Little Feat — Dixie Chicken (Deluxe Edition)
Qobuz reissue review (June 2023)
If Sailin’ Shoes was where Little Feat locked into the formula that would define their run throughout the ‘70s — namely, let Lowell George be Lowell George — then Dixie Chicken was where that formula was optimized to maximum effect. This resulted in Little Feat’s best studio album, and also one of the best albums of rock’s classic era. Thanks to both a substantial lineup shift — original bassist Roy Estrada was replaced by Kenny Gradney, while guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton were added to the mix — and the decision to have George, rather than a label employee like Ted Templeman or Russ Titelman, produce the album, Dixie Chicken was Little Feat at its purest.
Recorded when the band was successful enough to have creative license and a substantial recording budget, but before they were so successful that they forgot how to be themselves, Chicken distills the languorous , soulful sound of the band into an ideal form. To be fair, that ideal form also made room for a handful of guests to help them realize their vision, like Bonnie Bramlett and Bonnie Raitt on backing vocals as well as Malcom Cecil’s fresh-from-Talking Book-sessions synths. While notionally a rock record, the electric keys, locked-in rhythms, liquid guitar lines, and rich harmonies present more of a grizzled slow-burn funk than the SoCal party rock or soft rock of the band’s peers. And, truly, Dixie Chicken seldom gets its heart rate up, but when it does — as on the two-step grooves of “Fat Man in the Bathtub” and the title track — one’s reaction is more on the “let’s boogie” rather than the “let’s rock” side of the spectrum. This new deluxe edition — released to celebrate Dixie Chicken’s 50th anniversary — features an excellent remaster of the original album, five previously unreleased alternates of album tracks, as well as two studio outtakes and two demo versions. Even better: the inclusion of a handful of tracks from a concert recorded in Boston a few months after the album’s release; despite it being an outdoor show the sound quality is good, but the song selection (the middle seven of a 14-song set) leaves a bit to be desired.
