New yet old Little Feat live al***

Waiting For Columbus is just about my favourite live album - been waiting a while for something else from this version of the band.

Great Choices In History No. 53:

Back in 73 or 4 (can't remember) I was severely impoverished and could only afford to see one of the two bands on at the Rainbow on consecutive nights: Doobie Brothers or Little Feat... guess which one I chose?

So how was 'Long Train Running'?

I remember the concert vividly (cos a friend went to see Little Feat instead and never let me forget it). They started out OK, sagged horrbly in the middle (as their samey material bogged down) then finished OK (with Long Train Runnin!).

Hey, I thought I'd catch them next time around....hah.

Waiting For Columbus is one of my all-time favorite albums ... some mighty powerful medicine music.

It may be 'official' as whispering Bob Harris has penned the sleeve notes and previewed it on his show. Indeed it could be a BBC records release. Sounded great, anyway.

I was disappointed with Columbus in 1978. But by then everyone was listening to Talking Heads and the Stranglers. The mid-70s bootlegs are superb though.

And Down on the Farm is a great album.

I ordered a copy, so I'll look forward to 'giving it some' when it arrives. Time to set the volume control to the 'adventurous' side of loud. The track list looks rather like Electrif Lycanthrope.

I guess the reason why I mention the questionable status of the release is it unavailablity in the US, and the silence on the Little Feat web-site.

It's arrived and I've just listened to disc 1.

It's a pretty dry, close recording with a rather disappointing sound. There are problems with the mix, with George asking for the vocals to be brought up more from time to time, and different instruments getting too much prominence (sometimes Barrere's guitar, sometimes the bongos) and for the first two thirds there's a very irritating snare drum buzz.

So, recording tour de force it ain't. Adequate only - not much in the way of "stereo" either.

Musically, the feel is loose , but the band seems to be coming to the boil by the time disc 1 ends.

This is a much bluesier Little Feat than on "Waiting For Columbus" and will appeal more to fans of the first two albums rather than the slicker output from Dixie Chicken onwards.

Overall I'd call it good, but we'll see how disc 2 goes later tonight...

I went to college in the 70's, Colorado, and a roomate turned me on to Little Feat. Just love their stuff and haven't had anything from them for 15 years. Tho now living in Los Angeles I went to a fundraiser concert and they played an acoustic set. I've always thought they were way better than ZZ Top. I wonder what Sailin Shoes and Feats Don't Fail Me Now would sound like on my Naim gear. Tho when the leader died so did the inspiration. So Sad.

live in LA

When I was in college in the 70's many music fans traded in live concert tapes of various bands- most prominently, of course, were the Dead. I recall a Little Feat show that was widely available then that had been recorded by a Long Island (New York area suburb) based radio station called WLIR. This was a quasi-live recording, in that they had a sound studio with room for a small audience. I believe the show was from 1973 or 1974. As many bootlegs have ended up on CD, particularly with the flimsy copywrite laws in place in Italy, I wouldn't be too suprised if this is the case on this release. If you want more live Little Feat than the extraordinary "Waiting For Columbus" recording, you might try "Hoy Hoy", which was released soon after Lowell George's untimely death. "Hoy Hoy" has some nice live performances that were not previously released. The current Little Feat box set on Warner Archive Productions has some superb remasterings of "Waiting For Columbus" in addition to many unreleased studio gems. I would start there for better sound and better karma as the musicians may actually see some of the money, which does not pertain with the bootlegs.

"Put on your sailing shoes..."