Little Feat - S&D, C/D

Little Feat Fuckin' Rocked Tonight!!!!

On the other hand, all Lowell George-era records are not created equal. Time Loves A Hero craps out as far as I'm concerned.

The thing that makes me really appreciate LF, besides the pure chops aspect and George's songwriting and slide-guitar wit, is the weird fiction-making that they were engaged it. They shared it with The Band, and Credence Clearwater Revival, and The Grateful Dead (version 1970), and, to some extent, Dr. John (when he was The Nightripper): There was this imagination and invention of an American musical tradition to which they were the natural successors, but which never actually existed. In LF's case, something like a Disney version of New Orleans, in which Robert Johnson come down from the Delta sat in with Professor Longhair. It was a cousin to Shangri-La or Macondo, a magical source of all stories.

Contemporary Americana by and large doesn't do that (although Uncle Tupelo to some extent did). I miss the ambition, and I miss the fun it created.

Totally. It sounds silly, but I want to drink wine, do speed, smoke weed, and cruise around the high plains of Colorado when I'm listening to Little Feat.

http://www.archive.org/details/lf1974-09-19.flac16

It was recorded for a radio station in Hempstead, NY, in Sept. 1974, and these MP3s were mastered from the only surviving pre-FM tape of the performance, which was salvaged from the radio station archives in 1978. This had been previously released as bootleg vinyl under the title "Electrif Lycanthrope".

There's lots of other live Little Feat on that site too, which I haven't listened to. I burned this one onto a CD-R and listened to it in the car this morning. It put a smile on my face.

The thing that makes me really appreciate LF, besides the pure chops aspect and George's songwriting and slide-guitar wit, is the weird fiction-making that they were engaged it. They shared it with The Band, and Credence Clearwater Revival, and The Grateful Dead (version 1970), and, to some extent, Dr. John (when he was The Nightripper): There was this imagination and invention of an American musical tradition to which they were the natural successors, but which never actually existed. In LF's case, something like a Disney version of New Orleans, in which Robert Johnson come down from the Delta sat in with Professor Longhair. It was a cousin to Shangri-La or Macondo, a magical source of all stories.

That's so right.
Listening to Feats Don't Fail me Now and wondering why Richie Hayward doesn't get the props he deserves. LF were the house band at a hotel where all American music worth the name came to stay - only the Band beat them on this one.

I just downloaded the live concert from up thread, and ohh-boy, is it good... They sound like the Band, if they'd been from New Orleans instead of Canada via Arkansas. Calling this dad rock is misleading. Maybe I could buy it if your dad liked going on month long speed, weed, and wine benders. Funky, weird and filthy.

aww, this is probably one of the first threads I ever started. Sailin' Shoes is so awesome. I wonder if a Little Feat albums poll would generate much in the way of votes/conversation (and if so, if I should include Waiting For Columbus or limit it to studio LPs).

Yeah, that live set totally rules, been enjoying it ever since I found it here.

"Waiting for Columbus best live album ever."

YES!

i can't stress enough how great they all are live to this day. they fuckin' rule. if they are playing some club or county fair near you, GO!

if you've never seen the tv clip from 1975 then damn you are in for a treat... Rock & Roll Doctor

and there is this one from the same show
Fat Man in the Bathtub. Sizzling.

"Waiting for Columbus best live album ever."

YES!

dunno 'bout that. B.B. King- Live @ the Regal tops my live list; but the expanded Waiting for Columbus really improves on an already terrific live set. i agree w/ X'gau that Lowell George wrote more good songs than great songs, but on this set the band is on fire

this is dad rock in the most literal sense ... my dad was a big fan and put me on to them

dug this back out to play "Easy to Slip," and while it's perfect, it actually frightens me more and more every time i listen back, in a solipsistic way. as in yes, it is so easy to fall into nothing at all.

I love "Easy To Slip." That and "Dixie Chicken" were both on the playlist at my wedding.

Fucking great band. I saw them in '90, long after their glory years of course, and they were incredible.

They've done an awesome job reinventing themselves over the last two decades.

Search: Inara George's version of "Trouble" on the Feats' new album Join the Band.

I really like Last Record Album. But i kinda knew them feore i ever heared The Band. I don't know if it worked the other way around.

For me, they kill the Band. The Band is not really my thing at all.

I heart Sailin' Shoes so much.

Don't know why I never posted on this thread - read it a few times over the years. Like everyone else said, Vornado's post about early 70s Americana myth-making OTM. Little Feat, to me, are the dank and dirty roots of it; leavethecapital's "Funky, weird and filthy" captures it wuite well.

What exactly was going on in the late 60s/early 70s with coutryfried-rock? The aforementioned Feat/Band/Dead, Tumbleweed Connection, the Stones, Parsons, Ronstadt, etc. Where did it all come from, exactly? Why then?

don't know if there is a thesis on this thread, but it's all right here:

Can we talk about early-mid70s West Coast post-psych/pop/rock/folk-rock/country-rock?

holy shit, how come nobody ever told me that Robert Palmer's first 4 albums are full of Little Feat covers and backing from members of LF? the "Sailing Shoes / Hey Julia / Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" medley is incredible, I feel like I just stumbled on a box of records I never knew existed by one of my favorite bands.

Just got done listening the debut for the first time in a long time. It had never crossed my mind before, but is it just me or does "Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie" sound like a letter-perfect parody of The Band, especially the more mythological Robbie Robertson stuff ("The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" etc.)?

never thought of it that way, if anything i thought of it as a vestige of Feat's wacky Zappa roots -- i love that song, though, i think i put it on a mixtape for a friend who's way into stuff like Primus

for personal record: CLASSIC (as fuk). dudes totally epitomized southern carefree-itude in the same way that a lot of rap spawn from the south is doing now. seems like a fun place, if everybody's constantly releasing music under that ~lifestyle mentality~. i think.

I would say "Crazy Captain..." is very, very Band sounding (albeit with George's unique twist).

Little Feat are from Los Angeles, not The South. Lowell George was born and raise din Hollywood.

yeah but the number of references to southern towns/states in LF lyrics outnumbers California references probably at least 10 to 1, so i think they were courting that kind of (mis)perception

Very true! But I would say those references def make them uniquely Los Angeles and that city's tradition of cinematic imagination. George was a Californian who fell in love with New Orleans, it's culture and music. Lyrically, he exuded a rich sense of romance for New Orleans that only an outsider could truly muster. I would say George was more like a classical composer incorporating "folk" touches into his/her compositions. He was kind of like Aron Copland.

(Aaron Copland)

Boogie Rock for the Common Man

that's kind of appropriate since my dad is a huge fan of both Feat and Copland

http://www.littlefeat.net/news.html?n_id=3174

Will these be actual remasters?

I have no idea. Only Waiting for Columbus has been remastered, right? The current discs aren't horrible, but I hope they take this chance to give them the once-over.

cool, there are some of those i haven't heard.
been meaning to get the similarly styled Ry Cooder box set too.

just got this a couple days ago, excited to jump into it:
http://www.amazon.com/Willin-Story-Little-Ben-Fong-Torres/dp/0306821311/

I had no idea that existed. Let us know if it's good.

Decent book. More of a Lowell George bio.

Awesome!

That sounds cool, will watch later.

Little Feat announced details of their upcoming Fall Tour 2023 which will consist of two-night stands in each city they visit in September and October. The legendary band will perform their classic albums Sailin Shoes and Dixie Chicken at each stop of the tour.

Along with The Albums Tour announcement, Little Feat confirmed deluxe reissues of Sailin’ Shoes, which originally came out in 1972, and Dixie Chicken, which marks the 50th-anniversary of its release this year. The new versions of the two albums will be released by Rhino Records on June 23 with Sailin’ Shoes expanding to include a live performance taped in 1971 and Dixie Chicken filled out with live recordings from 1973, along with other rarities and unreleased tracks.

a couple of bonus tracks have been uploaded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kHLCx_n1pA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqCTC2bZAZA

Waiting for Columbus t shirt spotted in the wild what are the chances

'waiting for columbus' reissue w/three complete live shows...

anyone pick this up? just picked up the SS 2cd. haven't listened to all of it yet but disc 2 is delivering

Margo Price *isn't* on this!? #onethread

https://www.sweetrelief.org/news/sweet-relief-is-proud-to-announce-the-long-distance-love-a-sweet-relief-tribute-to-lowell-george-album-via-flatiron-recordings

Trouble - Mike Viola
Cold, Cold, Cold - Joachim Cooder
Long Distance Love - Elvis Costello
Heartache - Bedouine
I've Been The One - Bhi Bhiman
Rock 'n' Roll Doctor - Miles Tackett
Be One Now - Lady Blackbird
Love Needs A Heart - Madison Cunningham
Easy To Slip - Jonah Tolchin
Dixie Chicken - Eleni Mandell and Milo Jones
Roll 'Um Easy - Ben Harper
Lafayette Railroad - Larry Goldings
6 Feet Of Snow - Jack Shit
Cheek To Cheek - Gaby Moreno
Two Trains Running - Chris Seefried
China White - Chris Stills
A Apolitical Blues - Dave Alvin
Feats Don't Fail Me Now - Sugaray Rayford
Sailin' Shoes - Taylor Goldsmith
Spanish Moon - Inara George
Rocket In My Pocket - Sam Morrow
Willin' - Jonathan Wilson
Teenage Nervous Breakdown - The Bird and the Bee
Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie - Andras Jones
20 Million Things To Do - Gus Seyffert

yeah but Jack Shit is

For comparison:

The '97 tribute album

Bonnie Raitt And Little Feat–Cold, Cold, Cold
Taj Mahal–Feets Don't Fail Me Now
J D Souther–Roll Em Easy
The Bottle Rockets And David Lindley–Rocket In My Pocket
Randy Newman And Valerie Carter–Sailin' Shoes
Jackson Browne–I've Been The One
Allen Toussaint And Leo Nocentelli–Two Trains
Keisuke Kuwata With Merry Clayton–Long Distance Love
Eddie Money And Buddaheads–Rock And Roll Doctor
Chris Hillman And Jennifer Warnes–Straight From The Heart
Little Feat–Honest Man
Phil Perry (2), Merry Clayton And Ricky Lawson–Spanish Moon
Inara George–Trouble
Lowell George–Untitled

vs.

Little Feat's Join The Band duets set, 2008

"Fat Man in the Bathtub" (Lowell George) featuring Dave Matthews and Sonny Landreth
"Something in the Water" (Al Anderson, Jeffrey Steele, Bob DiPiero) featuring Bob Seger and Brad Paisley
"Dixie Chicken" (Lowell George, Fred Martin) featuring Vince Gill and Sonny Landreth
"See You Later Alligator" (Robert Guidry)
"Champion of the World" (Will Kimbrough, Gwil Owen) featuring Jimmy Buffett
"The Weight" (Robbie Robertson) featuring Béla Fleck
"Don't You Just Know It" (Huey "Piano" Smith)
"Time Loves a Hero" (Paul Barrère, Kenny Gradney, Bill Payne) featuring Jimmy Buffett
"Willin'" (Lowell George) featuring Brooks & Dunn
"This Land Is Your Land" (Woody Guthrie) featuring Mike Gordon
"Oh Atlanta" (Bill Payne) featuring Chris Robinson
"Spanish Moon" (Lowell George) featuring Craig Fuller and Vince Gill
"Trouble" (Lowell George) featuring Inara George
"Sailin' Shoes" (Lowell George) featuring Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush and Béla Fleck
(Bonus Track) "I Will Play for Gumbo" (Jimmy Buffett) featuring Sam Bush

Lot of songs here I don’t recognize, need to remedy that

no one wants to cover "the fan"?

Inara George covered "Trouble" on both of the older ones.

“The fan” is great

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1acnV8OmlPcxKCKhXxWjWC?si=3Vd2G2R9Qm26r6QI9i3XGg&pi=u-cfaAwoX0RFKq

Made a playlist of the lesser known (to me) songs from the tributes

Some classics in there.

Glen Campbell covered "Roll (Um) Me Easy" in the mid-'70s on an album otherwise made up of Jimmy Webb songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gzh3UEjfCk

Four CD reissue of Feats Don't Fail Me Now:

https://store.rhino.com/en/rhino-store/artists/little-feat/feats-dont-fail-me-now-3cd-bundle/081227814588.html

The fourth disc I guess is a website exclusive?

(xp) I'd rather have had an entire album of Jimmy Webb songs (there was also a song by Jimmy Webb's sister Susan on the album too tbf).

I don't usually advise to look into the comments sections, but Fred Tackett chimes in on that Campbell video discussing Webb & George's friendship.