Waiting for Columbus

Waiting for Columbus
Live album by Little Feat
Released	March 1978
Recorded	August 1–4, 1977 Rainbow Theatre, London, UK August 8–10; Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University, DC
Genre	Southern rock
Length	78:14
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Lowell George
Little Feat chronology
Time Loves a Hero (1977) Waiting For Columbus (1978) Down on the Farm (1979)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone	(favorable)

Waiting for Columbus is the first live album by the Southern roots-rock band, Little Feat. The album was recorded during seven performances in 1977. The first four shows were held at the Rainbow Theatre in London on August 1–4, 1977. The final three shows were recorded in George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on August 8–10 that same summer in Washington, D.C.. Local Washington radio personality Don "Cerphe" Colwell can be heard leading the audience in a "F-E-A-T" spellout on the first track of the album.^{[citation needed]}

The band were backed by the Tower of Power horn section with whom they had recorded in previous studio sessions.^{[citation needed]} The result was one of their biggest selling albums and is considered one of the most acclaimed live rock albums in the same vein as The Band's Rock of Ages and The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East.^{[citation needed]}

Many of their more well-known songs were either re-worked or extended. For instance, one of their signature songs, "Dixie Chicken", was heavily extended to include a lengthy piano solo by keyboardist Bill Payne, a Dixieland horn arrangement and finally a dual guitar jam between the band's two guitarists, Lowell George and Paul Barrere. In some cases, songs such as "Rocket In My Pocket" and "Mercenary Territory" were re-worked to include the horn section, and Little Feat additionally covered such tunes as "Don't Bogart That Joint" and "On Your Way Down" as well.

The band recorded and mixed enough material from these performances for a triple LP, but for marketing reasons kept it to a double album. Three of the unused tracks were included on their 1981 album Hoy-Hoy!. All were eventually released on the 2002 "Deluxe edition" CD.

Track listing

1978 double LP

Side one

1. "Join The Band" (Traditional) – 1:50
2. "Fat Man in the Bathtub" (George) – 4:50
3. "All That You Dream" (Barrère, Payne) – 4:25
4. "Oh Atlanta" (Payne) – 4:09
5. "Old Folks' Boogie" (Barrère, G. Barrère) – 4:22

Side two

1. "Time Loves a Hero" (Barrère, Gradney, Payne) – 4:20
2. "Day or Night" (Payne, F. Tate) – 5:23
3. "Mercenary Territory" (George, E. George, Hayward) – 4:27
4. "Spanish Moon" (George) – 4:49

Side three

1. "Dixie Chicken" (George, Kibbee) – 9:00
2. "Tripe Face Boogie" (Hayward, Payne) – 7:02
3. "Rocket in My Pocket" (George) – 3:42

Side four

1. "Willin'" (George) – 4:42
2. "Don't Bogart That Joint" (E. Ingber, L. Wagner) – 0:57
3. "A Apolitical Blues" (George) – 3:41
4. "Sailin' Shoes" (George) – 6:18
5. "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrère, George, Kibbee) – 5:17

Vinyl reissue LPs

There have been a pair of half-speed mastered vinyl reissues on LP, both on the Mobile Fidelity label and containing the original full track list as shown above.

The first reissue was released not long after the original Warner Brothers LP, was mastered by Stan Ricker, MFSL 1-019 and pressed by JVC in Japan.

The other is a 2011 release is: Warner Brothers/Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-322 2 on 180g vinyl and mastered by Shawn R. Britton.

1990 single CD

In order to fit the double LP onto one CD, the tracks "Don't Bogart That Joint" and "A Apolitical Blues" were omitted from this release, but included as additional tracks on the CD issue of The Last Record Album.

1. "Join The Band" (Traditional) – 1:24
2. "Fat Man in the Bathtub" (George) – 4:52
3. "All That You Dream" (Barrère, Payne) – 4:31
4. "Oh Atlanta" (Payne) – 4:20
5. "Old Folks' Boogie" (Barrère, G. Barrère) – 4:27
6. "Time Loves a Hero" (Barrère, Gradney, Payne) – 4:19
7. "Day or Night" (Payne, F. Tate) – 5:31
8. "Mercenary Territory" (George, E. George, Hayward) – 4:37
9. "Spanish Moon" (George) – 4:42
10. "Dixie Chicken" (George, Kibbee) – 8:56
11. "Tripe Face Boogie" (Hayward, Payne) – 7:10
12. "Rocket in My Pocket" (George) – 3:48
13. "Willin'" (George) – 3:50
14. "Sailin' Shoes" (George) – 6:20
15. "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrère, George, Kibbee) – 5:21

Running time 74:00.

2002 "Deluxe Edition" double CD

This edition not only restores all the original tracks, but includes several additional tracks recorded at the same appearances where the original tracks were recorded. Disc 1 has all the tracks from sides 1, 3, and 2 (in that order) of the original LP release. Disc 2 opens with side 4, continues with several previously unreleased tracks (6 through 12), and concludes with the three tracks that appeared on Hoy-Hoy!.

Disc one

1. "Join The Band" (Traditional) – 1:54 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 10, 1977
2. "Fat Man in the Bathtub" (George) – 4:53 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
3. "All That You Dream" (Barrère, Payne) – 4:29 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
4. "Oh Atlanta" (Payne) – 4:20 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
5. "Old Folks' Boogie" (Barrère, G. Barrère) – 4:26 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
6. "Dixie Chicken" (George, Kibbee) – 8:53 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 3 & 4, 1977
7. "Tripe Face Boogie" (Hayward, Payne) – 7:09 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2 & 3, 1977
8. "Rocket in My Pocket" (George) – 3:57 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2, 1977
9. "Time Loves a Hero" (Barrère, Gradney, Payne) – 4:19 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
10. "Day or Night" (Payne, F. Tate) – 5:30 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
11. "Mercenary Territory" (George, E. George, Hayward) – 4:36 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2, 1977
12. "Spanish Moon" (George) – 5:36 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977

Running time: 60:02

Disc two

1. "Willin'" (George) – 4:42 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
2. "Don't Bogart That Joint" (E. Ingber, L. Wagner) – 1:01 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
3. "A Apolitical Blues" (George) – 3:51 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 3, 1977
4. "Sailin' Shoes" (George) – 6:23 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 10, 1977
5. "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (Barrère, George, Kibbee) – 5:35 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
6. "One Love Stand" (Barrère, Gradney, Payne) – 4:27 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
7. "Rock and Roll Doctor" (George, Kibbee) – 4:17 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
8. "Skin It Back" (Barrère) – 5:40 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 2, 1977
9. "On Your Way Down" (Allen Toussaint) – 6:25 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 10, 1977
10. "Walkin' All Night" (Barrère, Payne) – 4:12 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
11. "Cold, Cold, Cold" (George) – 5:18 - The Rainbow Theatre London England August 4, 1977
12. "Day at the Dog Races" (Barrère, Clayton, Gradney, Hayward, Payne) – 12:12 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977
13. "Skin It Back" (Barrère) – 4:40 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
14. "Red Streamliner" (Payne, F. Tate) – 4:59 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 8, 1977
15. "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" (George) – 4:12 - Lisner Auditorium Washington D.C. August 9, 1977

Running time: 77:54

Personnel

• Paul Barrère - guitar, vocals
• Sam Clayton - congas, vocals
• Lowell George - lead vocals, guitar
• Kenny Gradney - bass guitar
• Richard Hayward - drums, vocals
• Bill Payne - keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
• Mick Taylor - slide guitar ("A Apolitical Blues")
• Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons - backing vocals ("Red Streamliner")

With the Tower of Power horn section:

• Emilio Castillo - tenor saxophone
• Greg Adams - trumpet
• Lenny Pickett - alto saxophone and tenor saxophone
• Stephen "Doc" Kupka - baritone saxophone
• Mic Gillette - trombone, trumpet

Cultural References

On 31 October 2010, American rock band Phish covered Waiting for Columbus in its entirety as their "musical costume" for their Halloween show at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

On 31 December 2011, Little Feat along with Craig Fuller, performed the entire set on Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville.