Waiting for Columbus
Waiting for Columbus | ||||
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Live album by Little Feat | ||||
Released | February 10, 1978 | |||
Recorded |
August 1–4, 1977 Rainbow Theatre, London, UK August 8–10, 1977 Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University, DC | |||
Genre | Southern rock, swamp rock, jam rock | |||
Length | 78:14 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Lowell George | |||
Little Feat chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) [2] |
Waiting for Columbus is the first live album by the band Little Feat. The album was recorded during seven performances in 1977. The first four shows were held at the Rainbow Theatre in London on August 1–4, 1977. The final three shows were recorded in George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on August 8–10 that same summer in Washington, D.C. Local Washington radio personality Don "Cerphe" Colwell can be heard leading the audience in a "F-E-A-T" spellout in between the first ("Join the Band") and second ("Fat Man in the Bathtub") tracks.
The band were backed by the Tower of Power horn section with whom they had recorded in previous studio sessions. The result was one of their biggest selling albums.
Many of their more well-known songs were either re-worked or extended. For instance, one of their signature songs, "Dixie Chicken", was heavily extended to include a lengthy piano solo by keyboardist Bill Payne, a Dixieland horn arrangement and finally a dual guitar jam between the band's two guitarists, Lowell George and Paul Barrere. In some cases, songs such as "Rocket In My Pocket" and "Mercenary Territory" were re-worked to include the horn section, and Little Feat additionally covered such tunes as "Don't Bogart That Joint" and "On Your Way Down". Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor makes a guest appearance playing slide guitar on "A Apolitical Blues".
The band recorded and mixed enough material from these performances for a triple LP, but for marketing reasons kept it to a double album. Three of the unused tracks were included on their 1981 album Hoy-Hoy!. All were eventually released on the 2002 "Deluxe edition" CD.
Track listing
1978 double LP
Side one
- "Join the Band" (Traditional) – 1:50
- "Fat Man in the Bathtub" (George) – 4:50
- "All That You Dream" (Barrere, Payne) – 4:25
- "Oh Atlanta" (Payne) – 4:09
- "Old Folks' Boogie" (Barrere, G. Barrere) – 4:22
Side two
- "Time Loves a Hero" (Barrere, Gradney, Payne) – 4:20
- "Day or Night" (Payne, F. Tate) – 5:23
- "Mercenary Territory" (George, E. George, Hayward) – 4:27
- "Spanish Moon" (George) – 4:49
Side three
- "Dixie Chicken" (George, Kibbee) – 9:00
- "Tripe Face Boogie" (Hayward, Payne) – 7:02
- "Rocket in My Pocket" (George) – 3:42
Side four
- "Willin'" (George) – 4:42
- "Don't Bogart That Joint" (E. Ingber, L. Wagner) – 0:57
- "A Apolitical Blues" (George) – 3:41
- "Sailin' Shoes" (George) – 6:18
- "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrere, George, Kibbee) – 5:17
Vinyl reissue LPs
There have been a pair of half-speed mastered vinyl reissues on LP, both on the Mobile Fidelity label and containing the original full track list as shown above.
The first reissue was released not long after the original Warner Brothers LP, was mastered by Stan Ricker, MFSL 1-019, and pressed by JVC in Japan.
The other is a 2011 release on 180g vinyl on Warner Brothers Records and mastered by Shawn R. Britton.
1990 single CD
In order to fit the double LP onto one CD, the tracks "Don't Bogart That Joint" and "A Apolitical Blues" were omitted from this release, but included as additional tracks on the CD issue of The Last Record Album.
- "Join the Band" (Traditional) – 1:24
- "Fat Man in the Bathtub" (George) – 4:52
- "All That You Dream" (Barrere, Payne) – 4:31
- "Oh Atlanta" (Payne) – 4:20
- "Old Folks' Boogie" (Barrere, G. Barrere) – 4:27
- "Time Loves a Hero" (Barrere, Gradney, Payne) – 4:19
- "Day or Night" (Payne, F. Tate) – 5:31
- "Mercenary Territory" (George, E. George, Hayward) – 4:37
- "Spanish Moon" (George) – 4:42
- "Dixie Chicken" (George, Kibbee) – 8:56
- "Tripe Face Boogie" (Hayward, Payne) – 7:10
- "Rocket in My Pocket" (George) – 3:48
- "Willin'" (George) – 3:50
- "Sailin' Shoes" (George) – 6:20
- "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrere, George, Kibbee) – 5:21
Running time 74:00
2002 "deluxe edition" double CD
From the Rhino reissue liner notes (p. 23):
- Disc 1 (all) & Disc 2, Tracks 1-5: From the original release of Waiting for Columbus. [Note: For aesthetic reasons, the playing order of Sides 2 (tks 9-12) & 3 (tks 6-8) has been switched so that the band's main set (contained on Disc 1) now concludes with the long ovation that leads into the encore.]
- Disc 2 Tracks 6-10: Performances that were refurbished & mixed for the original album Waiting for Columbus, but not used.
- Disc 2 Tracks 11-12: Selections that were apparently never considered for inclusion the either the original album or Hoy-Hoy! They are newly mixed from the original multitrack tapes and do not contain any overdubs.
- Disc 2 Tracks 13-15: First issue on the album Hoy-Hoy!
- [Note: This release now contains all the songs that were performed at the series of shows recorded for this album.]
Disc one
- "Join the Band" (Traditional) – 1:54 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 10, 1977
- "Fat Man in the Bathtub" (George) – 4:53 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "All That You Dream" (Barrere, Payne) – 4:29 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "Oh Atlanta" (Payne) – 4:20 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "Old Folks' Boogie" (Barrere, G. Barrere) – 4:26 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
- "Dixie Chicken" (George, Kibbee) – 8:53 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 3 & 4, 1977
- "Tripe Face Boogie" (Hayward, Payne) – 7:09 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2 & 3, 1977
- "Rocket in My Pocket" (George) – 3:57 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2, 1977
- "Time Loves a Hero" (Barrere, Gradney, Payne) – 4:19 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
- "Day or Night" (Payne, F. Tate) – 5:30 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
- "Mercenary Territory" (George, E. George, Hayward) – 4:36 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2, 1977
- "Spanish Moon" (George) – 5:36 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
Running time: 60:02
Disc two
- "Willin'" (George) – 4:42 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "Don't Bogart That Joint" (E. Ingber, L. Wagner) – 1:01 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "A Apolitical Blues" (George) – 3:51 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 3, 1977
- "Sailin' Shoes" (George) – 6:23 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 10, 1977
- "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrere, George, Kibbee) – 5:35 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
- "One Love Stand" (Barrere, Gradney, Payne) – 4:27 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
- "Rock and Roll Doctor" (George, Kibbee) – 4:17 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
- "Skin It Back" (Barrere) – 5:40 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2, 1977
- "On Your Way Down" (Allen Toussaint) – 6:25 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 10, 1977
- "Walkin' All Night" (Barrere, Payne) – 4:12 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "Cold, Cold, Cold" (George) – 5:18 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
- "Day at the Dog Races" (Barrere, Clayton, Gradney, Hayward, Payne) – 12:12 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
- "Skin It Back" (Barrere) – 4:40 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "Red Streamliner" (Payne, F. Tate) – 4:59 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
- "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" (George) – 4:12 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
Personnel
- Paul Barrere - guitar, vocals
- Sam Clayton - congas, vocals
- Lowell George - lead vocals, guitar
- Kenny Gradney - bass guitar
- Richard Hayward - drums, vocals
- Bill Payne - keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
- Mick Taylor - lead & slide guitar ("A Apolitical Blues")
- Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons - backing vocals ("Red Streamliner")
With the Tower of Power horn section:
- Emilio Castillo - tenor saxophone
- Greg Adams - trumpet
- Lenny Pickett - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and clarinet ("Dixie Chicken")
- Stephen "Doc" Kupka - baritone saxophone
- Mic Gillette - trombone, trumpet
In popular culture
- On 31 October 2010, American rock band Phish covered Waiting for Columbus in its entirety as their "musical costume" for their Halloween show at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
- On 31 December 2011, Little Feat along with Craig Fuller, performed the entire set on Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville.
- The cover art, by Neon Park, depicts items from the Americas that were unknown to Europeans: A tomato and hammock.
References
- ↑ Waiting for Columbus at AllMusic
- ↑ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2009-03-01. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-13.