the very definition of Americana.

Recorded at the tail end of summer 1970 in August and September of that year, Lowell George, Bill Payne, Richard Hayward and Roy Estrada shuttled between Los Angeles studios The Record Plant and United Western Recorders to bring the album to life. Capturing the decidedly West Coast vibes of the record with a mural from Venice, California serving as the album cover, Little Feat offered up a swirling panorama of roots rock 'n' roll steeped in dirty blues.

While Little Feat went on to gain fame and notoriety further along in the band's storied career, Little Feat is a treasure chest chock full of authentic goodness that stands right alongside the outfit's more popular work.