The late Lowell George made quite a name for himself in his short life. He was one of those rare musicians whose artistry seemed to spring from a place both ordinary and otherworldly. Born in Hollywood in 1945, he grew up surrounded by the sunshine optimism and seedy back alleys of Los Angeles, and his music always reflected that tension — equal parts ragged funk, bittersweet balladry, and a sly, mischievous wit.
As the founder and frontman of Little Feat, George blended rock, blues, country, and New Orleans–style grooves into a sound that was as impossible to pigeonhole as it was instantly recognizable. His slide guitar work had a greasy elegance, at once playful and devastating, while his lyrics painted vivid portraits of gamblers, drifters, and dreamers stumbling their way through America’s back roads and barrooms.
A former Frank Zappa sideman, George was a master of both precision and looseness, a craftsman who could coax the most unexpected colors out of a song while still making it feel lived-in and human. Yet for all his musical brilliance, he was also famously restless, conflicted, and often self-destructive, a man whose appetites seemed as large as his talent.
By the time of his untimely death at just 34, in 1979, Lowell George had left behind a legacy that still feels unfinished, yet utterly singular.
Guitar Player had the opportunity to talk with the guitar great for a feature story in our August 1976 issue. The conversation wandered through his history and choice of gear, including his preference for Fender Stratocasters and Dumble amplifiers, which developed after he received his first guitar-and-amp setup around the age of 17.
“I got a Fender Mustang and a Champ amp, but I didn’t like the sound so I started playing Stratocasters,” he said. “Then I went through a couple of Gibson ES-335s, but eventually I went back to Strats because I liked them too much.”
“I like Fender bridges because they’re more tunable. You can really get the tuning adjusted way up the neck, and that makes a big difference. I have three guitars that I use for studio work, and the Strat always winds up being the one I use the most because of its ability to be tuned and to stay that way all the way up the neck.”
When it came to his guitar of choice, George wasn’t fussy: He bought his Strats right off the rack — and for good reason.
“I try to buy a stock guitar so if it gets stolen I can replace it easily.”
As he told Guitar Player, he had owned about 50 guitars by the time he spoke with us, but he’d lost about 20 to theft.
“I’ve had 50,” he explained, “20 of which I no longer have because they’ve been stolen. Just turn your back for a second and they’re gone! If you play in bar bands in a town like Los Angeles, one wrong move, and it’s all over.
I’ve lost 10 Strats, and I’ve had about 30. The attrition rate for me has been very high, but from what I understand, it’s been a lot higher lately for other musicians.”
— Lowell George
“One time we were playing some place north of San Francisco, and we had a trailer. We put all our equipment in it, and parked the thing in front of our apartment. I was saying to myself at the time, I’ll sleep by the window, and when they try to steal it, I’ll wake up and get them.
“I didn’t hear a thing, nor did anyone else, and it was gone the next morning. I lost a real nice Strat. But you know, it happens — I’ve lost 10 Strats, and I’ve had about 30. The attrition rate for me has been very high, but from what I understand from a lot of people in L.A., it’s been a lot higher lately for other musicians.
“For a while I was carrying my guitar with me everywhere I went, and the only time I’d put it down maybe was to move a Hammond B-3, and do you believe it, I’d be away for just a minute, and my guitar would be gone.”
George said losing guitars wasn’t the only big disappointment he encountered in his career. He said performing took away his confidence in himself, but it also helped him get over his ego and just focus on playing.
“Being in the music field can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a heartbreak. From the time I was 21, when I first started playing professionally, I thought I was hot stuff. From the time I was 23 until I was 28, I was completely under the impression that I wasn’t any good.
“Just recently I started not caring about it at all — I just play! A big stumbling block is one’s own attitude or vision of himself as a musician. I’ve known guys that are great guitar players, but they’ve got such high standards of themselves that they’re complete jerks, and nobody will play with them. And then there are those guys who are so scared!
One time I was jamming with Elliot and Jimi Hendrix, and Hendrix stopped playing to listen to the guy! But in front of an audience, nothing — the guy’s scared stiff!”
— Lowell George
To that point, he mentions a guitarist little remembered today.
“There’s a guy, Elliot Ingber from the group the Winged Eeled Fingerling — who is such an amazing guitar player but thinks he’s terrible. He played guitar on the Mothers’ Freak Out! album, and with Captain Beefheart.
“One time I was jamming with Elliot and Jimi Hendrix, and Hendrix stopped playing to listen to the guy! But in front of an audience, nothing — the guy’s scared stiff!”
As for Hendrix, George recalled that they met while the electric guitar icon was living in Beverly Hills around 1969. As for what he remembered most?
“Just that he was a real nice man, very pleasant and lighthearted,” he said. “He wasn’t trying to impress anybody. This was a couple of years before he died, when he got his new band together. He had a palatial estate, rented of course, in Beverly Hills, and all the guys were there outside the house jamming incredibly loud.”
