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My Favorite Jimmy Buffett Story.
If you grew up in South Florida when I did, Jimmy Buffett was simply a part of your life.
My dad was a big folk music fan and had two of Buffett’s albums, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean and Living and Dying in ¾ Time, in his record collection.
When I was in high school, Buffett would be sitting on stools in Monty’s, The Flick, and The Hungry Sailor, playing guitar and singing his songs. Sometimes, he’d play at a festival with my friends Bobby Ingram and John Brown.
When I was at The University of Florida, Buffett played concerts there at least twice a year, probably when his tour bus passed through Gainesville on their way in and out of the state.
When I started playing music in bars myself, we’d always be asked to play Jimmy Buffett songs. The other night, we played a tribute that included A Pirate Looks at 40, Volcano, Pencil Thin Mustache, and Cheeseburger in Paradise.
And if that weren’t enough, my wife’s cousin Henry is The Coral Reefers’ business tour manager. Henry has generously invited us to have dinner with him and the band each time they’d perform somewhere near Miami. (Gloria even asked Henry to try and get me an audition for The Coral Reefers’ harmonica slot, but that’s a different story for a different time!)
So, as they say in Spanish, Jimmy Buffett esta en mi sopa (Jimmy Buffett is in my soup).
My Favorite Jimmy Buffett Story
Needless to say, I have a lot of Jimmy Buffett stories. Here’s my favorite:
My good buddy Tom Todoroff is one of the world’s leading acting and keynote speaker coaches.
Even though I have no evidence to confirm my hunch, I’m pretty sure Michael Douglas’ character in The Kominsky Method is based on Tom’s life. A quick scan of the testimonials on Tom’s website is a name-dropper’s delight — he has worked with Liam Neeson, Samuel Jackson, Jacqueline Bisset, Bob Hoskins, Dakota Johnson, and… Jimmy Buffett.
Although Tom is usually tight-lipped about the people he’s worked with, he told me this story about a dinner he had with Buffett when he was helping the singer prepare for another taxing worldwide tour. They were discussing what it takes to be successful, how much of it is talent, how much is hard work, and how much is just plain luck.
Buffett summed it up something like this:
“You know Tom. I ain’t the best guitar player in the world. I mean, I can play, but Mac MacAnally, my lead guitar player, can play circles around me. I’m a bit of a good guitar player. But Mac? He even won Musician of the Year at the CMA Awards.
And c’mon Tom, you know I’m not the best singer in the world either. Hell, if I was, I wouldn’t need you to coach me now, would I? My backup singers are all classically trained. They sing opera and on Broadway when they’re not onstage with me. They’re the real singers.
Bottom line? I ain’t the best guitar player in the world, and I ain’t the best singer in the world. But it’s my name on all the sold-out theater signs up there.
Why?
Because I’m the best goddamn Jimmy Buffett in the world!”
According to my friend, speaker and singer Keith Harmeyer, Buffett was “the only performer… with the possible exceptions of Elvis and The Beatles, who had such a profound philosophical and social impact on a generation.”
“…His songs introduced us to the notion that just maybe… if you were a little bold and a little more crazy and were willing to walk away from it all, you wouldn’t have to suffer most of your life just to enjoy a tiny bit of it. You could be in your own ‘Margaritaville’ all day, every day.”
“…That was a powerful and seductive idea. And so, his music became the siren song of a generation longing for the good life.”
Jimmy Buffett wasn’t the world’s best singer or guitar player. He wasn’t even the best musician in his own band.
But he was a great songwriter, frontman, businessman, and a best-selling author. Most importantly, he lived his own life. And he showed the rest of us how to do it, too.
Here’s my favorite Jimmy Buffett story, Bruce. One of my roommates from the late 1970s, a few years older than we, used to see Jimmy perform in Key West. Rickety old bars, 20 people in the audience. When Buffett became famous and started playing stadiums, my friend wondered if he should bother going to see the shows. “I don’t know if Jimmy needs me anymore“ he said.
Not to take anything away from his nostalgic point, but could it be argued that we all need one another, in dusty venues AND when we are wealthy and successful?
Great story, David, thank you. And thanks for the thoughtful takeaway as well.
Hey Bruce!
Been a long time… I hope you and family are well. All good here with Karen and me. Just working and living life.
I wanted to respond to this post about Jimmy Buffet as I have a great story that you probably aren’t aware of.
I have been a Parrothead for years…and I was way back in my skating days as well.
Anyway…to make this as short as possible…
Back to Lillehammer, Norway in 1994. I was supposed to win the 500 meter event and I slipped in the last turn and didn’t win… again…
So I had one last chance at the Olympic medal that kept eluding me for some reason.
The night before the 1000 meter race, I went to the USA house office in the Olympic Village to get my mail(actually faxes🤣). By this point I was getting hundreds of messages, well wishes(mostly) from people throughout the US and worldwide.
So I took a huge stack back to my room to read through them before going to bed.
As I was paging through them, one stood out because it only had three words on it.
In big handwritten letters, it said “BLOW THE VOLCANO!!!”
and was signed, Jimmy Buffett!!
Needless to say, I was really fired up!
And it must have worked because the next day I set a World Record and won Gold!!
In fact I was so excited to get that, I called my family and told them about it…
So they made up a huge sign and hung it for me to see when I got on the ice that day!!
I may have been the only person there who knew what it meant, but Blow the Volcano was hanging in The Viking Ship that day!!!
Anyway, thought you might enjoy that story!
I did get to meet him backstage a couple times after that!
Be well!
Dan Jansen
Great story Dan. Thanks for sharing with us.
Excellent post Bruce! A testament to Buffet’s influence was his popularity in CO as I was growing up without an ocean in sight! He may have given us a hint of how to mourn him when he wrote in his song “Incommunicado”, “On the day that John Wayne died, I found myself on the Continental Divide, tell me where do I go from here? Think I’ll ride into Leadville and have a few beers”
Particularly touching, David, since you’re probably writing this from Leadville, right? Thanks for commenting.
Thank you for this. I shared this with some of my Jimmy Buffett friend who I know will enjoy it too. I also try to be the best me I can be.
I appreciate you spreading the word David. Thank you.
Bruce, this is Brilliant! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Ron!
As an undergrad at UF in the 70s, I got myself a gig on the student stage crew. As I remember it Jimmy Buffett was the headliner for Gator Growl one year. Gator Growl is a big A list act put on by the student government and staged in the Swamp. It was my first big stadium gig. Even as a lowly stage Jimmy couldn’t have been nicer and more personable. The other thing I remember is after the gig he offered some of us a job with the tour. Two guys just up quit school to go on the rest of the tour with him. One guy on the UF crew became his guitar tech for decades.
I also went on to a union tech gig after graduation and did probably 10,000 events in my career. But Jimmy was always my first and as I am also a Coconut Grove native, I always my favorite. I’m in north Florida this week, and just serendipitously had planned on passing through Latitudes (Margaritaville) to look at property on the way home.
RIP Jimmy.
That’s right, Charles. Buffett was the headliner at Gator Growl — probably 1976 because it was my first one. I remember that!! Thank you for the great memory.
As ever, Jimmy says it simply and effectively, in a way we can all relate to. Come to think of it, as ever, so does Bruce Turkel. 😉
Thank you Milo.
Great insights as always Bruce. I’m sad about Jimmy’s passing and keep thinking “Come Monday, it’ll be alright….” Ken Banks
I’ve been busy playing “He Went to Paris” over and over on my guitar. Somehow that makes it a little easier Ken.
Love this Bruce. We all need to find a way to embrace the joy in life.
I believe you’ve figured a lot of it out, Mike. Perhaps one day you’ll write a guest post for my readers…!!
Wow! Mr. Turkel. That’s a great story indeed. Here’s to living our very own version of our own life. Great words, well said.
Well said, as always.
Thanks Chris. And thanks for the song you wrote to honor Jimmy Buffett.
For those of you seeing this, click on the link to hear Chris perform this great song.
https://www.facebook.com/ChrisRehm09/videos/1441310559983581
Thank you, Bruce!
I wasn’t a true fan of Buffet in that I didn’t own any of his albums or go to his concerts (but I did see him once as the opening act for Loggins & Messina). Yet I always enjoyed his music whenever I heard it. It was part of countless trips to Key West and weekends on the boat when crowded anchorages buzzed with a cacophony of Buffet tunes. Yet I feel a sense of loss for the reasons Keith Harmeyer so eloquently described and I’ve been smiling reading and hearing the Jimmy Buffet stories others have shared, as you did here, since he passed. He probably died with few, if any regrets, other than passing on Gloria’s recommended harmonica player.
Thanks Mace,
I wonder if it’s as much about being “a true fan of Buffett’s” as it is about his music simply being part of the fabric of our lives.
I know plenty of people who say they don’t like his music because they’re mostly thinking of some of his more pop and commercial songs (Why Don’t We Get Drunk…, Grapefruit, Juicyfruit, etc.). But then when I say how about He Went To Paris, Come Monday, or Tin Cup Chalice they’ll say “oh… I love that song.”
Great story Bruce.
I always remember how much you liked Jimmy Buffet. I didn’t even know about him! He wasn’t big back in Argentina but you made me pay attention, and this past Sunday we were singing his songs at a BBQ in the Keys… just our humble tribute.
All the best to you, Gloria and the kids.
Hello Fede, great to hear from you.
I didn’t realize I promoted Buffett’s music – glad you liked it.
Funny thing, one of my current favorites and someone I can’t stop listening to is Mariano Massolo the great Argentine harmonica player. I can’t even figure out how he gets some of the sounds out of the little instrument that he does.
Hope you’re well!
Nice one Bruce; stay well.
Fausto
Thanks Fausto. Good to hear from you.