Little Feat
Dixie Chicken

THE REVIEW

The American band Little Feat had a unique and very original style, but as often happens, talent and quality don't always go hand in hand with success. After the splendid Sailin' Shoes (1972), bassist Roy Estrada, perhaps disappointed by the lack of audience response, left the band. Without losing heart, the remaining three members, namely Lowell George (vocals, guitar), Richard Hyward (drums), and Bill Payne (keyboards), recruited a new bassist, Kenny Grayned, and expanded the group from four to six members with the addition of guitarist Paul Barrère and percussionist Sam Clayton. With this renewed lineup, also featuring backing vocalists (including Bonnie Raitt) and other supporting musicians, Little Feat recorded their third album, Dixie Chicken (1973).

The album is considered by many to be one of the band's masterpieces, perhaps their most representative album, if not their best. A work of high quality in all its aspects, with a richer and fuller sound than the previous one, due in part to the greater number of musicians involved, more percussive and guitar-driven but never heavy, never angry, rather calm and relaxed, at times indolent. While in the previous Sailin' Shoes, "Willin'" could be pointed out as the album's key track, here the task is much more challenging because the quality standard is practically constant throughout the album; each composition shines with intense light, and in the end, the greatness of the entire album stands out rather than individual tracks. The title is a clear reference to Dixieland and the style of New Orleans, genres honored in the syncopated ragtime rhythms of the title track, sinuous and elegant, a choral and enveloping composition, but also in the splendid "On Your Way Down" by Allen Toussaint, a song that the Feat make particularly soft and velvety and enrich with excellent dialogues between the two guitarists and Payne's piano. The whole album skillfully mixes various elements of the American tradition - rock, roots, blues, country, r'n'b, soul, funk - in an incredibly homogeneous and, at the same time, refined blend. Much of the credit goes to Lowell George, with his crystalline class, a talent never too celebrated, a voice with a warm southern timbre, a slide guitarist with a unique touch, and a composer with an eclectic and highly personal style, the author of most of the tracks. 

R'n'B and Funk are perhaps the main pieces that contribute to composing this sonic puzzle and, although it's never too brazen, it forms the clear basis of many songs like "Fat Man in the Bathtub", one of their pillars in live performances, "Juliette" and the even more jammed "Two Trains". There are also more experimental pieces like "Kiss it Off", a ethereal track where percussion and synthesizer accompany heartfelt blues verses, and the instrumental "Lafayette Railroad", composed by George and Payne, where a keyboard carpet supports sweet slide guitar embroidery. "Walkin' All Night", born from a collaboration between Payne and Barrère, is the catchiest and most rock number of the entire work, a celebration of nightlife on the road. "Roll Um Easy" is the album's most acoustic moment.

I confess that on first listen, this Dixie Chicken seemed much inferior to the previous one, flatter, more monotonous, but it still had something that captured me, a kind of hypnotic magnetism that grew stronger with each listen until it finally won me over completely. The truth is that this is probably a deeper and less immediate album, thus it's unlikely to immediately conquer you on the first listen, you need to wait, be patient, savor it slowly, calmly. Only after the right wait can you appreciate and enjoy it in all its nuances because it's a work full of nuances and details that only emerge with different listens, perhaps just details, but details that often make the difference. Then, as with good wine, patience will be rewarded.