“Dixie Chicken” by Little Feat

"Dixie Chicken" gave Little Feat's third album its name in 1973, and it's the song that came to stand for the band: the record is held up as their landmark, and the title tune has long been treated as their calling card, the one that sharpened their identity. Lowell George wrote it with Fred Martin, sings it and produced it.

The sound had gone south, in the best way. Roy Estrada had left after Sailin' Shoes to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, Kenny Gradney came in on bass, and guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton filled out the ranks, a crew that tilted the whole band toward New Orleans R&B and funk and would hold together until the 1979 breakup that followed George's death. Warner Bros. put the song out as a US single in March 1973, backed with "Lafayette Railroad".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.