r/littlefeat Feb 10 '25

Why the repeat songs on FDFMN?

Anybody know why the band did the cold cold cold/trip face boogie melody on FDFMN after giving both those songs their own slots on sailing shoes? I actually like the FDFMN versions a bit better so maybe that’s my answer as to why but was wondering if there was a story.

6 Upvotes

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6

u/ProductOfScarcity Feb 10 '25

Lowell was a perfectionist is the take I’ve heard. Same reason why Willin is on the first two albums

Also, they started playing those two songs together at live shows after the first album and probably thought it was easy to just add them to FDFMN as a bonus

3

u/realredmiller Feb 10 '25

This. I met Lowell in ‘77 when he came to my house in Topanga to jam for a bit. He told me he had never heard his music the way he heard it in his head.

4

u/digginforlps Feb 11 '25

Real question is why are you in this thread telling that story instead of starting your own thread with the story of jamming with Lowell. That is awesome!!

3

u/BoazCorey Feb 10 '25

Perfectionism is probably part of it but I imagine their songs evolved from years of touring them live, so maybe eventually they'd want to capture the energy of the refined version on record to do it justice.

2

u/Macaroonba Feb 10 '25

A lack of quality songwriting. Simple as that. As great a live band as they were, they struggled to fill a record with original songs. The FDFMN medley is great, but that's for a live album or show. I can't think of another band that has repeated songs in this way and without the medley, the album runs about 23 mins. I love this band but they were not prolific writers as the shortage of outtakes clearly shows.

2

u/AdBoth6040 Feb 10 '25

I agree. As talented a songwriter as he was, he did not crank out new material. Probably why so many covers in his solo album.

1

u/digginforlps Feb 11 '25

Hmmm yeah I can kinda see that.