Little Village – Living Action (1992)

For those Nick Lowe fans who enjoyed Rockpile, here’s Nick Lowe with Ry Cooder, John Hiatt and Jim Keltner – a supergroup collectively known as Little Village.

One of the musical highlights of the ’80s was John Hiatt’s Bring The Family, the 1987 album which, sort of, reintroduced the veteran singer-songwriter to a new generation of fans. It was also an exciting album because of its lineup.

For the hit song, Thing Called Love, Hiatt said: “I had everything when we went to record it, but Nick Lowe came up with that riff – ba dir di dir dit – which is the icing on the cake. As soon as he started playing that on the bass, Ry started playing it on the guitar, and he was laughing, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ And that was pretty much the arrangement.”

The easy way the individual members clicked was what led to Little Village in 1992 but the group’s one and only album did not take off though the classic guitar rock sound certainly hasn’t dated. [One can also guess that the “supergroup” format meant that the focus and the pressure wasn’t directed solely at any one person, certainly each member very much a star in his own right.]

With all the reunions these days, one wonders if Little Village would ever consider going on the road again.

Recorded live at the Fox Warfield Theatre,
San Francisco, CA; April 7, 1992. Excellent FM broadcast

Personnel:
Ry Cooder (guitar, vocals)
John Hiatt (guitar, vocals)
Jim Keltner (drums)
Nick Lowe (bass, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Solar Sex Panel (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 7.48
02. The Action (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 4.04
03. Fool Who Knows (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 3.57
04. Do You Want My Job (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 6.08
05. She Runs Hot (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 4.56
06. Don’t Think About Her When You’re Trying To Drive (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 5.14
07. Memphis In The Meantime (Hiatt) 5.54
08. Crying In My Sleep (Yancey/Lowe) 5.00
09. Big Love (Cooder/Hiatt/Keltner/Lowe) 8.52
10. Little Sister (Pomus/Shuman) 3.38
11. Half A Boy And Half A Man (Lowe) 3.45
12. Thing Called Love (Hiatt) 5.41
13. Lipstick Sunset (Hiatt) 5.48

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