Jimmy Buffett RIP

 

Just a bit of catching up to kick off September...maybe I'll reach 10 posts for the year of 2023?  Maybe?

RIP Jimmy Buffett...

Let me start off first by saying I enjoyed about 80% of his music, especially in the early years, later years, not so much, but still there were some gems...his political BS?  Not so much, Buffett was a dyed in the wool lefty, albeit, some of those that worked for and with him called him a "Cheapskate" when it came to the all mighty buck.  I will give him credit, despite his left leanings, only a few songs and not much of his concerts were directed at political BS...which kept me listening to his Sirus/XM Radio Station and his music...

I first got turned on to Buffett music early in 1977 perhaps, shortly after "Margaritaville" was released...that became his lone chart hit, and frankly it grew old after awhile, an anthem for his fans, aka: Parrotheads, but hardly one of his better works, IMO...the album however "Changes in Latitude" was filled with some great stuff, including the title song which I always thought was much  superior to  Margaritaville...

Anyway, Patricia and I were married in December 1976, but didn't get out on a Honeymoon until the fall of the year 1977...I had the "Changes" album on the old 8 track player in my new 1976 Jeep Cherokee and played that thing from Celina, Ohio, to the east coast then all the way down I-95 to Daytona Beach...loved that music, I was pretty well hooked...fast forward to the late summer of 1978 and we were living in Wausau, Wisconsin...I was going to Broadcasting School and working weekends at WRIG and WRIG FM...one Friday night I noticed we had received the newest Buffett live LP, "You had to be There"... The station got the vinyl for the AM spinners and the tape for the Automated FM side...I was working the night shift on the Rock and Roll AM, and feeding music to the FM side.  I decided to put the entire tape on the FM Reel to Reel and it was going smooth until I heard "Why don't we get Drunk and Screw".  I almost shit myself, but the deed had been done and I let the entire song and album play...never heard a word from management or the PD, but I never played the entire album again...well not on air.  I grabbed a station copy of the vinyl took it home and still have it in my collection today.

Over the years my Special Needs daughter became a fan of Buffett and his more country and conservative buddy, Alan Jackson, so I have continued to collect Buffett and Jackson LPs and stuff over the years...

Sad to see him go, being just a couple years older than me {December 1946 as opposed to my March 1949}...his politics can die with him, however his music will live on..

My personal favorite single is Havana Daydreaming while Changes in Latitude, License to Chill, and the 1978 Live LP, You had to be There, are my favorite Albums...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30esGx2WHvs  

Here is my Salute to Jimmy "Cigar Smoked a Swirl" from Havana Daydreaming, PRH Smoking one in honor of Jimmy Buffett and Havana Daydreaming...