Little Feat — Sailin’ Shoes (Deluxe Edition)
Qobuz reissue review (June 2023)
Although Sailin’ Shoes was Little Feat’s second album, released just a year after their self-titled debut, it marks a very clear departure. With all of the songs written by founder Lowell George (rather than the somewhat more democratic compositional approach of LIttle Feat), Sailin’ Shoes has a more consistent and defined vision, making it feel like a proper debut. The fact that the band saw no issue with re-recording a track from their first album — George’s truck-driving anthem “Willin’,” a song so good that when Frank Zappa heard the demo while George was a Mother of Invention, he implored George to go start his own band — tells you that they likely viewed Sailin’ Shoes as a real coming-out party. And while the band continues to explore the “southern-bayous-via-southern-California” vibe they staked out on Little Feat, Sailin’ Shoes is, just like its Neon Park-painted cover, a much more vibrant and imaginative affair.
There are, of course, plenty of raucous, loose-limbed jams here. “Tripe Face Boogie” and “A Apolitical Blues” both sound like accidental peeks into works-in-progress, but are deceptively well-constructed roots-rock numbers. Other uptempo numbers like the proto-punk garage rock of “Teenage Nervous Breakdown” provide plenty of electricity. But for the most part, Sailin’ Shoes grooves by like its midtempo title track: confident; breezy; and casually soulful tunes complemented by moments of gentle, charming sweetness (“Trouble”) and evocative character drawings (“Willin’”).
For the album’s near-half-century anniversary, this deluxe edition rounds out a splendid remaster of the original LP with a wealth of bonus material. In addition to a handful of studio outtakes that made their way onto 2000’s Hotcakes and Outtakesbox set (including early versions of “Easy to Slip” and “Texas Rose Café” that George originally cut as songwriter demos for the Doobie Brothers), there are five alternate versions and demos that are previously unreleased. Much more notable is the inclusion of an absolutely revelatory live show from August 1971 at the L.A. Palladium, the first multi-track recording of a complete concert by the original lineup to be released (bassist Roy Estrada would leave before the band cut Dixie Chicken). On this particular summer evening, the band was tight and raucous, presenting a very different concert impression than the jam-oriented monster immortalized later on Waiting for Columbus. It all makes for an appropriately expansive presentation of an absolutely essential album.
