49 Little Feat, ‘Waiting for Columbus’ (1978)
49 Little Feat, ‘Waiting for Columbus’ (1978)
The album that brought Little Feat back to their, well, you know, Waiting for Columbus was recorded in London and Washington D.C. in August 1977. It was released six months later to become the band's best selling record, renewing the Feats' credibility in the process. The notion to record a live album was pushed by their producer, Lowell George, whose flagging writing chops had alienated his bandmates. Columbus, however, demonstrated that the band was still a New Orleans-funk powerhouse, with energy and improv skills to spare, as demonstrated by "Dixie Chicken" and "Tripe Faced Boogie." Lowell later overdubbed most of his lead vocals and many guitar solos to great effect, giving the album an engagingly punchy sense of detail. Indeed, Columbus's reputation has grown steadily over time, with Phish complimenting it with a live cover version on Halloween 2010. Richard Gehr