Willin' (song)

"Willin'" is a song written by American musician Lowell George, and first recorded with his group Little Feat on their 1971 debut album. The song has since been performed by a variety of artists.

"Willin'"
Song by Little Feat
from the album Little Feat
Released	1971 (1971)
Genre	Country rock, country blues, folk rock, roots rock
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Lowell George
Official audio"Willin'" on YouTube

Background

George wrote the song while he was a member of the Mothers of Invention. When George sang an early version of the song for bandleader Frank Zappa, Zappa suggested that the guitarist form his own band rather than continue under Zappa's tutelage. He did just that, and the song was subsequently recorded by Lowell's band Little Feat. The song was included on Little Feat's 1971 self-titled debut album. The band re-recorded the song at a slower tempo to much greater success on their 1972 Sailin' Shoes album. A live version recorded in 1977 appears on their 1978 album Waiting for Columbus.

The lyrics are from the point of view of a truck driver who has driven "from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah" and "smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico"; the song has become a trucker anthem.

Personnel

Source:

• Lowell George – lead, rhythm and slide guitars, lead and backing vocals
• Bill Payne – keyboards, backing vocals, piano
• Roy Estrada – bass, backing vocals
• Richard Hayward – drums, backing vocals

Additional

• Russ Titelman – percussion, backing vocals
• Ry Cooder – bottleneck guitar

Covers

Seatrain covered the song (titled "I'm Willin') on their eponymous 1970 album. Johnny Darrell also covered it (titled "Willing") on his 1970 album, California Stop-Over.

The song was covered by Linda Ronstadt on her 1974 Heart Like a Wheel album. This version was used in James Cameron's 1989 movie, The Abyss.

The Byrds recorded the song during the sessions for their 1970 album (Untitled) and performed the song live throughout that same year. The studio version was included as a bonus track on the reissue of (Untitled) and a live version is featured on The Byrds box set. Gene Parsons, who sang the song as a member of the Byrds, recorded his own version on his 1973 solo album Kindling.

Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen covered the song on their 1975 album Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

Phish covered the song live on Halloween in 2010 as part of their whole-album cover of Waiting for Columbus.

Steve Earle covered the song on his compilation album Sidetracks, released in 2002.

Bob Dylan has performed the song live.

Phil Pritchett covered this song as a duet with Cody Canada on his 2002 album Tougher Than the Rest. Jackson Browne covered this song with the band Lucius for the 2016 Showtime TV Series, Roadies. Gregg Allman covered “Willin’” in his last album, Southern Blood, released in 2017. The Norwegian troubadour Stein Ove Berg covered this song with Norwegian lyrics on his album Vei-Viser (Road Tracks) in 1979. Another Norwegian artist named Johan Berggren covered the Stein Ove Berg version of Willin' on his album Ei Hytte Foran Loven (One Cabin Ahead of the Law) in 2021. Richard Shindell covered a live version on his album Courier in 2002. The Black Crowes included a cover of the song as an iTunes-only bonus track on their acoustic album Croweology in 2010.

Mandy Moore covered the song on the soundtrack for the This Is Us television series.

In popular culture

• The Linda Ronstadt version is featured prominently early in the James Cameron film The Abyss with multiple characters singing along as a submarine tows an underwater oil rig. Later another character destroys a radio that is playing the song.