Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
Another “live” album. And this one is my favorite. The year was 1978 and Terri and I were back in my home town of Napa, renting a small two bedroom house with roommates. Hosting parties and spinning our albums was a regular happening at that little house across from West Park Elementary. I’m not sure when I first heard Little Feat and Waiting for Columbus, but it wasn’t long before it was being played over and over and over, and the parties went on and on and on.
This was one of those recordings where every single track was better than the last. You could not just listen to “All that you dream”, “Time loves a hero”, “Spanish Moon” or “Dixie Chicken”. You had to listen to side 1, followed by side 2, then sides 3 and 4. All the way. Every song. I was instantly and forever hooked on the band’s New Orleans feel with Lowell George’s slide guitar, Billy Payne’s piano, an incredible rhythm section anchored by Richie Hayward, and all backed up by Emilio Castillo and the Tower of Power Horns.
It is my absolute favorite. I still hear the lyrics in my head often.
“Well, it's been a year since she ran away. Guess that guitar player sure could play. She always liked to sing along, she's always handy with a song.
Then one night in the lobby yeah, of the Commodore Hotel. I chanced to meet a bartender who said he knew her well.
And as he handed me a drink, he began to hum a song. And all the boys there at the bar began to sing along…” Dixie Chicken - L. George
