"Waiting for Columbus" by Little Feat (1978)

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Filed between: Dennis Linde and Lobo.

I have never understood modern country's claim to Little Feat - from The Dixie Chicks lifting their name off the band's biggest song to Garth Brooks' completely unnecessary version of Fishin' in the Dark.  Little Feat is not a country band.  Here's how you know that for dead certain - if Van Halen covers you, then you're not country.  (Happy Trails doesn't count.)  Little Feat is unmistakably southern, but it's not at all country.  Truth is, they're funky as hell.

"Waiting for Columbus" opens with an insistent wah pedal.  There's slap bass and groove everywhere.  They even have the legendary Tower of Power horn section playing with them.  Not to mention the fact that their songs are almost always very overtly about drug use or sex.

Like I said, funky as hell.  Granted, their studio tracks don't always sound this way, but I think "Waiting for Columbus" is a good reflection of the true spirit of the band.  I'll have to turn in my rebel flag decal for this comment, but I really think that Little Feat is the band Ronnie Van Zant secretly wished he had been in.

SIDE I:
My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately: HIGHLY Recommended (3.5/4 stars)

Key Track: Fat Man in the Bathtub.

Sounds like: straight-up funk and boogie chillun' blues.  "There's a fat man in the bathtub with the blues."  What else do you need to know?

SIDE II:
My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately: Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

Key Track: Spanish Moon is exactly what I want from low brass in a post-sixties song.

Sounds like: SIDE I fused with The Grateful Dead.  SIDE II is that side that pops up on every double live LP and it is consistently my least favorite.  I call it "the jammy side."  The jammy side is awesome when you are actually at a show, but it is much less effective on record.

SIDE III:
My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately: HIGHLY Recommended (3.5/4 stars)

Key Track: Dixie Chicken and its solos by everybody.  I particularly like the Joe Walshy guitar solo.

Sounds like: lowdown honkytonk with horns and some weird organ effects.  SIDE III starts the encore.  Matter of fact, half of "Waiting for Columbus" is the damn encore.  Here they totally reinvent Dixie Chicken live while keeping it distinctly the same song.  Bob Dylan and Billy Corgan should take notes.

SIDE IV:
My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately: Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

Key Track: Don't make me choose between Willin' and A Apolitical Blues.

Sounds like: pure stoner delight.  With tracks like Willin' and Don't Bogart that Joint, there's really nothing else to call it.  SIDE IV is the second encore.  This is where the band forgets everything else and just cuts loose and has a good time.

So, is it an album?  Yes.  To put it simply, "Waiting for Columbus" is a great journey road trip.

Up next, our third double album in a row - it's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John.