Jimmy Buffett 🦜
🎵 A playlist for your weekend and life
Welcome to Labor Day weekend. (And, for our non-US readers, welcome to September.)
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I woke this morning to news that Jimmy Buffett died:
Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76.
Death is inevitable but I wasn’t ready to lose Jimmy. I recall seeing a headline this spring that he cancelled a show but didn’t think much of it. After all, just last week, I saw a headline about how well Jimmy Carter is doing six months after he entered hospice care. Just another reminder life and everything in it is a gift.
This issue is coming out a bit later today because I spent some time this morning creating a playlist of my favorite Jimmy Buffet tunes to share with you. I’ve arranged it chronologically so you can hear how his music evolved over time. I’m embedding it up front so you can listen to it as you read the rest of this issue.
My introduction to Jimmy Buffett came after my older sister went to college. We were in the back seat on a family road trip one summer listening to cassette tapes on our Walkmans and trading tapes (since we didn’t have that many and it was a long drive). I no longer recall if the song Margaritaville was on one of her mixed tapes (I think it was) or if it came on the radio, but I had never heard it before and I remember her saying something like, “Really? It’s played all the time…”
If you’re of a certain age, you immediately know the song. In case you don’t, here is how the AP obit writer, Mark Kennedy, described it:
“Margaritaville,” released on Feb. 14, 1977, quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind for those “wastin’ away,” an excuse for a life of low-key fun and escapism for those “growing older, but not up.”
The song is the unhurried portrait of a loafer on his front porch, watching tourists sunbathe while a pot of shrimp is beginning to boil. The singer has a new tattoo, a likely hangover and regrets over a lost love. Somewhere there is a misplaced salt shaker.
The obituary goes on to note:
“The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016 for its cultural and historic significance, became a karaoke standard and helped brand Key West, Florida, as a distinct sound of music and a destination known the world over.”
“Buffett's evolving brand began in 1985 with the opening of a string of Margaritaville-themed stores and restaurants in Key West, followed in 1987 with the first Margaritaville Café nearby.”
I first visited Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in Key West in 1993. Here are a few pictures from that first visit.
I remember there was a Cheeseburger in Paradise on the menu, named after one of Jimmy Buffet’s songs. Of course, I had to order it.
I returned to Margaritaville some years later. Here is a picture of me in front of the restaurant in 1999:
I last visited Margaritaville in 2015. Here is a picture of the menu at that time.
This isn’t really about the restaurant or the Cheeseburger In Paradise. Honestly, it’s more fun to belt out the lyrics than to eat the burger in person (which was actually not great on my last visit). These just happen to be the only pictures I have related to Jimmy Buffett.
You see, I never got to see him in concert, though I know others who did.
Music critics were never very kind to Buffett or his catalogue, including the sandy beach-side snack bar songs like “Fins,” “Come Monday” and “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.” But his legions of fans, called “Parrotheads,” regularly turned up for his concerts wearing toy parrots, cheeseburgers, sharks and flamingos on their heads, leis around their necks and loud Hawaiian shirts. (source)
My sister bought me one of his albums many years ago. When BMG and Columbia House were still a thing, I collected a few more. When I was in grad school, I remember a friend had the Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads boxed set. I eyed it for years and finally splurged on some crazy Columbia House deal.
Regular readers may know that I sometimes quote Jimmy Buffett songs. In fact, one of my most popular issues to date is this one, written in January when I was craving light.
It doesn’t surprise me that music critics never really warmed to Jimmy Buffett. His music is more about a feeling or a lifestyle, than the music itself.
“It's pure escapism is all it is. I’m not the first one to do it, nor shall I probably be the last. But I think it’s really a part of the human condition that you’ve got to have some fun. You’ve got to get away from whatever you do to make a living or other parts of life that stress you out. I try to make it at least 50/50 fun to work and so far it’s worked out.”
-Jimmy Buffett (source)
Go deeper:
has a lovely piece on Jimmy Buffett today also that is worth a read (and there 100s of fans sharing heartfelt memories in the comments):
🎧 Jimmy Buffett: Highlights
If you didn’t already start listening at the beginning, here is the playlist again for your convenience.
And here is a track listing by album:
💿 A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean (1973)
🎵 He Went To Paris
💿 Living And Dying In 3/4 Time (1974)
🎵 Come Monday
💿 A-1-A (1974)
🎵 A Pirate Looks At Forty
🎵 Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season
🎵 Nautical Wheelers
🎵 Tin Cup Chalice
💿 Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)
🎵 Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Changes in Attitudes
🎵 Margaritaville
💿 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor (1978)
🎵 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
🎵 Cheeseburger In Paradise
🎵 Cowboy In The Jungle
💿 Volcano (1979)
🎵 Fins
🎵 Volcano
🎵 Treat Her Like A Lady
🎵 Boat Drinks
💿 Coconut Telegraph (1981)
🎵 The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful
💿 One Particular Harbor (1983)
🎵 Livin’ It Up
🎵 Why You Wanna Hurt My Heart
🎵 We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About
🎵 Brown Eyed Girl
💿 Riddles In The Sand (1984)
🎵 Knees Of My Heart
💿 Last Mango In Paris (1985)
🎵 If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me
🎵 Jolly Mon Sing
💿 Songs you Know by Heart (1985)
🎵 Cheeseburger in Paradise
🎵 He Went to Paris
🎵 Fins
🎵 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
🎵 A Pirate Looks at Forty
🎵 Margaritaville
🎵 Come Monday
🎵 Changes In Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
🎵 Boat Drinks
🎵 Volcano
💿 Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads (1992)
🎵 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
🎵 Treat Her Like a Lady
🎵 Jolly Mon Sing
🎵 Nautical Wheelers
🎵 Changes In Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
🎵 Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season
🎵 Boat Drinks
🎵 A Pirate Looks at Forty
🎵 Margaritaville
🎵 Tin Cup Chalice
🎵 Knees Of My Heart
🎵 Christmas in the Caribbean
🎵 Volcano
🎵 Brown Eyed Girl
🎵 Cheeseburger In Paradise
🎵 Fins
🎵 The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful
🎵 Come Monday
🎵 Defying Gravity
🎵 Middle of the Night
🎵 He Went to Paris
💿 Fruitcakes (1994)
🎵 Fruitcakes
💿 Christmas Island (1996)
🎵 Mele Kalikimaka
Enjoy!
Whatever you do, I hope you have a lovely weekend.
I may take September off and start a new season of
in October. I haven’t decided but want you to know that is a possibility. If I do, it will be because I want to ensure I can deliver for you and me. If you have any thoughts, please reply.Be well,
-Bryce
PS: I have adjusted the settings for the subscriber chat so you can now create a new thread (and not just comment on threads I create) so go ahead and start a conversation with other subscribers if you’d like.
Thank you for your tribute to Jimmy Buffet and the playlist! I hope you get the rest and relaxation you are looking for during September.
One of my favorite turns of phrase is "popped his clogs" when referring to someone passing. After today, I plan on adding "he blew out his flip-flops". xo