Jimmy Buffett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jimmy Buffett | ||
|---|---|---|
 License to Chill
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | James William Buffett | |
| Also known as | Bubba | |
| Born | December 25, 1946 (age 60), Pascagoula, Mississippi | |
| Genre(s) | Country Pop Beach Rock Soft rock |
|
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter, Restaurant and Bar Owner, Minor League Baseball Owner | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar | |
| Years active | 1960s-present | |
| Website | Official Jimmy Buffett Web Site | |
Jimmy Buffett (born James William Buffett on December 25, 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi) is a singer, songwriter, and recently a film producer best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" (No. 234 on the list of "Songs of the Century"), and "Come Monday." He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads". His band is known as the Coral Reefer Band.
Aside from his career in music, Buffett is also a best selling writer and is involved in two restaurant chains named after some of his best known songs, "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and "Margaritaville". He owns the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant concept with OSI Restaurant Partners (parent of Outback Steakhouse) who operate the chain under a licensing agreement with Mr. Buffett.
He and his wife, Jane, have two daughters, Savannah Jane and Sarah Delaney and a son, Cameron Marley.
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[edit] Early life
The son of James Delaney "J.D." Buffett Jr. and Mary Loraine "Peets" Buffett, Buffett grew up along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay[1]. He graduated high school from McGill Institute for Boys (now McGill-Toolen Catholic High School) in Mobile, Alabama in 1964. He began playing guitar during his college years at Auburn University and The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he received a bachelor's degree in history in 1969. Although a pledge of Sigma Pi (ΣΠ) at Auburn, he was initiated into the fraternity Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ) at the University of Southern Mississippi. He later married his first wife, Margie Washichek, at Spring Hill College in Mobile. After graduating from college, Buffett worked as a correspondent for Billboard Magazine in Nashville.
[edit] Career
Buffett began his musical career in Nashville,Tennessee during the late 1960s as a country artist and recorded his first album, the folk rock Down to Earth, in 1970. During this time Buffett could be frequently found busking for tourists in New Orleans. Country music singer Jerry Jeff Walker took him to Key West on a busking expedition. Buffett then moved to Key West and began establishing the easy-going beach bum persona for which he is known.
Buffett's third album was the 1973 A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. Havana Daydreamin' appeared in 1976, followed by 1977's Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, which featured the breakthrough hit song "Margaritaville".
During the 1980s, Buffett made far more money off his tours than albums and became known as a popular concert draw. He released a series of albums during the following twenty years, primarily to his devoted audience, and also branched into writing and merchandising. In 1985, Buffett opened the first of the "Margaritaville" restaurants in Key West, bringing new visibility and life to the Margaritaville name.
Two of the more out-of-character albums were Christmas Island, a collection of holiday songs, and Parakeets, a collection of Buffett songs sung by children and containing "cleaned-up" lyrics (like "a cold root beer" instead of "a cold draft beer").
In 1997, Buffett collaborated with novelist Herman Wouk to create a short-lived musical based on Wouk's novel, Don't Stop the Carnival. Broadway showed little interest in the play, so it instead ran for six weeks in Miami. He released the soundtrack for the musical in 1998.
In 2003, he partnered in a partial duet with Alan Jackson for the song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," a number one hit on the country charts.
Buffett's album, License to Chill, released on July 13, 2004, sold 238,600 copies in its first week of release according to Nielsen SoundScan. With this, Buffett topped the U.S. pop albums chart for the first time in his three-decade career.
Buffett continues to tour throughout the year although he has shifted recently to a more relaxed schedule of around 20-30 dates, and rarely on back-to-back nights, preferring to play only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, thus the title of his 1999 live album Buffett Live — Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. Purchasing tickets is difficult with most of his concerts selling out in minutes.
Buffett owns or licenses the Margaritaville Cafe and Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chains. He loves baseball and was part-owner of two minor league teams: the Fort Myers Miracle and the Madison Black Wolf. Between his restaurants, album sales, and tours, he earns an estimated $100 million a year.
In 2006, Buffett planned a cooperative project with the Anheuser-Busch brewing company to produce his own beer under the Margaritaville Brewing label called Land Shark Lager. The label of the beer bottle will most likely feature a shark fin.
The seaplane airport at the Orlando Margaritaville Cafe is also called Lone Palm.
In June of 2006, Buffett produced, soundtracked (5 songs), and had a small role in the New Line family film Hoot, directed by Wil Shriner and based on the book by Carl Hiassen. While not a big hit, Hoot was a critical success and garnered an award from the Film Advisory Board.
In August 2006, he released "Bama Breeze," the first track on the album Take The Weather With You. The Bama Breeze is a fictional tavern (the physical location actually being Lulu's, in Gulf Shores, AL., which is the bar owned by his sister, Lucy Buffett ) symbolic of all the hometown bars destroyed in Alabama during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Another song on the album, "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On," refers to 2005's Hurricane Katrina. He pays tribute to Merle Haggard with his rendition of "Silver Wings" and collaborates with Mark Knopfler in the track, "Whoop De Doo."
[edit] Tours
- 1976: A Pink Crustacean Tour
- 1978: Cheeseburger in Paradise Tour
- 1979: You Had to Be There / Volcano Tour
- 1980: Coconut Telegraph Tour
- 1980: Homecoming Tour
- 1984: Feeding Frenzy Tour
- 1985: Last Mango in Paris Tour
- 1986: World Tour of Florida
- 1987: A Pirate Looks At Forty Tour
- 1988: Cheap Vacation Tour
- 1988: Hot Water Tour
- 1989: Off To See The Lizard Tour
- 1990: Jimmy's Jump Up Tour
- 1991: Outpost Tour
- 1992: Recession Recess Tour
- 1993: Chameleon Caravan Tour
- 1994: Fruitcakes Tour
- 1995: Domino College Tour
- 1996: Banana Wind Tour
- 1997: Havana Daydreamin' Tour
- 1998: Don't Stop The Carnival Tour
- 1999: Beach House On The Moon Tour
- 2000: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays Tour
- 2001: A Beach Odyssey Tour
- 2002: Far Side of the World Tour
- 2003: Tiki Time Tour
- 2004: License To Chill Tour
- 2005: A Salty Piece Of Land Tour
- 2006: Party At The End Of The World Tour
- 2007: Bama Breeze Tour
[edit] Concerts
[edit] Setlist Structure
Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band are notorious for their concerts. Most shows consists of 27-30 songs, an intermission usually after the 12th to 14th song, and two separate encores.
A few tours, (notably Banana Wind '96, License to Chill '04 and Party at the End of the World '06) Buffett opened the show with two to three acoustic songs. The Great Filling Station Holdup and Pencil Thin Mustache are common acoustic openers, as well as Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes and The Wino and I Know in recent years.
With the exception of Fruitcakes '94 and License to Chill '04, Come Monday is usually played during the first set of the show. Usually, after 12 to 14 songs, a 20-minute intermission is taken while a video plays for the fans.
The first part of the second set usually consists of slower songs. There has never been a tour where A Pirate Looks At Forty hasn't been played during the second set.
The first encore usually consists of two songs. After the first song, Buffett introduces the band, and then they segue into the second song. The second encore usually consists of one acoustic ballad. A Pirate Looks At Forty is a typical closer at shows, however, Buffett sometimes takes the opportunity to choose a more obscure song to perform (He Went to Paris, Defying Gravity, Nautical Wheelers, Tin Cup Chalice, Twelve Volt Man, etc.)
Fins, mostly performed during the first encore in recent years, is always preluded by the Jaws Theme Song as a teaser, which gets the fans pumped. Buffett calls out to the Parrotheads, or "land-sharks", to get their "fins up"! The fans raise their hands in the air, in the manner of an upper fin, and wave it left and right. Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes usually has a video of local parrotheads in the arena/venue parking lot playing over its performance. Why Don't We Get Drunk is sometimes performed in a different style (Tiki Time '03 Hawaiian style, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays '00 performed karaoke style, Banana Wind '96 audience members selected to perform, and Jimmy Jump Up '90 performed sing-along style). One Particular Harbour is played for women and men wearing hula-skirts. It's Five O'Clock Somewhere is performed with Mac McAnally taking Alan Jackson's place.
The band will also often throw in references to and skits about the actual venue they're playing to please home town fans. As an example, when Buffett and the Coral Reefers performed at Fenway Park, Boston, in September 2004, they added a performance of Take Me Out To The Ball Game featuring Dr. Charles Steinberg on organ, segued Why Don't We Get Drunk into Red Sox favourite Sweet Caroline, and attempted to reverse the Curse of the Bambino (some even claim they were successful).
[edit] "The Big 8" & Standard Songs
Songs played at every Buffett show were known as the Big 8. With the success of the Alan Jackson duet "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", the list of songs played at every show have now gone from 8 to 10. The original "Big 8", though unspecified, are most likely:
- "Margaritaville"
- "Come Monday"
- "Fins"
- "Volcano"
- "A Pirate Looks At Forty"
- "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
- "One Particular Harbour"
- "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes"
The new standard is "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", to complement the old standard of Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw).
This list doesn't necessarily mean that those songs have been played at every show. "A Pirate Looks at Forty" was not played during the Gorge, WA '92 show. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was excluded from two setlists during the 1998 tour. "Why Don't We Get Drunk" wasn't played in Hawaii in 2005. "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" did not appear during the opening Tiki Time '03 show in Houston. "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" was omitted from one of the Irvine shows in 2006. The archives show that only four ("Margaritaville", "Come Monday", "Fins" and "Volcano") songs have been played at every show since the song's debut. Six songs, the four standards plus "One Particular Harbour" and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", have appeared on every live album since their own debut.
[edit] Writing
Buffett has written 3 No. 1 best sellers. Tales from Margaritaville and Where Is Joe Merchant? both spent over seven months on the New York Times Best Seller fiction list. His book A Pirate Looks At Fifty went straight to No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller non-fiction list, making him one of seven authors in that list's history to have reached No. 1 on both the fiction and non-fiction lists. The other six authors who have accomplished this are Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, William Styron, Irving Wallace, Dr. Seuss and Mitch Albom.
Buffett also co-wrote two children's books, The Jolly Mon and Trouble Dolls, with his eldest daughter, Savannah Jane Buffett. The original hard cover release of the The Jolly Mon included a cassette tape recording of he and Savannah Jane reading the story accompanied by an original score written by Michael Utley.
His most recent book, A Salty Piece of Land, was released on November 30, 2004, and included a CD single of the same title. The book was a New York Times best seller soon after its release.
Currently, Amazon.com lists a fourth title from Buffett, Swine Not?, to be released in November 2007.
[edit] Trademark litigation with UnderOneHut.com
Jimmy Buffett filed a lawsuit against UnderOneHut.com in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on November 13, 2006. Jimmy Buffett's attorneys sought to prevent UnderOneHut.com from selling Jimmy Buffett merchandise claiming they had not granted permission for such sales. The case against UnderOneHut.com made worldwide headlines appearing in over 200 media sources. It was ultimately settled out of court.[2]
[edit] Trivia
- He is a regular visitor to the Caribbean island of Saint Barts and other islands where he gets inspiration for many of his songs and some of the characters in his books.
- Buffett has been instrumental in the work of the Save the Manatee Club.[1]
- He is friends with legendary investor Warren Buffett and they suspect that they are distant cousins, but they have not been able to document this. (Wall Street Journal, 5/2/2005)
- Buffett appears on a Phish tribute album called Sharin in the Groove, where he performed the band's "Gumbo" (which references a gun-slinging parrot). He also performed Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl in concert with Phish in 1995.
- Buffett wrote the music for and appears in the 1975 movie Rancho Deluxe. The movie was written by his brother-in-law, author Tom McGuane.
- Buffett has had cameos in several movies, including Repo Man as "Additional Blond Agent", Congo as a pilot, a pirate in Hook and in a cameo in Cobb. Additionally, he and his music appear in the 2006 release Hoot.
- Buffett appeared in the May 13, 1978, episode of Saturday Night Live. He also wrote and performed the theme song to the short-lived 1993 CBS television series Johnny Bago.
- An avid pilot, he owns several planes including a Grumman HU-16 "Albatross". The plane, named "Hemisphere Dancer", is currently parked next to his Margaritaville restaurant in Orlando, Florida. Previously it could sometimes be seen on the ramp at Princess Juliana International Airport (IATA identifier SXM, ICAO identifier TNCM) in nearby Saint Maarten while he was in the area. This is the plane Buffett was flying during the incident recounted in the song "Jamaica Mistaica" on the album Banana Wind. While in Jamaica on January 16, 1996, Buffett's plane was shot at by Jamaican police. The "Hemisphere Dancer" had been carrying Buffett, U2's Bono, and Island Records producer Chris Blackwell, but they were not onboard at the time. Police suspected it was smuggling drugs. No one was hurt, although there were a few bullet holes in the plane. Buffett's company has since licensed use of the name Margaritaville to several restaurants in Jamaica, in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril, where the "Jamaica Mistaica" incident took place.
- On November 23, 2004, Buffett raised USD$3.4 million at his "Surviving the Storm" Hurricane Relief Concert in Orlando, Florida to provide relief for hurricane victims in Florida, Alabama and the Caribbean affected by the four major hurricanes that year. He has donated $500,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief so far.
- Buffett wrote the sound-track for, co-produced and acted in the film version of Hoot which focuses on issues important to him, such as conservation.
- Buffett sang for President Bill Clinton on the White House south lawn for his birthday in the year 2000. [2]
- Former members of Buffett's Coral Reefer Band include saxophonist Amy Lee.
- In September of 2005, Buffett became the first musician to stage a concert at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
- Tom Corcoran shot photographs for seven of Buffett's album covers, as well as cowrote the hits "Fins" and "Cuban Crime of Passion".
- In 1978, the University of Southern Mississippi renovated its Student Union Building. A time capsule, found over a telephone booth, contained a picture of Buffett and several of his fraternity brothers wearing dresses. (The Student Printz, Oct., 1978)[citation needed]
- Some of Buffett's 1976 Havana Daydreamin' albums are misprinted with two versions of "Woman Going Crazy on Caroline Street", a song that may be titled "Please Take Your Drunken Fifteen Year Old Girlfriend Home", and are missing the song listed on the cover and on the album label as "Defying Gravity"
- On a "60 Minutes" interview, Buffett stated that he gets letters from emergency room doctors who operate to his music and stated that "people in high stress situations listen to it as a release" and that "If you came to one of my concerts, it would look like Sodom and Gomorrah had just landed. But I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people are back at work on Monday."
- Buffett appeared in the 2007 issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. He was photographed with model Brooklyn Decker. He also signed a guitar, which will be auctioned off for charity to support New Orleans.
- JImmy Buffett has a myspace - http://www.myspace.com/jimmybuffett
[edit] Drug search
On October 6, 2006, it was reported that Buffett had been detained by French custom officials in Saint Tropez for allegedly carrying over 100 pills of Ecstasy.[3][4][5] Buffett’s luggage was searched after his Dassault Falcon 900 private jet landed at Toulon-Hyères International Airport. He paid a fine of $300 and was released. A spokesperson for Buffett stated the pills in question were prescription drugs, but declined to name the drug or the health problem he was being treated for. Buffett released a statement that the "Ecstasy" was in fact, a Vitamin B supplement known as Foltx [6]
[edit] Discography
| Year | Album/CD | Record Label | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Down to Earth | Barnaby | |
| 1971 | High Cumberland Jubilee | Barnaby | Acoustic |
| 1973 | A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean | Dunhill | |
| 1974 | Living & Dying in 3/4 Time | Dunhill | |
| 1974 | A1A | Dunhill | |
| 1975 | Rancho Deluxe | United Artists | Movie soundtrack |
| 1976 | Havana Daydreamin' | ABC | |
| 1977 | Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes | ABC | |
| 1978 | Son of a Son of a Sailor | ABC | |
| 1978 | You Had To Be There | MCA | Live recording |
| 1979 | Volcano | MCA | |
| 1981 | Coconut Telegraph | MCA | |
| 1981 | Somewhere Over China | MCA | |
| 1983 | One Particular Harbour | MCA | |
| 1984 | Riddles In The Sand | MCA | |
| 1985 | Last Mango in Paris | MCA | |
| 1985 | Songs You Know By Heart | MCA | Greatest Hit(s) |
| 1986 | Floridays | MCA | |
| 1988 | Hot Water | MCA | |
| 1989 | Off To See The Lizard | MCA | |
| 1990 | Feeding Frenzy | MCA | Live Recording |
| 1992 | Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads | Margaritaville/MCA | Box Set |
| 1993 | Before The Beach | Margaritaville/MCA | Compilation of Down to Earth & High Cumberland Jubilee |
| 1993 | Margaritaville Cafe Late Night Menu | Compilation of various artists including Jimmy Buffett | |
| 1994 | Fruitcakes | Margaritaville/MCA | |
| 1995 | Margaritaville Cafe Late Night Gumbo | Compilation of various artists including Jimmy Buffett | |
| 1995 | Barometer Soup | Margaritaville/MCA | |
| 1996 | Banana Wind | Margaritaville/MCA | |
| 1996 | Christmas Island | Margaritaville/MCA | Christmas Songs |
| 1998 | Biloxi | Greatest Hit(s) | |
| 1998 | Don't Stop The Carnival | Margaritaville/Island | |
| 1998 | American Storyteller | Laserlight | |
| 1998 | A Pirates Treasure | MCA International | |
| 1999 | Beach House on the Moon | Margaritaville/Island | |
| 1999 | Calaloo | Margaritaville Records | Limited Edition |
| 1999 | There's Nothing Soft About Hard Times | Madacy | |
| 1999 | Buffett Live - Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2002 | Far Side Of The World | Mailboat | |
| 2003 | Meet Me In Margaritaville | UTV/MCA/Mailboat | Greatest Hit(s) |
| 2003 | Live in Auburn, WA | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2003 | Live In Las Vegas, NV | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2003 | Live In Mansfield, MA | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2003 | Live In Cincinnati, OH | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2004 | License to Chill | RCA/Mailboat | |
| 2005 | Live In Hawaii | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2005 | Live In Fenway Park | Mailboat | Live recording |
| 2005 | Now Yer Squawkin | Recall | Compilation of Down to Earth & High Cumberland Jubilee |
| 2006 | “Hoot” Official Motion Picture Soundtrack | Mailboat | Features Five Newly Recorded Songs |
| 2006 | Take The Weather With You | RCA/Mailboat | |
| 2007 | Live At Texas Stadium | Mailboat | With George Strait And Alan Jackson - Live Recording |
[edit] References
- ^ Buffett, J: A Pirate Looks at Fifty, page 402. Random House, 1998
- ^ Summary of the suit
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Jimmy Buffett Web Site
- Jimmy Buffett Music Videos
- Launch's artist page on Buffett
- Jimmy Buffett at the Internet Movie Database
- Great Chords Compilation
- BuffettWorld.com - The latest Buffett News, plus Tour Dates, Set Lists, and a Discussion Board
- Jimmy Buffett Fan site and Tour News at Buffettnews.com
- Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville
- Homepage of Parrotheads in Paradise, the organizing force behind Buffett fan clubs
- Review Jimmy Buffett – License To Chill
Categories: Articles lacking sources from March 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Jimmy Buffett | American buskers | American country singers | American male singers | American novelists | American pop singers | American short story writers | American songwriters | University of Southern Mississippi alumni | Auburn University alumni | People from Pascagoula, Mississippi | People from Mobile, Alabama | Alabama musicians | 1946 births | Living people | Kappa Sigma brothers
