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Rating: Little Feat are probably the greatest American band of the seventies. This is proven by their many splendid studio albums at the beginning of the decade and a monumental live album ("Waiting For Columbus"), now considered among the greatest in the history of rock. The band was formed in 1969, around the charismatic figure of the guitarist-songwriter Lowell George, one of the most legendary figures in rock, who tragically died at the age of only 34 after a life of excess and drug abuse. The disappearance of Lowell left an unfillable void in the world of rock, a gigantic loss and a great regret.
Already from the first album ("Little Feat") released in 1970, one could glimpse the great potential of a group that shortly thereafter would forcefully enter the annals of significant rock history. In 1972, the album that granted them a passport to eternity was released. "Sailin' Shoes" is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful albums filled with real emotion and pure rock poetry that has ever been heard. The music is a skillful blend of the fathers' blues, R&B, folk, country, rock and roll, gospel, and even funk; in some ways, it could be considered even a southern rock band if it wasn't for the fact that their sound was too intelligent and not at all beefy, unlike that of contemporary colleagues The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, or ZZ Top; instead, Little Feat carried with them an absolute, elusive, and innate refinement in the arrangements and music approach, possessed only by the greatest, which study and application alone cannot give.
Thus, Little Feat are a completely unusual band in rock history; this is due to the strong intellectual charge possessed by the brilliant leader and an approach to music that was both cultural and passionate, which will never again be equaled. More than the debut, this second album is a deep groove carved into the guts of America, from the foundations of bluegrass, rhythm'n'blues, field folk, and gospel. Partly children of Charlie Patton, Woody Guthrie, The Band in particular, and the most American Rolling Stones of Exile On Main Street, Little Feat line up, in this masterpiece album, one classic after another. The opening is entrusted to "Easy To Slip," a piece characterized by a scratching melodic line, splendidly enhanced by Lowell's warm voice, which lies on a sound carpet made of odd times and creative keyboards that weave bold and complex textures. The second track, "Cold, Cold, Cold," is a sly, lazy, boiling, and drunken R&B, worthy of the best Rolling Stones. But the first great masterpiece of the album is surely the delightful and very sweet ballad "Trouble," a rural, cadenced and relaxing piece but never trivial; it could be defined as a perfect ballad. Then it’s the turn of "Tripe Face Boogie," another bustling and untameable rhythm'n'blues that bubbles with anarchic and depraved spirits. We then arrive at the heart of the album, where the greatest piece of Little Feat's entire career is located, as well as one of the most beautiful rock ballads of all time: "Willin'." Even just one song like this would be enough to write the name Little Feat among the best groups ever to exist. Two minutes and forty seconds capable of changing a life. In this case, the life is that of our Lowell, who after this piece will be appreciated and taken as a model by countless artists of great caliber: Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, above all. "Willin'" is an immortal piece to be listened to in strict silence, an absolute classic that can thrill even after a thousand listens, imbued with pure poetry and embellished by Lowell George's magnificent slide guitar that gives us endless chills.
But it doesn’t end here: there’s still room for the rustic, raw, and genuine blues of "A Apolitical Blues," for the unbridled, frantic, jittery, and very fast R'n'R of "Teenage Nervous Breakdown," and for the third and final great masterpiece bearing the album's name: "Sailin' Shoes" is a piece that skillfully blends the blues with the gospel tradition and completely lets the innate class of the ingenious leader shine through.
After this great album, Little Feat would compose at least two more great records: "Feats Don’t Fail Me Now" and especially "Dixie Chicken," for many the highest artistic point of this great, misunderstood Californian band.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Cold, Cold, Cold (04:01)
Cold, cold, cold
Cold, cold, cold
Freezing it was freezing in that hotel
I had no, money, my special friend was gone
The TV set was busted so she went along
I called room service, I'm down here on
My knees, a peach, or a pear or a coconut please
But they was cold
Well it's been a month since I seen my girl
Or a dime to make the call 'cause it passed
Me up or it passed me by or I couldn't decide
At all and I'm mixed up, I'm so mixed up
Don't you know I'm lonely and I wish the world
Would get off my case and get on one of its own
Cold, cold, cold
Cold, cold, cold
That woman was freezing, freezing cold
Well I tried everything to warm her up
Now I'm living in the cold hotel 'cause
She passed me up or she passed me by or I
Couldn't decide at all, Oh I'm mixed up
Yes I'm mixed up, don't you know I'm lonely
of all the things I had to do I had to fall
In love you know she's cold
Turn your clock back woman when you see me
Comin' round, my feet don't even, don't even
Touch the ground
Don't be cold, don't be cold
Don't be cold, don't be cold
03 Trouble (02:19)
You yelled hey when your car wouldn't start
So you got real nervous and started to eat your heart out
Now you're so fat your shoes don't fit on your feat
You got trouble
And it's tailor made
Well mama lay your head down in the shade
'Cause your eyes are tired, and your feat are too
And you wish the world was as tired as you, whoa
Well I'll write a letter, and I'll send it away
And put all the trouble in int you had today
Oh your telephone ring and you went "oh ho"
You forgot about this, and you forgot about that
'Cause you got to get back to what you doing
Goodbye, click that, so and so
You're an island and on your own
You yelled hey when the stove blew up
Upset? why yes
And the footprints on your ceiling, they're almost gone
And you're wondering why?
Well mama lay your head down, don't you cry
05 Willin' (02:57)
Lowell George
I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty don't ya know, and I'm still, willin'
Out on the road late at night, Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
Alice, Dallas Alice
I've been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
and you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to be movin'
I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet
Had my head stoved in, but I'm still on my feet and I'm still... willin'
Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico
baked by the sun, every time I go to Mexico, and I'm still
And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
and you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to be movin
07 Sailin' Shoes (02:53)
-- Lowell George
Lady in a turban, cocaine tree
Does a dance so rhythmically
She's cryin', and a singin' and having a time
and gee that cocaine tree look fine
You've got to put on your sailin shoes
Put on your sailing shoes
Everyone will start to cheer
When you put on your sailin' shoes
Jedidiah, he's got a dime
Says he catch a more fish, every time
Well I've got a line, and you've got a pole
And I'll meet you at the fishin' hole
You've got to put on your sailin shoes
Put on your sailing shoes
Everyone will start to cheer
When you put on your sailin' shoes
Doctor, doctor, I feel so bad
This is the worst day, I ever had
Have you this misery a very long time?
Well if you if, I'll lay it on the line
You've got to put on your sailin shoes
Put on your sailing shoes
Everyone will start to cheer
When you put on your sailin' shoes
08 Teenage Nervous Breakdown (02:13)
Some contend that rock and roll
Is bad for the the body and bad for the soul
Bad for the heart, bad for the mind,
Bad for the deaf, and bad for the blind
Makes some men crazy and then they act like fools
Makes some men crazy, and then they start to drool
Unscrupulous operators could confuse
Exploit and deceive the reflex theories and change the probabilities
It's a crass and rockous crackas place
With pavlov on the the human race
It's a terrible illness, it's a terrible case
And it's usually permanent when it takes place
It's a teenage nervouse breakdown
Nervous teenage breakdown
Some contend that rock and roll
Is bad for the the body and bad for the soul
Bad for the heart, bad for the mind,
Bad for the deaf, and bad for the blind
Makes some men crazy and then they act like fools
Makes some men crazy, and then they start to drool
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