Little Feat Welcomes Jackson Browne & Leslie Mendelson In Los Angeles

On Saturday, Little Feat returned to Los Angeles, the city where the highly influential band was formed in 1969, for the most recent stop of their The Last Farewell Tour. An already special night at The United Theater on Broadway was taken up a notch when Jackson Browne and Leslie Mendelson made multiple appearances with the group.

Jackson Browne and Little Feat are longtime peers and friends from the 1970s Los Angeles music scene. They have played concerts together, appeared on one another’s recordings and maintained a relationship over decades. Additionally, Browne and late Little Feat co-founding guitarist and vocalist Lowell George shared one known, officially credited songwriting collaboration, the Valerie Carter co-write “Love Needs a Heart.” More recently, Browne was among those interviewed for Little Feat: The Documentary, a Jesse Lauter-directed film that premiered this past February.

Browne and his songwriting partner Leslie Mendelson came out during Little Feat’s acoustic set on Saturday to help out on unplugged performances of classic songs “Sailin’ Shoes” and “Willin’.” Co-founding keyboardist Bill Payne and Browne traded lead vocal duties throughout the performance of the title track from Sailin’ Shoes, the band’s 1972 sophomore studio album, before Jackson guided Little Feat through “Willin’.” Leslie Mendelson provided backing vocals on both songs.

Mendelson returned to the stage towards the end of Little Feat’s second set to sing harmony on “All That You Dream.” She remained onstage as Browne came back out for a performance of the beloved “Dixie Chicken.” Both guests sang the title track from Little Feat’s 1973 LP along with the band. The group followed by closing out the night sans guests with “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now.”

Watch more highlights from Little Feat’s visit to L.A. below:

Little Feat resumes The Last Farewell Tour tonight (Monday, August 10) in the Bay Area. Grahame Lesh will be Little Feat’s special guest during their concert at Oakland’s Fox Theater.