Published on Feb 28, 1997
Sometimes, discovering greatness takes more than one look.
The first time I ever heard of Little Feat was when Van Halen
covered “A Apolitical Blues” on a B-side. I was so intrigued with
what I heard that I trudged down to the used record store and
bought the only Little Feat record they had in stock, their debut
album. But when I put it on the turntable, I was disillusioned with
what I heard. This was the band I was so interested in discovering.
No… this… sucks… take… it…off… the…stereo.
About two years later, I found their second album,
Sailin’ Shoes, on sale at the local music store. For some
strange reason, I decided to ignore the bad experience I had before
and bought the tape.
What a difference a year made. This 1972 effort is undoubtedly
their finest hour. Lowell George and crew learned from all the
mistakes they made in the past, and put together an eclectic
mixture of all different forms of music.
The opening track, “Easy To Slip,” kicks off with a different
beat, but is a solid piece of pop-rock that I never get tired of
hearing. But just when you think this is the new direction of
Little Feat, The grinding blues/funk of “Cold Cold Cold” drags you
in an entirely different direction. George’s slightly hoarse lead
vocals enhance the track and the mood of the music.
From then on, every single song takes you on a different
direction on music’s road. “Trouble” is a light, airy piece of
country folk featuring solid acoustic guitar work, while “Tripe
Face Boogie” makes you want to get up and dance. The original
version of “A Apolitical Blues” is outstanding, while “Teenage
Nervous Breakdown” pulls out all the stops as a solid rocker.
The biggest surprise is a reprise of “Willin'” – a shocker
because it was on their first album. To repeat a song the very next
effort may seem like a sign of lacking creativity, but I would
rather think that George knew the first version was lame, and he
wanted a second chance to get it right. Good news – it worked.
With rare exception, all of
Sailin’ Shoes shines – the one exception being the free-form
performance of “Texas Rose Cafe.” The song lacks direction from the
beginning, and seems to make little sense lyrically or musically.
But this is a small flaw on an otherwise great album.
Sailin’ Shoes may turn some people off because of the way
Little Feat jumps from genre to genre, but this one is worth giving
a fair shake. I’m glad I did.