Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus

To my mind, the litmus test of a band’s musical ability is their live performance. The truly great groups have a synergy that is formed when the collective efforts of the musicians coalesce to create the special sound that gives the group its identity, and brings to fruition the musical vision of the members, (or, in some cases, their leader’s vision). If we are to apply this principle as a guideline to the many hundreds of live recordings that have been released over the years, it would be my respectful submission that “Waiting For Columbus” by Little Feat should be considered summa cum laude in that respect. 

Little Feat was a wonderful American band from the Los Angeles area who, in their first incarnation, lasted about ten years (1969 - 1979). Their classic lineup was a sextet; original members Lowell George (guitar, lead vocals), Bill Payne (keyboards, vocals) and Richie Hayward (drums) and newer members Paul Barrere (guitar, vocals), Kenny Gradney (bass) and Sam Clayton (perscussion). The double live recording “Waiting For Columbus” was the band’s seventh release, their last complete recording as a band, and ironically, their best selling album (although “Down On The Farm”, the album released after “Waiting For Columbus”, was technically the last Little Feat recording, Lowell George left and the group formally disbanded partially through the recording process. Tragically, two weeks later, Lowell George was dead). 

According to Little Feat’s website, the title for their live recording, was taken from the name of the painting that graced the album’s cover. Neon Park, the artist who had created it, had decided to call the work he created  “Waiting For Columbus”. Apparently his reasoning for doing so was that Christopher Columbus had discovered the tomato when he discovered the Americas, and the “hot tomato” in the hammock was waiting, (like an aspiring Hollywood starlet) to be “discovered”.    

Little Feat had struggled mightily for some years to become more than a critics’ favourite or cult status group. They had commenced a slow but steady upwards trajectory after the release of “Dixie Chicken” (their third album), and had earned an enviable reputation as a solid live act. However, in a situation all too familiar to the music business, tensions were building. The leader Lowell George had a vision of the group’s musical styling, which was based on a strong mixture of Southern R&B, but with more than just standard blues changes. The songs had a gritty, funky feel, but with well thought out melodies and harmonic structures. They also had great hooks and changes, coupled with a killer grooves. The lyrics in the songs that Lowell George wrote featured his sardonic wit, and quite often dealt in a humorous fashion with the ups and downs of the male/female relationship. Lowell George had served an apprenticeship in Frank Zappa’s “Mother of Invention” prior to launching his own career, which may account for this offbeat sense of humour. The band also had two other very good song writers in the band, (Bill Payne and Paul Barrere), and unfortunately, Little Feat was not going to be able to accommodate them all. According to an interview with Lowell George shortly before his death, he felt Bill Payne was becoming too enamoured of the jazz-rock fusion of the day, and was writing in that genre, which was not at all Lowell’s cup of tea. To be fair, some of the tension over song-writing also had to do with Lowell George having gradually becoming more distant from the group, and the other members needing to come up with material for their records. In hindsight, it may have been that Little Feat had run is course, and that they needed a break. But when Lowell George came up with the idea of recording a live record, everyone in the band agreed it was great idea, and they all pitched in to make it happen. 

By this time, Little Feat had many years of great material to work with, so there was no shortage of songs to choose from. The decision to record was made prior to the performances, so the band picked two different venues; the Rainbow Theatre in London England, and the Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C. Seven nights in total were recored during August of 1977, and in anticipation of the project, a decision was made to add the horn section from Tower of Power. In hindsight, this turned out to be a stroke of genius. Recording engineer Warren Dewey was hired for the project, and has since said that being such a great band, Little Feat were easy to record. In the production stage, (post recording), there were some sonic imperfections that were cleaned up and overdubbed, but according to Warren Dewey, the band, and in particular Lowell George, resisted any efforts to polish up the product. Other than really obvious flaws, they stuck to what was done.

I should mention at this point that “Waiting For Columbus” has gone through some variations over the years. Originally, it was released as a double vinyl album. That meant that there were a number of songs that were good enough to be included, but due to the limitations of available space, were left off the record. When Warner Brothers began to transfer Little Feat’s catalogue to compact disc, a decision was made to reissue “Waiting For Columbus” on a single disc, which meant that some songs from the original release had to be excluded. However, the good folks at Rhino released a deluxe edition double compact disc version of “Waiting For Columbus” in 2002. This version contains all of the material from the original twin album version, as well as  previously unreleased outtakes, and outtakes that had been previously issued on another Little Feat compilation. 

“Waiting For Columbus” has been recognized as one of the great live albums of all time, making several “best of” lists (including a very good and recommended review in allaboutjazz.com (https://www.allaboutjazz.com/little-feat-waiting-for-columbus-by-c-michael-bailey.php).  As I previously indicated, there are several versions available, but in this writer’s humble opinion, the Rhino reissue is the ne plus ultra version. While all of the songs are great, two of the tracks that I’m particularly fond of are “Mercenary Territory” on disc one, and “Cold, Cold, Cold” on disc two. “Mercenary Territory” features tremendous ensemble playing, and a sax solo from Lenny Pickett that goes into full face-melt mode. On “Cold, Cold, Cold” we get to hear just how funky this band could play, and just what a great vocalist Lowell George was. Interestingly, the band reformed in 1987, and continues to perform to this day.

It is always presumptuous to declare any recording of music a “desert island” disc, but this one I would certainly take with me if I had a finite list. If you haven’t heard “Waiting For Columbus”, please do yourself a favour and have a listen.  

Mason Proffit - “Wanted”

“Hear The Voice of Change”

Mason Proffit was the name of a group from the Chicago area. Formed in 1969, the band released their first album, titled “Wanted”, in early 1970 on a small independent record label called “Happy Tiger”, based in Century City (Los Angeles), California. The album is a classic example of the late 1960’s music scene in America, featuring a style of music that would soon be known as “country rock”. While the songs on the album themselves are not necessarily groundbreaking; (after all artists such as Bob Dylan and bands such as the Byrds ,with Gram Parsons, had already incorporated aspects of traditional American music into their repertoire), they were a brilliant combination of social commentary and great musicianship, in addition to being very listenable. 

The band was a quintet, based around the two Talbot brothers, Terry (vocals, lead guitar, percussion), and John Michael (guitar, pedal steel, banjo, vocals). The brothers were terrifically talented, and in addition to the great lead vocals, guitar and banjo playing we hear on “Wanted”, we are also treated to their gorgeous vocal harmonies. The rest of the band was made up of Tim Ayres (bass), Rick Durant (keyboards) and Art Nash (drums). I contacted the younger of the two brothers,  John Michael, and asked him some questions about the band and the record. He advised me Mason Proffit grew out a regional local band called “The Sounds Unlimited”. His brother Terry was also in the band, and they were popular in Indianapolis, and in the area in adjacent surrounding states. As John Michael explained to me, “We tried to land a record deal with our old friend, Bill Traut, in Chicago, and auditioned for him at “The Cellar” in Arlington, Illinois. He liked the band, but suggested that, due to our past experience in folk/bluegrass/and country music that we jump on board the newly emerging country rock scene.” (In passing, I should mention that Bill Traut was a legendary musician, record producer, manager and talent scout, well known in the Chicago area. He and Terry Talbot also produced “Wanted”).  John Michael also told me how he became the band’s pedal steel player. “My brother, Terry, and I flipped a coin for who would learn how to play pedal steel guitar, and I lost the toss! So, I picked up the pedal steel guitar, and added my banjo, guitar, and dobro to the mix. I was a fairly accomplished banjo and guitar player. But the pedal was new to me. The dobro came naturally to me, and folks thought that I was pretty good. Terry was the principal songwriter, and I helped out with musical additions that fit it into to the country rock sound.”  John Michael said that the band recorded a “demo”, and Dunwich Productions (a company started by Bill Traut and two record producers) shopped it around. 

I asked John Michael about the socially conscious nature of many of the songs on “Wanted”. A number of topics such as Native American rights, racial inequality, the Vietnam War and the Generation Gap were covered. He said that “It was simply the consciousness of our times. I don’t think we were particularly unique in having those concerns. What made us unique was bridging social commentary (from the folk days) with the country rock idiom.”  

I would highly recommend this record to anyone who likes great songs that are well performed, with excellent musicianship and high production values (in other words, good music). The lyrics are profound and timeless, and stand in stark contrast to the banality of so much of today’s modern popular music. As previously mentioned, the style (if it has to be defined), would best be thought of as “country rock”, or in today’s musical vernacular, “roots”. While other groups may have gone out to greater success performing this style, Mason Proffit should be considered sui generis.  

Mason Proffit’s “Wanted” was not a big seller, but the band was very popular and well known as a great live act. While relatively rare, vinyl copies of “Wanted” can be located. The compact disc edition was released on Wounded Bird Records (catalogue number WOU 1009) in 2006. It might be a little more difficult to locate though. Fortunately, “Wanted” and the groups’ second release “Moving Towards Happiness” are available on iTunes, under  the title “Come and Gone”. (Before their demise, the group was signed to Warners Brothers, who re-released their first two albums as a “two-fer” called “Come and Gone”).

Mason Proffit went to release several more records before the band called it quits in 1973. They are all well worth listening to. The Talbot brothers have continued to make music the focus of their lives, and over the years have been very active in contemporary Christian music, where their talents have been very well received and recognized.