Little Feat: Waiting For Columbus

“You folks are crazy,” a bewildered-sounding Lowell George half-laughingly says to a wildly applausing audience, just before he begins his signature tune, ‘Willin’’. It’s strange to hear him sound so timid, having just ran through an electrifying set of countrified Little Feat songs, but this apparently reluctant rock star never seemed comfortable in the limelight, and by the time Little Feat hit the road in the summer of 1977 to support their Time Loves A Hero album, they had achieved a cult status – they were big with college students and something of a musician’s band, meaning that luminaries like Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger, and Robert Palmer could be found backstage, grooving along with the music.

What’s surprising about this album is that the band were at their lowest ebb, with George supremely disinterested in the direction they were going, and guitarist Paul Barrère and keyboardist Bill Payne picking up the slack, but turning the band into a jazz-fusion combo instead of the good-time Southern rock band they had been at the start of the 1970s. This was apparent in their two most recent releases, The Last Record Album and the aforementioned Time Loves A Hero; but the California sheen and overall ennui that had dogged those long players is gone onstage, with even some of the weakest songs from those albums transformed into barnstorming rockers. George’s enthusiasm seems to have returned, which in turn makes the others play even better.

The set starts with an a capella performance called ‘Join The Band’, which the band would sing every night in the dressing room as a sort of call to arms; it’s as if the listener is right there with the band, following them down the hall as they wait in the wings to be introduced by the emcee. And that’s exactly what we hear: the emcee gets the crowd riled up and starts a game of “repeat after me”; Feat walk onstage and launch immediately into ‘Fat Man In The Bathtub’, which shows off George’s sense of humor along with his unparalleled vocal strength. What follows is 70 minutes of hits, misses, and jams (“hits” is a pretty strong word to use, as Feat never really had any “hits”, per se), and it’s clear that they’re enjoying themselves on the 15-minute medley of ‘Dixie Chicken’ and ‘Tripe Face Boogie’.

There are other gems to behold here, as well: Payne’s ‘Oh Atlanta’ is a rollicking boogie-wooger of a song, while Barrère’s ‘Old Folk’s Boogie’ expands on the version on The Last Record Album, with the presence of the Tower of Power horn section an added bonus. ‘All That You Dream’ and ‘Mercenary Territory’ are both superior renditions, taken at a faster clip than on their standard album versions, with the latter title becoming an almost-anthem: with Lenny Pickett adding a suitable sax solo, this sends a shiver up the spine, and not only is it one of the best songs on the album, it might be one of the best recorded Feat songs in their catalog.

There are two brief missteps, with a medley of ‘Time Loves A Hero’ and ‘Day Or Night’, which don’t quite work, but all is forgiven with ‘Rocket In My Pocket’, ‘Spanish Moon’, and the closing five songs of ‘Willin”, ‘Don’t Bogart That Joint’, ‘A Apolitical Blues’ (with erstwhile Stone Mick Taylor on slide guitar), ‘Sailin’ Shoes’, and ‘Feats Don’t Fail Me Now’, the last title the closer of the original album, with the band truly cookin’ along on a groove, and even breaking it down into a percussive-led sing-along.

As I’ve written elsewhere, I’ve decided to stay away from reissues of albums, but I can’t avoid it here in this case: the 2002 expanded reissue of this album has made it a supremely delectable album, with an additional 10 tracks (including ‘Day At The Dog Races’, which clocks in at 12 minutes, and doesn’t feature George at all, who hated the song; ‘Rock And Roll Doctor’, which should have been on the original album; ‘Skin It Back’, which should have been on the original album; ‘On Your Way Down’, which should have… oh look, all the bonus tracks should have been on the original album!), three of which were eventually released on the 1981 compilation, Hoy-Hoy!. While bonus tracks on a live album might seem strange, the addition of these songs are certainly worthwhile, and help enhance an already excellent live album.