Jimmy Buffett Was Country (RIP)

Jimmy Buffett died late on Friday, September 1st, just as many were preparing for the extended Labor Day weekend in the United States, or what many consider as the official send off of the summer season that so many people spend on boats and beaches, or otherwise beside bodies of water, finding themselves in Southern latitudes with Southern attitudes no matter where they happen to be, just like Jimmy Buffett sang for us to do.
Jimmy Buffet wasn’t just a musician. He was the embodiment of resetting your mood, of centering the right priorities in life, and of making sure you don’t waste your time on Earth by making sure you budget time for wasting. From certified beach bums to those who owned private islands, Jimmy Buffett was their Captain. “Margaritaville” wasn’t just a place or a song, it was a state-of-mind.
No matter your lot in life, your specific geographic location, or the time of season, Jimmy Buffett allowed us all to be spirited away to some place sunnier, warmer, more carefree, and far away from the drudgery of the moment to appreciate a respite in Paradise.
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Make no mistake about it, Jimmy Buffett was country. There are most certainly qualifiers and caveats to that assessment. But country music is where he started, and country music was where his music was centered. He just happened to get so big and find his way into so many people’s hearts and catalogs, it’s hard to place him securely anywhere. But Jimmy Buffett was country first and foremost.
Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi and raised in Mobile, Alabama, the Southern Gulf was in his blood. But Jimmy Buffett started his music career in Nashville, moving there to become a country artist and releasing his first album, the country rock-infused Down To Earth in 1970. Since Buffett wasn’t a hard country performer of the era, he fell in more with the rock crowd. He performed at the Exit/In in Nashville as opposed to the Grand Ole Opry.
Though Jimmy Buffett would rise to become country music’s first and only billionaire, the early part of his career saw him performing as a busker on the streets of New Orleans and other places, and playing pickup shows wherever he could find them. And one point he drifted down to Austin, TX, and was there to witness and be a part of the very early incarnations of the Austin music scene, attempting to emulate one of his early heroes, Jerry Jeff Walker who’d written “Mr. Bojangles.”
Jerry Jeff Walker and Jimmy Buffett invariably ended up at Luckenbach, TX—the famous little spot in the Texas Hill Country also known for finding a more laid-back attitude. It was there that Jerry Jeff and Jimmy Buffett hatched a plan to travel to Key West, FL where the gigs came easy, and so did the good times. They left for Key West in November of 1971. Jerry Jeff would eventually return to Texas. Jimmy Buffett would find his true home.
Most any of Jimmy Buffett’s biggest songs are fair to fit within the country music canon. Some label it “Gulf & Western” music. But really, there was nothing Western about it. There’s no references to the open range, the lonesome prairie, the rugged cowboy, or the Wild West. Jimmy Buffet’s music was a place apart from all that.
Instead of Jimmy Buffett’s music catering to the country genre, the entire country genre ended up catering itself to the Jimmy Buffett influence. Kenny Chesney has been country music’s only consistent stadium draw for going on a second decade. His specific brand of Southern, “toes in the sand” songs would never have found the reception they did if not for Jimmy Buffett seeding that appetite in the American music diet.
Now scores of country artists have either leaned into or at least included Jimmy Buffett-style songs on their albums or repertoire. Sandy, sun tanned songs are now a specific subgenre of country music, and have been for some time, however much to the chagrin of the oldtimers. Specifically, Buffett’s collaborations with country artists have been quite lucrative and memorable.
Jimmy Buffett collaborated directly with Kenny Chesney on numerous occasions, as well as the Zac Brown Band who’ve embraced the “toes in the sand” vibe on numerous occasions too. A 2003 Jimmy Buffett collaboration with Alan Jackson on “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” not only went to #1, it won the CMA for Vocal Event of the Year. This was the only major award Jimmy Buffett ever won during his career. It’s also Buffet’s most popular song on Spotify.
It’s fair to say that in music, Jimmy Buffett wasn’t regarded highly by some of his peers, or by critics in the press. He was seen as quite commercial, as sort of a one-trick pony, who found a sound and style that worked, and stuck with it, refusing to veer from that formula once it landed. His devout legion of followers called Parrotheads didn’t care. That’s what they were there for. But over time, Jimmy Buffett sort of became a parrot of himself.
Similarly, money and things seemed to become one of Jimmy Buffett’s biggest motivations as time went on. Branding with his “Margaritaville” restaurants and gift shops became paramount. In 2019, there was an effort underway to preserve the building at 152 Nassau Street in Atlanta where Fiddlin’ John Carson played his songs “Little Log Cabin in the Lane” and “The Old Hen Cackled” on June 19, 1923 for Ralph Peer, arguably resulting in the very first country music recordings. This was four years before The Bristol Sessions.
That effort failed. The historic building was bulldozed to erect the massive Jimmy Buffett “Margaritaville Vacation Club.” It seemed Jimmy Buffett had forgotten his country roots. He may have started as a busker, but he ended up as one of the richest entertainers in the history of music by exploiting his brand into an international franchise. He used that wealth to purchase yachts and islands, embracing the same lifestyle he sang about, but in certain ways, steering away from the original perspective that he’d started his career with.
This wasn’t Jimmy Buffett’s only country music controversy. David Allan Coe also landed in Key West for a period. His album Spectrum VII from April of 1979 includes numerous references to the Florida Keys. Though initially David Allan Coe and Jimmy Buffet were thought to be friendly, it turned sour. Buffett claimed that Coe lifted the chorus to “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” for “Divers Do It Deeper.” Jimmy Buffett stated later, “I would have sued him, but I didn’t want to give Coe the pleasure of having his name in the paper.”
Coe returned fire when he released the song “Jimmy Buffett” on the first of his two underground albums, 1978’s Nothing’s Sacred. Coe was apparently inspired to record the comical album while hanging out with Shel Silverstein in Key West, listening to Silverstein’s comedy album, Freakin’ at the Freakers Ball.
Shel Silverstein was another famous Key West resident, and with the legacy of Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allan Coe, and others on the island, Key West is now considered a significant landmark on the country music and songwriter’s map, hosting an annual songwriter’s festival each year, as well as the Texas/Red Dirt-themed Mile 0 Fest, the ’90s-inspired Key Western Fest, as well as many Buffett-centric festival and events every year. Aside from Ernest Hemingway, Jimmy Buffett is Key West’s most famous resident.
But what Jimmy Buffett’s critics and even some of fans never seem to give him proper credit for is how early in his career, Buffett wanted to be a songwriter, and had something to say. His mentors were Jerry Jeff Walker and Jim Croce, and Buffett envisioned himself in that vein. Even when his music became a big commercial enterprise, Buffett still would slip in more meaningful songs that the cynics about his career passed over when referencing “Cheeseburger in Paradise” or “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw.”
Jimmy Buffett inspired much of America’s Southern migration. He allowed people to see beyond the gulf coast’s industrialization and poverty to the beauty and of its beaches and people. His songs like “Come Monday” and “Margaritaville” are American standards.
Jimmy Buffett’s career and legacy may have been complex, but the attitude he conveyed to million of people never was. Even if you couldn’t be on a boat or sandy beach somewhere, you would pipe up Jimmy Buffett and experience the next best thing. That’s not an easy feat, but Jimmy Buffett sure made it sound and look that way.
“Headin’ out to San Francisco, for the Labor Day weekend show…”
September 2, 2023 @ 10:07 am
Jimmy was probably the first guy I heard as country, I loved “White Sportcoat’ and ‘Living and dying in 3/4 Time’ LPs especially. That steel guitar of Doyle Grisham did it for me and especially my favorite song “Livingston’s gone to Texas’
Rest well my friend, you made a lot of people happy!
September 2, 2023 @ 10:12 am
Another artist from my youth passing away. I saw him 7 times, and he was quite the showman and had some great music. My favorite early Country song of his ( with a Country classic title too) is “My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Don’t Love Jesus”. Got a chance to meet him in person in 1979 in the February cold of Oxford, OH after a concert at Miami U of Ohio, and he checked out a guy’s van where the horn played “Margaritaville” and he was very friendly.
Kind of amazingly, he died a billionaire, amassing great wealth from his style and songs.
And so timely, from the song “Come Monday”, the lines “heading up to San Francisco, for the Labor Day Weekend Show”.
Like him or not, his music will live on in boats, beaches, and bars!
September 2, 2023 @ 10:17 am
R-I-P Jimmy Buffet.
Never came close to making the Rock & Roll or Country Halls of Fame, but then, I don’t think he lost any sleep over it. Probably thought they could kiss his parrot’s head or any other parts.
BTW, I was kind of amazed when Kenny Chesney, a good 5 years into his major-label career, lifted Buffet’s act and shtick almost to a T, and became a huge, mainstream, award-winning star with it–something that Buffet never achieved.
September 2, 2023 @ 10:57 am
I’m a Florida guy and a musician, only a few years younger than Jimmy Buffett. So much of his music encapsulated the Florida beach life that l knew. My two favorite albums of his, “Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes “ and “Floridays,” speak to me in ways that the work of so many artists l revere don’t.
If you take away the “hits” and the novelty songs, you’re left with quite an amazing body of work – wistful, thoughtful and evocative songs that paint amazing word portraits. He also could take another songwriter’s composition and absolutely make it his own. For me, the most commanding example was his rendition of Steve Goodman’s “Banana Republics.” That song IS Jimmy Buffett’s.
Goodbye and thanks for the soundtrack to so many great memories and experiences, JB. Hope l get a chance to meet you on the other side. And thanks, Trig, for another thoughtful obituary and for all the effort you put into this site.
September 2, 2023 @ 12:30 pm
I played “Scarlet Begonias” from “License to Chill” when I was driving with a friend who’s a major Deadhead and he thought it wasn’t bad.
September 4, 2023 @ 2:43 am
Maybe you don’t know but Banana republics was a HUGE hit here in Italy at the time thanks to this rendition by two of our most acclaimed sogwriters:
https://youtu.be/6vs1CcMsOio?si=wLfG8XG0Y9AzsZOC
September 2, 2023 @ 11:18 am
“Some of it’s magic/Some of it’s tragic/But I had a good life all the way.” Those lines are from my favorite Jimmy Buffett song “He Went to Paris”. An apt description of most of our lives if you live long enough. I told my wife when my time comes and whoever is delivering my eulogy to include them it. Sail on Jimmy…sail on!
September 2, 2023 @ 11:19 am
Lived in Florida for a good portion on my life. There are mixed feelings on Jimmy and his empire, I get that but I still loved his music and what he was initially going for. Loved Jimmy, his amazing empire he raised by the shore is still fascinating. His writing was like a sailor poet and had so much life to it. Gonna miss his concerts and his sound. Rest easy on those waves in the great beyond Jimmy. The world needs more of Jimmy’s beach party lifestyle and a whole lot less of what we got right now.
September 2, 2023 @ 11:22 am
There’s not a bad song on his Boats/etc box set, either that or I’m usually too ‘relaxed’ to find the skip button. His merchandise empire has eclipsed his musical contributions, but you can’t fault the man for taking control of his tshirt sales over bootleggers and then soaking the stockbrokers and lawyers playing weekend pirate cosplay, eventually the NASCAR crowd, into what became the ultimate lifestyle brand. I will be out by the pool this weekend with that aforementioned box on shuffle repeat, like many times before. But no boat drinks or Landshark lager cuz that stuff is piss.
September 2, 2023 @ 3:21 pm
I somehow didn’t even realize Landshark was Buffett’s beer. I guess I have no choice to drink 30 of them tonight… as a “tribute”.
January 1, 2024 @ 1:49 am
He sold it almost 20 years ago to Anheiser Busch….its good though…best domestic replacement for Corona…actually much better and cheaper than Corona
September 2, 2023 @ 11:35 am
Echoing the comments above. There are some jems on the 2000s albums cowritten with McAnally and Kimbrough.
September 2, 2023 @ 11:43 am
“Buffett claimed that Coe lifted the chorus to “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” for “Divers Do It Deeper.” Jimmy Buffett stated later, “I would have sued him, but I didn’t want to give Coe the pleasure of having his name in the paper.””
: D Priceless.
Vintage Buffett.
“Headin’ out to San Francisco, for the Labor Day weekend show…”
❤️ Beautiful, Trig.
God Bless Jane & the kids.
This is going to be one rough ride.
September 2, 2023 @ 11:59 am
First real concert I ever attended was Jimmy at a theatre in the round in ‘80 or ‘81. A bit before he became the king of the parrot heads. At 14 years old I didn’t quite relate but a friend’s dad took us because JB was his favorite artist and he wanted us young ‘uns to realize there was more music out there beyond Rush and Black Sabbath. After reading this article, I’m even more proud to say Jimmy Buffet was my first concert. RIP Jimmy
September 2, 2023 @ 12:36 pm
Man this one hurts. I was raised on Jimmy Buffett. My favorites tend to be his more country numbers. As previously stated 3/4 time and white sport coat are all time classics. Headed to see turnpike tonight but I’ve got Buffett on repeat right now.
Side note: Man what I wouldn’t give for a Charley Crockett Cover Album of Buffett Songs. Would be incredible If he covered: Grapefruit Juicy Fruit, Door Number Three, He Went to Paris, Captain and the Kid, Great Fillin Station Holdup, Pencil Thin Moustache, Ballad of Spider John and Gods Own Drunk.
September 2, 2023 @ 5:27 pm
Spider John is a Willis Alan Ramsey song, but aside from that quibble it’s a good list.
September 2, 2023 @ 12:52 pm
He did the soundtrack for the movie Ranch Deluxe, that included several songs he revisited later – “Livingston Saturday Night”, “Wonder Why We Ever Go Home” – and, (with apologies to David Allen Coe), wrote the ULTIMATE country song, “Left Me A Nail To Drive”.
As a songwriter, he was first a writer, writing about what was in front of him when he wasn’t inspired by something else… the verses of “Margaritaville”, @
“Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season”, and “This Hotel Room” are all about “nothing” other than noticing and paying attention.
And while he took what he did seriously, he also didn’t take it too much to heart. Besides “cameoing” with Alan Jackson and ZBB, he invited the winner of an American Songwriter competition, Matt Hoggett, to join him onstage and performed his song, “Dear Jimmy Buffett”.
He will be missed…
September 2, 2023 @ 12:54 pm
I’m not much of a Jimmy fan. Sportcoat and 3/4 Time or OK. However, I love the Rancho Deluxe soundtrack. That’s his best work, in my humble opinion. RIP.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:21 am
Come on, didn’t see anyone mentioning one of his more thoughtful songs, “If the Phone Doesn’t Ring It’s Me.” Certainly among my favorites.
September 2, 2023 @ 1:18 pm
Google Decorum and print it out and put it somewhere you see it everyday.
September 2, 2023 @ 1:44 pm
Did something about this obituary break decorum?
September 2, 2023 @ 1:41 pm
I get that he descended into cheesiness later on but his first 6-7 albums are masterworks of songwriting. When Bob Dylan, John Prine, Todd Snider, etc count you among their favorites, you were onto something.
September 2, 2023 @ 6:30 pm
Totally agree. He could put words on a string and make them dance before becoming a caricature of himself. And even then, he could still tell one hell of a good story.
September 2, 2023 @ 2:06 pm
“But over time, Jimmy Buffett sort of became a parrot of himself.”
I really hate that I chuckled at that. Dammit, Trigger.
“But what Jimmy Buffett’s critics and even some of fans never seem to give him proper credit for is how early in his career, Buffett wanted to be a songwriter, and had something to say.“
Here’s where that bias people of a certain age have for ‘70s and ‘80s music comes in. I’ve yet to listen to even the most craven country pop album that doesn’t have at least a single “meaningful” cut amongst the dross. We’ve had conversations about people like Billy Ray Cyrus (and others) before, and the presiding wisdom is that he has good songs, but he’ll always be known as the “Achy Breaky Heart” guy.” Or perhaps the desperate “Old Town Road” remix guy. So not getting credit for good songs when you’re known for something else is pretty par for the course, and Jimmy Buffett is by no means an exception there. I’m not saying you’re implying he is, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more and more frustrated by certain artists who have the exact same problems as others from different eras getting a pass just because of nostalgia.
Still, I find myself drawn to his 2004 album License to Chill, with its gimmicky duet version of “Hey, Good Lookin’” (and a few other covers). “Trip Around the Sun” from that album may well be one of my favorite songs, and it’s probably the closest I’ve ever come to tapping into the vibe the man is known for. I feel a calm in my soul when it plays.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Muk1Ieu7k&pp=ygUhSmltbXkgYnVmZmV0dCB0cmlwIGFyb3VuZCB0aGUgc3Vu
Apparently, Buffett died from skin cancer, which makes me a bit sad since it was likely connected to him spending so much time in the sun.
September 2, 2023 @ 2:08 pm
Never met Jimmy, went to about 10 shows including 2004 at Fenway Park when Bill Payne and Sonny Landrith were part of the Coral Reefer band. Lots of stories from seeing him on tv and in print. One of my favorites is when Napster was all the rage and many artists were trying to get it shut down. Rolling Stone had an article about it with most of the quotes from those trying to close Napster. Willie Nelson said that he was okay with it because hopefully some people would pay for his albums after hearing him for free. And Jimmy Buffett only said “I’m really downloading some great songs!”
September 2, 2023 @ 2:57 pm
Jimmy wrote and performed plenty of good songs, over a long and storied career. He never took himself too seriously which made him all the more appealing. All one needs to do is listen to his song ‘Death of an unpopular poet’ to really understand him, and then listen to ‘Why don’t we get intoxicated and copilate’ to see how much of a genius and humorist he really was.
And then there was Buddy Bear, I never got to meet him, but would have loved to, wishing Jane and his kids, Savannah Jane, Sarah, and Cameron comfort.!!!
September 2, 2023 @ 3:20 pm
Like all of the greats, the thing to be said about Jimmy Buffett was that was “Often Imitated, Never Duplicated”. He just cultivated that on-the-beach vibe that was perhaps matched and/or exceeded only by The Beach Boys. All imitators pale to the real Mayor of Margaritaville.
Rest in peace, Mr. Buffett, in that great Margaritaville upstairs.
September 2, 2023 @ 3:38 pm
“Summers and winters, scattered like splinters…”
For a decade commencing in the mid 1970’s, Jimmy Buffett was an integral facet of my life. Saw him 15-20 times, owned every album, knew every word. Learning Buffett tunes was likely a main motivator for my picking up the guitar. He was the underdog giving a big middle finger to mainstream corporate culture in a tropical shirt, flip flops, washing it down with Caldwoods Rum, and having a helluva time doing so. Damn, he and his music were fun.
And then, he left us…
I used to think maybe I outgrew him, but he jumped ship. Can trace it back to a single line from “Dreamsicle” off the Volcano album; “I have house pets, Lear jets…” Somewhere, the dude ripping off the mini mart to survive was flying private and I could no longer relate. Coincides with what I consider to be the twilight of his creativity. He stopped being counter culture and became the culture, embodying what he used to ridicule. Jimmy spent the last four decades resting on his musical laurels. Now those laurels were sound enough to support the Margaritaville empire, but compromised his authenticity. He evolved to a caricature of himself, and the less original he became, the more the masses adored him. He earned it and seemed to enjoy it immensely.
“Don’t get me wrong, this is not a sad song
Just some events that I have happened to witness…”
Buffett went from an essential listen to a nostalgia listen. To this day and likely until I eventually sail my boat to my eternal Martinique, if I’m within an hour of the coast, I roll down the windows, turn up Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, and sing my ass off. And for that, I remain eternally grateful.
“Yeah but we’re doin’ fine, we can travel and rhyme
I know we been doin’ our part
Got a Caribbean soul I can barely control
And some Texas hidden here in my heart”
Sail on…
September 2, 2023 @ 3:39 pm
Buffett and Steve Goodman were really good friends. Buffet was on the cover of his somebody else’s trouble album. He was also at the hospital visiting Steve the day he died and I think he sang the national anthem at a cubs game after his death when they did a tribute to Steve.
September 2, 2023 @ 4:48 pm
Buffett was at his best, and drawing on his best musical influences, when he was melancholic. Many of the melodies on “Changes in Latitudes” reach their peaks over minor chords.
“Wasting away again,” …
“It’s my own damned fault”
My pretty cousin, with a husband and kids, took her own life with sleeping pills. She partied a lot in the 80s with older guys from the 70s, never getting over her father’s early death, and she was a big Buffett fan. I thought she liked him because of the booze and grins, but her conversation and laughter, which everyone loved, was always forced. If you caught her when she walked to the balcony alone, you’d see her thousand yard stare.
Buffett sang a lot on that album about not going back home.
September 5, 2023 @ 6:22 pm
“If you caught her when she walked to the balcony alone, you’d see her thousand yard stare.
Buffett sang a lot on that album about not going back home. ”
thank you for putting into words a feeling that ran through his music. that drifted above the rum and the sun and the puns. a sadness and longing and loss, that your cousin, like many of us, sadly identified with.
there is and was more to being a parrothead than the Hawaiian shirts and cosplay, at least for some of us
September 2, 2023 @ 5:33 pm
I would say that his songs about Montana would qualify his music as western for sure, though his sound on the first few albums has more of a honky tonk feel. He’s the reason I started writing and playing music, though the only song of his I have ever played is Ringlin Ringlin, his first 5 albums are almost flawless, his later work definitely was not as good but you could always find a couple gems. As for being a country artist, when Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson both cover your songs I think it’s a pretty good categorization. RIP, and I won’t ever forget going to see him with my dad and a couple Japanese business men. Yes, we all did the Fins dance. No regorts.
September 2, 2023 @ 6:09 pm
He Went to Paris is one of the greatest well written songs in history. Rest easy Jimmy, it’s been a lovely cruise
September 2, 2023 @ 6:11 pm
I made a playlist a couple of years ago of countrified Buffett, link is below. Unfortunately, Spotify doesn’t have “Rancho Deluxe” (which gave this list its name) so that content is missing, but still a damn fine look at some of his early “non-tropical” work.
Fair winds and following seas, Captain Buffett.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6BDn0UhitIFWBsTn3FNEAv?si=6oR53Iu7Tm29X5Fqbj7A3A
September 2, 2023 @ 6:43 pm
I always considered Buffett to be a tropical Tom T. Hall. Lots of interesting stories, places, and people in the albums of each.
September 2, 2023 @ 6:46 pm
i forwarded your piece to my s-i-l.
he replied, “i read three obituaries, and trigger’s is by far the best.”
no surprise! well done, trigger, as always!
September 2, 2023 @ 8:39 pm
Pre 80’s Buffett, circa the A1A album, is just pure Caribbean soaked country gold. Songwriting on that album is especially strong, and overlooked. Besides George Jones, that’s all my dad ever played. Lost a true legend today. “I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some motel, and listen to the stories it could tell. “
September 3, 2023 @ 12:09 am
Many people also forget about his Chicago connection.
There in the early ’70s late 60s he was hanging out around the Old Town School of Folk music.
Interesting thing is he became good friends with John prine and Steve Goodman.
In fact if you look at Steve Goodman’s self-titled album there’s John prine and there’s Jimmy standing there in the living room at Steve’s place.
He would cover songs from both of them through the years quite a few of Steve’s.
One of the other interesting things too he was the first one to ever play live at Wrigley Field. Wrigley Field of course has hosted people now of all kinds since then in 2006 but it was Jimmy who held court for the first time a concert was ever held at Wrigley Field.
So many great friends music and outside of music he made through the years I remember before he passed away 60 minutes Ed Bradley was another one who was a huge Buffett fan and you were looking at Ed you wouldn’t even realize it.
That was just like is all the tributes poured out from country music and more there was a beautiful penned one from Paul McCartney I had no idea the friendship they struck and how close they really were.
I definitely agree with you trigger he was country also in so many ways.
I just hope now that his final album is finished that they release it posthumously.
September 3, 2023 @ 7:11 am
Thanks for mentioning the Chicago connection. That’s the era that I love best. A1A was a terrific album as were the Prince and Goodman albums obviously. They are all together now.
September 3, 2023 @ 11:30 am
Indeed it was a very interesting camaraderie they had
This is from a couple years ago one of his great songs from Havana daydreaming 1976. he talks with his daughter he did a series of interviews and songs more like deep cuts in stories with her
but it’s very cool if you watch carefully you can really hear about the prine and Goodman connection and how they helped him get started it’s very neat if this link will come through for you.
https://youtu.be/SmKYb3ftun8?si=Hczy_yjS9n1bZEYe
September 3, 2023 @ 11:47 am
Great video Kev. I meant to say Prine not Prince . Cover of Steve’s Somebody Else’s Troubles album has a great group pic of everyone.
September 3, 2023 @ 4:01 am
…a companion for almost half a century has gone. what rides there have been with his music. luckily his songs remain. he was able to take the sea – and margaritas and cheeseburgers – anywhere. the captain died some time ago, now it was the kid’s turn. a day to be a little sad and thankful at the same time.
September 3, 2023 @ 5:21 am
Yes, and Jimmy was credited on one of Prine’s albums as Marvin Gardens
September 3, 2023 @ 10:24 am
I think it was actually a Steve Goodman album, I’ll have to pull out the old vinyl to verify
September 4, 2023 @ 5:59 am
That sounds right to me. I also recall seeing the name Marvin Gardens as a credit, and since I had no Prine vinyl but did have two Goodman LPs, it must have been on either “Somebody Else’s Troubles” or “Jessie’s Jig and Other Favorites.” Unfortunately, I don’t have either in physical form anymore.
September 3, 2023 @ 5:44 am
Grateful to grow up with all of those great songs. He’s one of the reasons I find the “next big thing” lacking, most of the time.
Truly a great singer songwriter.
Captain and the Kid
He Went to Paris
A Pirate Looks at 40
Cowboy in the Jungle
September 3, 2023 @ 7:09 am
Great writeup. I was curious what you were going to write about Jimmy. A lot of people think it’s cool to dog him, but there was always a time and place for Jimmy in my rotation. If you never heard God’s Own Drunk, here you go.
September 3, 2023 @ 7:57 am
R.I.P.
September 3, 2023 @ 10:21 am
On Jimmy’s concert set list were “Banana Republic” and “Woman Going Crazy on Caroline Street”. Both Steve Goodman written songs. They sing that song as a duet on one of Steve’s albums.
Also, Jimmy sings along with John Prine on German Afternoon’s “All I Want to Do Is Dance With You”.
September 3, 2023 @ 6:22 pm
He is one of those artists whose music will always find a a special place in peoples listening rotations.
What I appreciated about him was that he he really enjoyed the life he had created. Touring with a band he seemed to love in front of people who loved him. And he loved them back.
Don’t think I ever saw a picture of him when he wasn’t smiling.
September 4, 2023 @ 1:13 pm
There is a great half hour program on You Tube called The Texas Connection with Jerry Jeff Walker and an entire episode with Buffet. They tell stories and sing songs. It’s pretty epic. Railroad Lady was one they wrote together and they sound so great singing it together
If memory serves right Willie did a version of that song as well as a few others. Buffet was a great songwriter. Check out his You Tube channel, he did a series of videos of himself being interviewed by his daughters, and playing deep cuts from his catalog, telling the stories behind the songs. It’s called Songs you don’t Know b6 heart. Watching it has turned me on to his deep catalog.
September 4, 2023 @ 3:19 pm
I’ll just say as a general fan of most music Buffett had more variety is his songs than AC/DC and they never got shit for staying in the same lane and putting out mostly the same song their entire careers.
Here to hoping he finds his long lost shaker of salt up there with the rest of the.
September 5, 2023 @ 6:30 pm
“AC/DC and they never got shit for staying in the same lane and putting out mostly the same song their entire careers.”
disagree with that. i remember an interview where that was brought up, and they asked brian johnson what he thought of people saying they essentially kept remaking the same classic album over and over (back in black) and he replied “yeah, but it was a GOOD fookin album…: “
September 10, 2023 @ 10:17 pm
Aye is is a great album and I love just about everything thing they put out, precisely because they you more or less knew what to expect.
September 5, 2023 @ 5:09 am
As a boomer naturally my favorite Buffett albums are the ’70s albums, but the later albums did contain all sorts of hidden gems like his covers of “Everybody’s Talkin'” and Gillian Welch’s “Elvis Presley Blues” and his charming song “Rue de la Guitare”.
September 5, 2023 @ 9:07 am
Jimmy was part of the fabric of my life… He will be greatly missed. My dad used to recite “God’ s Own Drunk” to us as a bed time story and his Buffet LPs were my first exposure to the “magic” of the album cover. We also spent many evenings with the book “Jolly Mon” as a bed time story. Sung many a Jimmy songs at family jams and later in life as my own performer. I was lucky enough to see him in 2023 and shout along to “Pencil Thin Mustache.” Rest in Peace Jimmy.
September 8, 2023 @ 3:04 pm
I wasn’t a fan of his music but I could say that about a lot of artist
.I will say in listening to some of the new songs off the new album, Iay have to go back and check out his catalog. Bubbles up is one of those and it’s great. My gummie kicked in is good too. Even like the song, like my dog, very funny and true in lots of ways. May he rest in peace.
September 23, 2023 @ 3:39 am
the first half of the song margaritaville was written in Austin and Jimmy kicked around “wastin away in Austin texasville” before he went back to the key and landed on margarita instead