Search - Lowell George :: Lightning-Rod Man

Steve S. (Reno-ness) from ARROYO GRANDE, CA
Reviewed on 4/24/2007...

This relic has some savvy. Early LA R&R shows Doors, Byrds and Springfield influences, and the lyrics have the Little Feat humor seeping thru them. I like it...

Sunset Strip lightnin' rod men

03/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Folks should know that the first review on the site is off-base and ill-informed. The guy's opinion is fair enough, but comparing The Factory to Little Feat is absurd (it's a total '60s vs. '70s battle, and how you stand will depend on your general feelings about those two decades). The Factory (Lowell George was just a member, the addition of his name in front of the band is revisionist)was a mid-60s Los Angeles band with a great folk-punk rock sound. Don't be spooked by the bad cover art -- this is pure "Nuggets" & "Pebbles"-style jangly garage. The bands they should be compared with are '66-'67 era Sunset Strip acts such as Love, the Sons of Adam, Buffalo Springfield, the Seeds, the Music Machine, the Enemys, the Turtles and, of course, the Mothers. The Factory shared bills with a lot of these groups and compare favorably indeed. "Lightnin' Rod Man," produced by Frank Zappa, as a demo for Original Sound Records, is great '60s punk. Mostly, the Factory had a Byrdsy folk-garage bag and "Lost," "Candy Cane Madness," "Smile, Let Your Life Begin," "No Place I'd Rather Be" and "Slow Down" are excellent examples of this. "Hey Girl!" is a rockin' Arthur Lee & Love pastiche. The band actually played "Lost" and "Candy Cane Madness" on an episode of "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." (The Factory also was on "F-Troop" once.) The Chesterfield Kings, a '60s-influenced '80s band, rewrote "Lost" as "I Cannot Find Her." Some of the later cuts are a little weaker, but the first 10 are amazing so don't be discouraged by the previous review. This album is a lost treasure trove -- regardless of whether you have ever heard of Little Feat or not. Personally, I'd take the Factory over Little Feat any day of the week."