It took me a few days to absorb the news that Paul Berrere was gone. I didn’t want it to be true. He gave me so much joy. The reformation of Little Feat in the late 80’s, changed me. There was absolute joyous shock at sundown when Jimmy Buffett came onstage at Mansfield, MA (1987?) to say that he had a special unannounced guest after Livingston Taylor. That is when that big “LET IT ROLL” banner unfurled and the band kicked in. Wow. Me and Russell the Muscle about passed out on the lawn in the cheap seats. Then we got into my Pontiac 6000le and followed them. Everywhere. Over the next few years Little Feat was my band (along with the Neville Brothers). New York City, Oxford Plains Speedway, ME, Columbia, MD, Ft Lauderdale,FL, Cape Cod, Cape May, San Francisco and Tipitinas,New Orleans among other amazing shows. Sometimes they were the openers for the Grateful Dead or someone. To me, they were the main attraction every time. I was living in California when Brother Chris called to say we were going to open for Little Feat at The Capital, Port Chester, NY. It was my first big show experience on a big theater stage. The year was 1994. On the flight to New York, I was telling everybody where I was going and what I was going to do. I would not shut up. It was big time!!! Walking on stage in front of that same big banner I had seen years before to do the sound check made my hair curl and my knees buckle. What a night! We opened more shows over the years for the Feat and Mr. Barrere was always happy to see us, completely engaging and up for a laugh. The last time I spoke to him at The Narrows, MA we talked about Musquamicut Beach, oysters and guitar doodads and pedals and tones and how to make your acoustic sit right with the band (he was always up for talking about that.) He was open and encouraging and he shared what he knew. He was a good man. His music was deeply American. Beautiful, funky grooves. Rock, jazz, rhythm, blues, gumbo, stew......songs. Thank you Paul. Thank you Little Feat. You made me feel happy. I was lucky to be in the room with you. #paulbarrere #littlefeat #representingthemambo #timelovesahero #music https://www.instagram.com/p/B4QcwqBpaA5/?igshid=so7jzdeuk20x
