Song of the Day 6/29: Little Feat, “Willin’”

The death toll in the case of the tractor-trailer filled with migrants abandoned in stifling heat in San Antonio, Texas, now stands at 51, making it the deadliest such tragedy in history. This shouldn’t count as much of a surprise — the border between the U.S. and Mexico is among the world’s deadliest, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tried to pin the blame on Biden’s supposed “open border” policy, which of course makes no sense at all — if the borders were open, desperate Mexicans and Central Americans wouldn’t have to be smuggled across in semis with fake manifests.

The practice is at least as old as Lowell George’s trucker anthem “Willin’,” first recorded in September 1969 by country singer Johnny Darrell. George wrote it while he was still in the Mothers of Invention — its drug reference supposedly annoyed Frank Zappa, but Zappa was instrumental in getting Little Feat a recording contract. The song appeared on the band’s eponymous debut album in 1971 with slide guitar work by Ry Cooder, who stepped in because George had badly cut his hand fooling around with a model airplane. The album sold only 11,000 copies on its initial release.

George played slide guitar himself when he re-recorded the tune for the the band’s second LP, “Sailin’ Shoes,” Fun fact: George’s favorite slide was a Sears spark plug socket wrench casing.

And finally, a live version from 1977.