Top 10 Little Feat Songs

Photo: Bryan Ledgard [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Our Top 10 Little Feat songs list takes a look at the songs Little Feat recorded during the decade of the 1970s. Even though Little Feat broke up in 1979 after the passing of Lowell George, they reformed in the late 1980s and continued recording and touring for decades. Our focus on just the 1970s period should not be misinterpreted as disrespecting the band’s later period. There is simply too much material to cover over more than fifty years. Additionally, the band’s 1970s period is unique because it is the only era in which they recorded with founding member Lowell George.

Little Feat released their first album in 1971, entitled Little Feat. The band at that time featured Lowell George, Bill Payne, Roy Estrada, and Richie Hayward. Little Feat released their follow-up album one year later, in 1972, entitled Sailin’ Shoes. The album featured the same core lineup. The following year, Little Feat released Dixie Chicken in 1973. It would become one of the band’s defining albums. Kenny Gradney replaced Roy Estrada on bass, while guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton joined the lineup. That six-man lineup would define Little Feat through much of the 1970s.

Little Feat released their fourth album in 1974, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now. It featured our favorite Little Feat album cover. Little Feat released The Last Record Album in 1975, continuing their one-album-a-year release schedule. Little Feat finally broke their yearly release schedule, as it took two years to release their next album. However, it was worth the wait. The legendary album Time Loves A Hero was released in 1977.

Little Feat would release one more studio album during the 1970s. The album Down On The Farm was released in 1979. Founding member Lowell George died on June 29, 1979, while on a solo tour, before the album was completed and released. Little Feat disbanded shortly afterward.

Little Feat reformed in 1987 and returned to the road in 1988. The band went on to release eleven more studio albums between Let It Roll in 1988 and Strike Up The Band in 2025. Their 2024 blues album Sam’s Place earned a Grammy nomination, while Strike Up The Band delivered the band’s first album of mostly new original material in thirteen years. In 2026, Little Feat embarked on The Last Farewell Tour, describing it as a retirement from the heavy travel of touring rather than a complete end to performing. Their following knows no boundaries. Little Feat fans are everywhere.

As noted in the introduction, our Top 10 Little Feat songs of the 1970s article will examine only songs released from the seven great Little Feat studio albums between 1971 and 1979. If you are unfamiliar with Little Feat’s music, we hope this list of Little Feat songs will serve as a great starting guide for you. It’s the main reason why we compose these top 10 song lists.

# 10 – Strawberry Flats

We open our list of top 10 Little Feat songs with the excellent track “Strawberry Flats.” The song was released on the band’s debut album, Little Feat, in 1971. It might not be the band’s most famous song, but it feels like the right place to start. The album featured Lowell George on lead, rhythm, and slide guitars, lead vocals, harmonica, and backing vocals; Bill Payne on keyboards and vocals; Roy Estrada on bass and backing vocals; and Richie Hayward on drums and backing vocals. “Strawberry Flats” was written by George and Payne.

# 9 – Perfect Imperfection

“Perfect Imperfection” is probably one of the most underrated Little Feat songs in their catalog. This slow, soulful number sung by Lowell George was released on the band’s final 1970s album, Down On The Farm. Written by Paul Barrere and Tom Snow, the song became part of a difficult final chapter in Little Feat’s original era. George died in June 1979 while the album was still being completed, and Down On The Farm was released later that year after the band had come apart.

# 8 – Long Distance Love

This one rips your heart out. Lowell George shines so brightly on this one. The instrumentation, the backing vocals, and the guitar work are so brilliant and so moving. Her lies were so sweet! Oh, stab me in my heart. The song was released on Little Feat’s record entitled The Last Record Album in 1975. Valerie Carter and Fran Tate supplied backing vocals on the recording.

# 7 – Sailin’ Shoes

Songs like “Sailin’ Shoes” establish cult followings like the one that eventually formed around Little Feat. This classic song was released on the album of the same name, Sailin’ Shoes. Produced by Ted Templeman, whom many fans would later know from his work with Van Halen, the band’s second album signified a shift in musical direction. It also stands as the last Little Feat studio album to feature original bassist Roy Estrada.

# 6 – Spanish Moon

Feats Don’t Fail Me Now was one of Little Feat’s best albums. The album was released in 1974 and featured Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris among its backing vocalists. The Tower of Power horn section also became closely associated with Little Feat’s 1970s sound, especially in concert. “Spanish Moon,” written by Lowell George, is one of the darkest, funkiest songs in the band’s catalog. The official video below uses the celebrated live version recorded at London’s Rainbow Theatre in 1977 with the Tower of Power horns, later associated with Waiting for Columbus.

# 5 – Time Loves a Hero

The Doobie Brothers meet Little Feat on this fabulous album. The great record Time Loves A Hero was released in 1977. The album featured guest musicians including Michael McDonald, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, and Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers on various tracks. Written by Bill Payne, Kenny Gradney, and Paul Barrere, “Time Loves A Hero” became one of the band’s signature songs and received substantial album-oriented rock radio exposure.

# 4 – Tie – Feats Don’t Fail Me Now / Rock and Roll Doctor

The band’s 1974 album Feats Don’t Fail Me Now is so good we could have easily fit every track from the album on this top 10 Little Feat songs list. It’s what makes composing these top 10 lists so tricky, as so many great ones are left off. There was not enough room for both of these, so we cheated and created a tie. “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” captures the band’s rolling groove at full strength, while “Rock and Roll Doctor,” written by Lowell George and Martin Kibbee, opens the album with one of Little Feat’s most instantly recognizable riffs.

# 3 – Fat Man in the Bathtub

In the number three spot on our Little Feat songs list, we present the song “Fat Man In The Bathtub.” The song was released on the band’s legendary album entitled Dixie Chicken. The album featured the lineup of Lowell George on vocals and guitar, Paul Barrere on guitar and vocals, Sam Clayton on congas, Kenny Gradney on bass, Richie Hayward on drums, and the great Bill Payne on keyboards.

# 2 – Willin’

The legendary Little Feat song “Willin'” was written by Lowell George. The song is legendary for various reasons. It became one of the defining songs associated with Little Feat and was recorded on the band’s 1971 debut before being remade in a more polished band arrangement for Sailin’ Shoes in 1972. The other reason is based on the multiple stories surrounding Lowell George showing the song to Frank Zappa while George was a member of The Mothers of Invention. Some versions of the story say the song led Zappa to tell George to form his own band; other accounts differ on the details. That story will probably always remain part of the Little Feat legend.

# 1 – Dixie Chicken

We close out our top 10 Little Feat songs of the 1970s with the band’s signature song, “Dixie Chicken.” If one is going to compose a best-of-Little-Feat song list from the 1970s, one has no choice but to list this one as number one. It’s the honorable thing to do. Little Feat’s legendary song “Dixie Chicken” was released in 1973. It was issued on the album Dixie Chicken.

Everything that we loved about 1970s Little Feat is defined in this brilliant recording. The song “Dixie Chicken” was written by Lowell George and Martin Kibbee, who was credited on early Little Feat records as Fred Martin. The album Dixie Chicken featured backing vocals from soon-to-be famed slide blues guitarist and vocalist Bonnie Raitt.