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Remembering Richie Hayward by Bill Payne (The Later Years)

Richie Hayward at his final show – photo by Polly Gray

On August 12, 2010 Little Feat’s founding drummer Richie Hayward, who was suffering from liver cancer, passed away from complications of lung disease while awaiting a liver transplant. Little Feat’s Bill Payne has written the following essay on his longtime friend and band member.

A look at Hayward’s later years appears here, with Payne’s memories of the early days over on Jambands.com.

***

Influences and the Dance

What made Richie’s style unique can be traced to his influences: Mitch Mitchell from Jimi Hendrix’s band; jazz drummer Elvin Jones; The Who’s Keith Moon, to name a few. Each one of these drummers utilized a lot of cymbals, interesting kick drum patterns, snare and tom hits, an orchestral range of intensive ebb and flow motion, enveloping the other instruments in a veritable wash of sound. It was not an exercise in simply keeping the beat. It was about adding colors and filling arrangements with percussive accents.

Richie was certainly capable of hitting the regular 2 & 4 in a rock and roll song, ala “Oh Atlanta,” but left to his own devices he would use his cymbals, jazz strokes on the snare and high hat, and toms to infer those beats. When he was on, he was as good as there was. When he faltered, it gave the audience and band alike the feeling of going off the cliff, and then he would pull it out of the tailspin. Usually. He was completely unconventional in his approach. When it was just Richie and myself playing off one another, the effect was magnified, as I would change tempo or go with him if he did, moving in and out of genres (jazz, New Orleans, rock and roll, cartoon music, avante garde musings) in the course of a improvisation that only the two of us could play. It was our dance, and on more than one occasion a brilliant one. We were both reacting to what each other played at lightning quick speed. (The dance continues with Gabe Ford.)

Accidents Happen

Richie was involved in two motorcycle accidents, one of which was documented on the back of one of our albums, The Last Record Album. The second one took place a few years later. Richie was back on the bike, having nearly lost his life in the first accident, to see Lowell, who was rehearsing for his solo tour at the Paramount Ranch in Agora Hills. (Later, we finished Down On The Farm with engineer Ray Thompson and assistant Billy Youdleman and the Wally Heider Mobile that was on the premises.) Some kids speeding by in a car yelled something at Richie, who turned to take a look on curvy road and drove the bike into a huge rock crushing his femur and tibia. It was another horrific accident. One of Richie’s legs would be shorter than the other after this.

Richie was in the hospital in traction. I had left the band, essentially, and Lowell had promised the guys that he would put it all back together when he got off the road. It never happened. He died on tour, June 29, 1979. We were in the middle of recording Down On The Farm. It was a very dark time for all of us. Richie was just beginning to see just how dark things could get. The brakes were back on, and back on hard.

That August we put on a benefit concert for Lowell at the Forum in Los Angeles. Richie was unable to join us, as he was still laid up. A dear friend of ours, Rick Schlosser, sat in at rehearsals and for the event. That concert marked a farewell salute to Lowell and what was the beginning of the end for Little Feat. Other than going into the studio in 1980 to record a couple of songs for Hoy Hoy it was pretty much over. A new era was launched. It was every man for himself.

And later on the moon declined to shine its light so benevolently
its grace withheld from our company
(lyrics from “Under The Radar”)

The Wilderness and Back

Richie’s whereabouts was a complete blur to me. I kept up with him on rare occasion. To be honest it was difficult for me to even think about Little Feat. I don’t know if it was that way for anyone else, but the time had come to explore new territory. I heard that Richie was touring with Joan Armatrading and Robert Plant. He lived over in Majorca for a while. I was hiding in my own world with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and others. I was proud of having been in Little Feat, but I was battling coming to grips with my feelings over Lowell’s death, my fights with him, and all that comes with being close to your brothers in the band. I just put my head down and tried to find fresh air.

Years later, after the band came back together for another ride, I was impressed by how everyone had really grown in that time of wandering. We had worked with some of the best and brought that knowledge back to feat. Richie was still Richie, of course, just a bit left of center, but somehow more grounded in his playing, more mature. He continued to amaze me as someone that had the mold broken and completely shattered in his style of playing. And while Richie was held in high esteem by most, I’m not sure he was always appreciated for just how truly outstanding he really was. He made it seem easy. It wasn’t, as a couple of really great drummers found out.

We were on a big summer tour as an opening act, onstage in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd. “Let It Roll” was on the set list and we were ready to launch into it hard and fast. We started in on it and what I heard coming from the drums scared the hell out of me. I thought Richie had suffered a heart attack. The beat was so incongruous it was as if the person was flailing to keep up with the band. I turned around in a panic and saw it was the drummer from the act we were on tour with. To be fair to that person, I’m leaving his name and the band he played with out of this. The look in his eyes was HELP! My look said, “You are in the hot seat, PLAY!” Later I went up to him and said, “I’m sure you thought it was an easy groove, right?” He said, “Yeah” in a low voice, his head down. I told him not to worry, that many folks had underestimated not only Richie, but the band itself, as to how easy it was to play our music. I wasn’t crowing about it, it’s just a fact. The changes are not simple, nor is the groove, as he found out. I know his respect for Richie went up immeasurably after that incident. The same thing happened when we were in the studio cutting a record with Tony Brown. Richie was on tour with Eric Clapton. The person playing drums, again I won’t mention who it was, wanted to play “Dixie Chicken” in between getting the sounds and starting the track we were hired to play. We took off on it and it just fell apart. He just couldn’t play it. Again I said, sounds easy, right? You know the rest of the story.

Comments

There are 30 comments associated with this post

David Paul Lucas August 12, 2011, 11:56:22

Bill, Richie became my idea of the best drummer in the world after Ginger, etc. had slowed down. When I saw you guys play in Chico I just could not believe the incredible sound coming out of his drumset…as a bassplayer I could see the joy Kenny had playing with this monster…he was dancing and pogoing around the stage…WOW! And then I had the privilege of shaking your hand outside afterwards. Thank you from my heart and soul, David Paul Lucas. P.S. Randle Alswede and I are working towards a blues project here in Chico…by the way, not being a keyboard specialist, I have no idea how you do what you do but it’s just incredible!!!

SouthernSaul August 11, 2011, 15:08:31

Thank you Bill, again, for the beautiful writing and for letting us inside. As you wrote, I never saw a Little Feat show where Richie didn’t ask me “how was it?” as he opened his Heineken after the set. He will always be missed.

Jacki August 11, 2011, 18:51:18

Thanks for a beautiful article about a brilliant musician and nice guy. Only spoke to him a couple times-once when he signed an album cover and he commented how lucky he was to have survived his cycle accident and still be able to play. I can’t imagine how much you all must miss him. Peace.

Mike August 12, 2011, 01:36:56

I’ve been a fan since the ’70s, and Richie’s drum parts always fascinated me. Now I feel like I understand him better. Thanks for your detailed and heartfelt remembrance.

Iain August 12, 2011, 03:43:44

Thank you for a superb article. I saw Richie playing many times here in the UK. As a drummer myself I knew how very special he was. Stil feel so sad at his passing.

Damian Bleecker August 12, 2011, 03:50:11

As far back as High School i knew that if i ever wanted to get someone to drum for a band Richie was with j Johnny Johnson at the top of my list.Shure helped Frampton record the best Feat song that feat didn’t write.Oh and can anyone imagine how the Doobie’s would have been with Bill at the keys.

Andy Peake August 12, 2011, 05:34:30

Thank you Bill. I am a drummer who lives in Nashville and have made a living at it. I started being influenced by Richie in the early 70’s and have ridden the train all the way since that time to his passing. He has been my tour guide through so many polyrhythms and greasy feels, not the least of which is the mostly no man’s land between straight and shuffled 8th notes. Often other musicians who I have played with have asked me where I learned to do that. No brainer there. By the time L.F. hit “Day At the Dog Races” it was clear that the man was a total genius. He ROCKED through odd time signatures and sat deep in the groove in 4. When so many bands would tempo up their songs live, Richie could bring it back a notch and pull me in with my mouth wide open. You and Richie were truly Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers too. Richie brought tears to my eyes long before he left the planet. Thanks for putting me in the room with you and him.

Knud Lykke Jensen August 12, 2011, 06:38:35

Dear Bill thanks for your wonderful memory words for Richie. He was absolutely the best drummer in the world. It sound so easy but it so difficult to reach the level of King groove. When you and Richie jam live the heaven open up. Thanks for let us in to your univers

Chrissy August 12, 2011, 07:17:45

I grew up listening to Little Feat…Richie and Lowell are truly missed! Yet the band lives on! I’ve been a fan since I was around 11… Thanks for the great insight and details about Richie’s history…wonderful tribute to a wonderful man! I’ve seen the best – and the worst – of his work, and I prefer to remember the best! Thanks, for all the memories!

helen gene nichols August 12, 2011, 11:29:03

little feat’s songs and rhythms are like tides going in and out at the same time with oh yeah: rip tides. many layers. I can feel like I’m looking up into sky seeing layers of clouds all different shapes going at their own pace finishing at the same time at the horizon

DouginNC August 12, 2011, 20:09:51

Bill, thanks for sharing.

Butch Dener August 12, 2011, 21:11:52

Having toured with The Band & ya’ll with pride,, I never tired of the ride Richie took us on,, he rode us hard & it was a HOOT ! Proud to call him my friend & brother,, With Levon & Richie “guarding my gunside”,, I never had to worry about the groove in my life,,, Thanks Bill, I felt Brother Hayward in every word you wrote,,, Bd

Bob Sarles August 12, 2011, 21:24:19

Thanks for sharing this. Little Feat belong in the R&R Hall of Fame. Thanks for decades of great music. Long live Feat.

Michael Simmons August 13, 2011, 06:00:38

Transcendent writing Billy — perfect poetry relating love of music and especially a brother. Your honesty is refreshing.

Marc Joseph August 13, 2011, 11:32:34

Bill…thank you for this beautiful piece of writing…straight from the heart for sure…

Nick Birch August 13, 2011, 15:04:30

Great writing…am swept way in happy memories if Richie’s music. A stellar drummer who had an organic groove that sounded simple but certainly wasn’t. Along with Levon and Ringo, Ritchie is my all time favourite drummer. Thanks for sharing these treasures, Bill. Rich lives on in your music. Life is for living…Ritchie had that to a tee..a nice guy and great family to support him in the troubled times. Nick, Scotland.

Guy Burlage August 14, 2011, 02:00:23

I remember more than once, watching reach so fast outwards for a cymbal crash,....I never saw his arm move, but I could see the crash cymbal wobbling….how did he do that ?.....it was ninja-like.

wdl August 19, 2011, 08:39:36

famous ballroom,skin it back…..enought said….didn’t get any better than that and never will! great times and great memories.. FEEEAAATTTT!!!!!

aaronious August 20, 2011, 16:05:34

thanks, bill, for that magnificent painting of master hayward. ain’t caughtchall since the sadness, but i’m sure master ford absorbed enough from the sensei to keep the sickness intact…hope to witness it very soon. ‘C’ streeet is still a great place to start!!

Sharp August 22, 2011, 16:25:34

Thanks for giving context and contour to Richie and the Little Feat dynamic. The diversity of your catalogue always amazes me. Most bands, no matter how much you might enjoy their groove, are rather limited. Little Feat is different and is truly unique. Blues, jazz, latin – often within a single song. Tempo changes, chord changes, orchestrated but simultaneously improvisational. Your article truly captures the spirit that led to the artirstry the band produced. And Richie always had that unique sound, especially the unanticipated rhythms that went beyond what others would’ve done with the same song. .

Martin Shepherd August 28, 2011, 06:06:16

Hi Bill, saw you and the feat at the O2 in london with Richie and again on 13th August 2010 at Cropredy (with Gabe). We are a family of feat fans (my youngest is called Lowell) and drummers (one daughter, one son, one step son and me!). Richie’s playing has been part of our lives for longer than I can remember, and yes, his playing to your songs is impossible to emulate. My band have tried Dixie, Let It Roll and Skin it back. We never performed any of them, just couldn’t do them justice. A special musician in a special band. Thanks for the essays Bill. Enjoyed them hugely with a tear in my eye.

jack Robbins September 1, 2011, 23:38:32

I spent the 70’s and the first half of the 80’s as a sound man, working the small clubs and traveling the long roads. No new story here, but every night I tried to make the drums sound as fat, as full, as “Richie” as I could. And I worked with one Great Drummer. Allen Fischell, who I called the king of the fat back drummers. I met Richie in Maryland at a concert to support an injured DJ at the local FM station who was hurt in a car wreck that took the life of the driver, another friend. The heart of a Lion, that’s Richie, and Bill’s historic look back show so many signs that we all took in those amazing times, from local bands to the amazing Feats of the Kings. Bles you Lowell, take our brother into your heart once again.

Dave james September 8, 2011, 02:08:03

Thank you Mr, Bill Payne for some of the best stuff I’ve ever read about some of my favorite musicians on the planet. I was right out of high school when I saw the quartet in Atlanta at the 12th gate on a stage the size of a postage stamp. I decided then and there I was gonna play with Richie before my days were done. And I did,; Many years later with Walter Trout in Huntington Beach. He was poetry in motion and I had arrived at Heaven’s Gate. He lifted me up and took me places I’ve never been. Those few nights I rode the wind on the back of a giant. Thank you just doesn’t cover it. Anyway,thanx Richie (as well as the rest of the FEAT) for making me a much better musician, and lettin’ a few of my dreams come true.

Doug Robb September 11, 2011, 13:59:09

I worked at a record store all through high school and college at Penn State and the manager turned me on to Little Feat’s first album. From that day on I was a Feat’s fanatic and a total Richie Hayward fan. As a drummer myself, Richie’s playing expanded my drum universe in a way no other drummer did. I loved Ringo, Keith Moon, John Bonham, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, Clive Bunker, but Richie to me was in a class by himself. Unique. Outside the norm. His second line feel on “Fat Man in the Bathtub” forever changed my ideas about what a great drum groove could be. His playing on “Day at the Dog Races” and “The Fan” blew me away for his technical prowess and amazing feel and groove. A friend and I bought tickets to almost every show on the eastern seaboard for the “Waiting for Columbus” tour. We drove to each show in a convertible Lincoln Continental with suicide doors, Feats style-Hoy, Hoy! Watching Richie and the band night after night, they completely changed my idea of how a band could present itself onstage, combining different songs in medleys on different nights. I thought, “there’s nothing these guys can’t do musically.” Every show was unique and different and always musically intense. I’ve worked for 33 years on the PBS music show “Austin City Limits” as a camera guy, and finally in 1990 the Feats came to ACL. It was during the “Representing the Mambo” tour and “Texas Twister” was a big hit at the time. Meeting Richie was one of the best moments in all my years on the show. I finally got to meet and get to know my hero. From that meeting Richie and I became friends and whenever the Feats came to Austin for many years after that, we would hang out while he was in town. I got to know what an amazing guy Richie was and grew to admire him and his kindness and friendship meant so much to me. It’s so ironic when Bill mentioned Richie asking about how his performances were. He ALWAYS asked me that question, and Richie never ceased to amaze me with his feel, ability, and soul as a drummer. In many ways, I felt Richie was the heart of Little Feat. His unique approach made Little Feat a band to be reckoned with, and their reputation as a musician’s band was certainly enhanced by Richie’s drumming prowess and style. Thank you Bill for your loving memories and insight into
Richie both as a man and as a drummer. For those of us who loved and respected him, but didn’t know him as well as you did, your insights are a tremendous comfort in dealing with the loss of this extraordinary man. We who love Richie and the Feats owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing your knowledge and insights about your life with Richie known to us. I thank you Bill for this gift from the bottom of my heart.

Jim Burcham September 19, 2011, 15:57:44

Little Feat, the band with that “certain something” that slipped and sailed into a special genre that is difficult to duplicate… It seems the truly knowing people, those that feel and sometimes understand, appreciated the combined elements you meld into a sound. The guys called Little Feat, that come together and share each feeling. You guys feel and live a dream… hardly anyone has that kind of experience. I have enjoyed being a fan and sharing a small part of your experiences over the years…..Will miss Richie as I have Lowell… but, you guys rock on in style..

Bob Cianci December 12, 2011, 23:52:05

Hey Billy…Thank you for writing this about Richie. You know I miss him so much. You really nailed the essence of what he was all about, his drumming style, which we’ve had conversations about backstage, and much more. I miss you guys terribly and hope to get to a show soon, ideally, in NYC In January. Maybe I can cajole Scott Goldman out of his house! Be well, Merry Christmas, and hello to all the guys.

The Lengedary Eddie V December 30, 2011, 01:31:09

It was 1996 at the Los Angeles House of Blues. Little Feat and The Band. A dream show. Later, on the sidewalk outside The Band’s bus I waited for a chance to get Levon to sign a copy of his book. I looked to my left among the crowd and there waiting behind (!) me was Richie Haywood, not pulling rank, pleasant and gracious. We chatted a bit then i shuttled him to the front and asked if he’d take my copy of Levon’ book into the bus for Levon to sign. Ritchie said, “Absolutely!” Not long after he got on the bus, out came Richie, Levon and Harry Dean Stanton…and my signed book. A great memory fostered by the great Richie Haywood.

Michael Rogers February 7, 2012, 13:39:02

The planet lost one of the best drummers ever, and there is no doubt his beat will be missed. The first time I heard a Feat tune I was hooked by the off-beat brilliance of this guy, well the entire band actually. But the drums are the rhythm backbone, so I gave him a lot of the credit, and I became a Feat fan for life. You can’t replace a guy like Richie, but I look forward to hearing the band again here in Sacramento soon, and know Mr. Hayward would approve the groove goes on… Thanks for honoring the man, Bill.

chris l. johnston February 29, 2012, 20:44:11

wow… i am speechless, i read 1st part and left the pc..then back to work.as i get back settled in 4 the nite i finish reading this ..i have always been a die-hard litle feat fan..i skipped school many a times to play ur newely released lp.s over and over..i have posted all this on f/b and may richie ..(rip) .. my bro n law passed on his 50th birthday of cancer in 2003..i was 15 when we met..he goes here man listen to this band called litle feat..lol i said hey joe..i know every lyric 2 the 1st two lp.s by heart(thanks to tuning in and turning up the volume..ty sir for the best articlei have ever read concerning a true american rock n roll band(a everything band..period) may god rest peace on all of us.ty sincerely chris l. johnston t-town usa..

C Byers July 31, 2012, 15:51:39

Skin it Back. Great triplet bass drum part. Richie was the only guy who could give Bonham a run for the money.