“Thanks, I’ll Eat it Here” is the title of the only solo album by the late rock and roll singer-songwriter Lowell George. While George is best known for his work with Little Feat, by 1977 Lowell felt that they were moving increasingly into jazz-rock, a form in which he felt little interest. As a result, he began working on his own album. “Thanks I’ll Eat it Here” is an eclectic mix of styles reminiscent of Little Feat’s earlier albums in particular Dixie Chicken, on which the track Two Trains originally appeared. The album was released just before the death of Lowell George in 1979 and has cover art by Neon Park (a feature of almost all Little Feat albums) containing several pop-/cult references including a picnic scene, mirroring Édouard Manet’s “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe”, which shows Bob Dylan, Fidel Castro and Marlene Dietrich as Der Blaue Engel with an open copy of Howl beside them. “Thanks I’ll Eat it Here” is strikingly different from the fusion-leanings of Little Feat’s last studio album, “Time Loves a Hero”. Lowell George never cared for jazz-fusion, so it should be little surprise that there’s none to be heard on Thanks. Instead, he picks up where Dixie Chicken left off (he even reworks that album’s standout “Two Trains”), turning in a laid-back, organic collection of tunes equal parts New Orleans R&B, country, sophisticated blues, and pop. George wasn’t in good health during the sessions for Thanks, which you wouldn’t tell by his engaging performances, but from the lack of new tunes. Out of the nine songs on the album, only three are originals, and they’re all collaborations. That’s a drawback only in retrospect it’s hard not to wish that the last album George completed had more of his own songs but Lowell was a first-rate interpreter, so even covers of Allen Toussaint (“What Do You Want the Girl to Do”), Ann Peebles (“I Can’t Stand the Rain”) and Rickie Lee Jones (“Easy Money”) wind up sounding of piece with the original songs. George’s music rolls so easy, the album can seem a little slight at first, but it winds up being a real charmer. Yes, a few songs drift by and, yes, Jimmy Webb’s vaudevellian “Himmler’s Ring” feels terribly out of place, but Lowell’s style is so distinctive and his performances so soulful, it’s hard not to like this record if you’ve ever had a fondness for Little Feat. After all, it’s earthier and more satisfying than any Feat album since “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” and it has the absolutely gorgeous “20 Million Things,” the last great song George ever wrote.
01. “What Do You Want the Girl to Do” (Allen Toussaint) - 4:46
02. “Honest Man” (Lowell George and Fred Tackett) - 3:45
03. “Two Trains” (Lowell George) - 4:32
04. “Can’t Stand the Rain” (Ann Peebles) - 3:21
05. “Cheek to Cheek” (Lowell George, Van Dyke Parks and Martin Kibbee) - 2:23
06. “Easy Money” (Rickie Lee Jones) - 3:29
07. “Twenty Million Things” (Lowell George and Jed Levy) - 2:50
08. “Find a River” (Fred Tackett) - 3:45
09. “Himmler’s Ring” (Jimmy Webb) - 2:28
10. “Heartache” (CD-bonus track with Valerie Carter) (Lowell George and Ivan Ulz) - 2:28
Credits
Lowell George – Guitar, Vocals and Production
Bonnie Raitt – Vocals
James Newton Howard – keyboards
Chuck Rainey – Bass
Denny Christianson – Keyboards
David Foster – Keyboards
Chilli Charles – Drums
Nicky Hopkins – Keyboards & Horn
Jim Price – Horn
Jim Keltner – Drums
Jim Gordon – Drums
Michael Baird – Drums & Bass
Dennis Belfield – Bass
Bobby Bruce – Violin, Guitar
Turner Stephen Bruton – Guitar & Horn
Dennis Christianson – Horn
Luis Damian – Guitar & keyboards
Gordon DeWitte – Keyboards & Piano
Maxine Dixon – Piano
Arthur Gerst – Piano
Jimmy Greenspoon – Guitar, Piano
Roberto Gutierrez – Vocals, Guitar, Drums
Richie Hayward – Drums
Jerry Jumonville – Saxophone & Guitar
Ron Koss – Guitar & Engineering
Darrell Leonard – Horn & Vocals
Maxayn Lewis – Vocals
David Paich – Drums
Jeff Porcaro – Drums, guitar
Dean Parks – Guitar & keyboards
Bruce Paulson – Keyboards
Bill Payne – Keyboards & Vocals
Herb Pedersen – Vocals
Joel Peskin – Vocals & Saxophone
John Phillips – Saxophone & Drums
Peggy Sandvig, Jim Self – Drums
Floyd Sneed – Drums & Vocals
J.D. Souther – Bass & Vocals
Paul Stallworth – Bass & guitar
Fred Tackett – Guitar & Vocals
Maxine Willard Waters – Vocals
Composed By – Van Dyke Parks
Composed By, Lead Vocals, Performer – Lowell George
Composed By, Performer – Fred Tackett
Engineer – Donn Landee, George Massenburg
Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Billy Youdelman, Bruce Botnick, Doug Botnick
Mixed By – Ray Thompson
Producer – Lowell George
Notes
Genre: Roots Rock, Southern Rock, Blues Rock, Swamp Rock
Duration Time: 33:47
© 1979 Warner Bros. Records
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