#dixie chicken

Song Review: Little Feat feat. Tommy Emmanuel - “Dixie Chicken” (Live, 2022)

With drummer Tony Leone setting the brisk tempo, Tommy Emmanuel faced off with keyboardist Bill Payne as the rest of Little Feat and their guests watched the CGP bring a rare bit of rapid-fire acoustic guitar to “Dixie Chicken.” Payne, meanwhile, responded with jazzy notes and sound patches that mimicked human voices.

This all happened in 2022, in the midst of one of Feat’s best-known numbers, as the band recorded the PBS special “Celebrating Waiting for Columbus Live at the Ryman” in Tennessee.

With a four-voice choir and three pieces of brass further bolstering the sound, the latest Little Feat lineup did serious justice to the “Chicken” while leaving room for Fred Tackett and singer Scott Sharrard to shine on electric guitars, with the latter bringing slide into his solo.

It was, as Little Feat has been for decades, more tribute band than the band that recorded “Dixie Chicken.” But, despite Emmanuel’s decidedly anti-Feat showcase amid the cluttered-but-effectual arrangement, this was one of the modern band’s most-powerful presentations to date.

No wonder they released it as a standalone video.

Grade card: Little Feat feat. Tommy Emmanuel - “Dixie Chicken” (Live, 2022) - B+

Little Feat ~ "Dixie Chicken"

I've seen the bright lights of Memphis And the Commodore Hotel And underneath a street lamp I met a Southern belle Well she took me to the river, where she cast her spell And in that Southern moonlight, she sang a song so well

If you'll be my Dixie Chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb And we can walk together down in dixieland Down in dixieland

Well we made all the hot spots. My money flowed like wine Then that low down Southern whiskey began to fog my mind And I don't remember church bells or the money I put down On the white picket fence and boardwalk of the house at the edge of town But boy do I remember the strain of her ain The nights we spent together, and the way she called my name

If you'll be my Dixie Chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb And we can walk together down in dixieland Down in dixieland

Well it's been a year since she ran away Yes 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 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 sign along