Little Feat Release Deluxe Editions of Sailin’ Shoes and Dixie Chicken

Little Feat’s back-to-back studio classics, 1972’s Sailin’ Shoes and 1973’s Dixie Chicken, have been newly remastered and expanded with a pair of tasty deluxe editions on Rhino. 

Sailin’ Shoes was Feat’s second studio album and the last one to feature the original quartet of singer-guitarist Lowell George, drummer Richard Hayward, keyboard player Bill Payne and bassist Roy Estrada. It was the first Feat album with legendary producer Ted Templeman, as well as the first to feature artwork by illustrator Neon Park, who created covers for nearly all of Little Feat’s albums.

“In a year loaded with rock-landmark releases–among them Neil Young’s Harvest, The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street and David Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars–Sailin’ Shoes was arguably the best-reviewed record of 1972,” wrote David Fricke in the liner notes to the deluxe Shoes. “Little Feat’s turning point in the studio was certainly the most acclaimed LP of those 12 months to never make it onto Billboard’s Top 200, much less go platinum or gold.”

Yet despite its poor performance chart-wise, Shoes had established the band’s expertise in what critic Bud Scoppa called “living folklore” in his Rolling Stone review back then.

“Sailin’ Shoes, interweaving it’s big trucks, seedy hotels and greasy spoons with songs about rock & roll, seeks to incorporate this special music into the raw, vibrant and vast setting of mythic America,” he wrote. 

This deluxe edition only adds to the album’s mystique, offering alternate takes on such key tracks as “Trouble,” “A Apolitical Blues” and signature tune “Willin'” as well as demos of “Easy To Slip” and “Texas Rose Cafe” originally written by George for The Doobie Brothers. There’s also a previously unreleased complete live show from the Palladium in Los Angeles, CA that marks the only multi-track live recording of the original lineup onstage, where they run through material from both Shoes (including a ripping version of “Tripe Face Boogie”) and their underrated eponymous debut (“Tripe Face Boogie,” “Teenage Nervous Breakdown”).

Dixie Chicken, the band’s third studio album, came out in 1973 with a new, expanded lineup and a shift towards New Orleans funk abetted by the arrival of guitarist Paul Barrere, percussionist Sam Clayton, and bassist Kenny Gradney (who replaced Estrada). It was also the first Feat album produced by George himself. 

“Dixie Chicken is a superb album, but in the long run it signified so much more,” wrote former Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally in his liner notes for the deluxe Dixie. “Finding one’s true voice is perhaps the hardest challenge any artist can face. Little Feat always had talent, but with Dixie Chicken they had found their groove.”

This newly remastered edition of Chicken comes supplemented with several previously unreleased session recordings including alternate renditions of tracks like “Roll Um Easy” and “Juliette,” demos of “Two Trains” and concert staple “Fat Man In The Bathtub” and studio outtakes “Eldorado Slim” and the Barrere-penned “Hi Roller (Ace In The Hole).” There is also material culled from a gig recorded at Paul’s Mall in Boston, MA, from March 1, 1973 that is well worth checking out, especially the version of “Walkin’ All Night.” 

Little Feat will celebrate these deluxe editions with “The Albums Tour” this fall, which will feature the band playing each album in its entirety across back-to-back nights at select venues (night one will be Sailin’ Shoes and night two will be Dixie Chicken). 

Preceding “The Album Tour,” the band will be revising their “Boogie Your Spring Away” tour, which picks back up on July 12th in Atlanta, GA and winds down at the Hot August Music Festival on August 19 in Maryland. Get out and see them while you can! Tour dates below.

 

SAILIN’ SHOES (DELUXE EDITION)

Disc One: Original Album (2023 Remaster)

“Easy To Slip”

“Cold, Cold Cold”

“Trouble”

“Tripe Face Boogie”

“Willin’”

“A Apolitical Blues”

“Sailin’ Shoes”

“Teenage Nervous Breakdown”

“Got No Shadow”

“Cat Fever”

“Texas Rose Café”

 

Disc Two: Hotcakes, Outtakes, Rarities 

“Sailin’ Shoes” – Demo *

“Easy To Fall” (early version of “Easy To Slip”) – Demo For Doobie Bros. 

“Texas Rose Café” – Demo For Doobie Bros. 

“Cold, Cold, Cold” – Alternate Version

“Roto/Tone”

“A Apolitical Blues” – Alternate Version *

“Boogie” (early version of “Tripe Face Boogie”)

“Trouble” – Alternate Version 

“Doriville”

“Willin’” – Alternate Version 

“Easy To Slip” – Mono Single Version

 

Thank You! I’ll Eat It Here: Live At The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA (8/28/71)

“Tripe Face Boogie” 

“Hamburger Midnight” 

“Cat Fever” 

“Willin’” 

“Strawberry Flats” 

“Got No Shadow” 

“Texas Rose Café” 

“Snakes On Everything” 

“Hot Rod” 

“Teenage Nervous Breakdown” 

 

DIXIE CHICKEN (DELUXE EDITION)

2CD Track Listing

Disc One: Original Album (2023 Remaster)

“Dixie Chicken”

“Two Trains”

“Roll Um Easy”

“On Your Way Down”

“Kiss It Off”

“Fool Yourself”

“Walkin’ All Night”

“Fat Man In The Bathtub”

“Juliette”

“Lafayette Railroad”

 

Disc Two: Hotcakes, Outtakes, Rarities

“Two Trains” – Demo

“Fat Man In The Bathtub” – Demo

“Walkin’ All Night” – Alternate Version 

“Roll Um Easy” – Alternate Version 

“On Your Way Down” – Alternate Version 

“Eldorado Slim”

“Juliette” – Alternate Version 

“Hi Roller (Ace In The Hole)”

“Dixie Chicken” – Alternate Version 

Icepick Eldorado: Live At Paul’s Mall, Boston, MA (4/1/73)

“Two Trains” 

“Got No Shadow” 

“On Your Way Down” 

“Walkin’ All Night” 

“Fat Man In The Bathtub” 

“Willin’” 

“A Apolitical Blues” 

 

Summer Tour Dates

July 12 Atlanta, GA Atlanta Symphony Hall

July 13 Louisville, KY Iroquois Amphitheater

July 15 Chesterfield, MO Chesterfield Amphitheater

July 16 Decatur, IL Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater

July 18 Cedar Rapids, IA McGrath Amphitheater

July 19 Omaha, NE Orpheum Theater

July 21 Greenwood Village, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater

July 22 Grand Junction, CO Amphitheater At Las Colonias Park

July 23 Salt Lake City, UT Red Butte Garden

July 26 Seattle, WA Moore Theater

July 27 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

July 29 San Francisco, CA The Warfield

July 30 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort

Aug 1 San Diego, CA Humphreys Concert By The Bay

Aug 2 Las Vegas, NV The Smith Center

Aug 3 Phoenix, AZ The Celebrity Theater

Aug 17 Spartanburg, SC Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium

Aug 18 Richmond, VA Carpenter Theater At Dominion Energy Center

Aug 19 Cockeyville, MD Hot August Music Festival

 

The Albums Tour

Sept 29 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium+

Sept 30 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium#

Oct 3 Washington D.C. Warner Theater+

Oct 4 Washington D.C. Warner Theater#

Oct 6 New York, NY The Town Hall+

Oct 7 New York, NY The Town Hall#

Oct 9 Boston, MA The Wilbur+

Oct 10 Boston, MA The Wilbur#

Oct 12 Collingswood, NJ Scottish Rite Auditorium+

Oct 13 Collingswood, NJ Scottish Rite Auditorium#

Oct 15 Chicago, IL The Vic Theater+

Oct 16 Chicago, IL The Vic Theater#

Oct 20 Los Angeles, CA Theater at Ace Hotel+

Oct 21 Los Angeles, CA Theater at Ace Hotel#

 

+performing Sailin’ Shoes in its entirety

#performing Dixie Chicken in its entirety