RIP Jimmy Buffett

Guess I’ll be the first to post this.

I gained a lot of respect for Buffett for being cool about this movie, even playing “Pina Colada Burg” once in a while live. What a great parody.

“Come Monday” is a great song among others.

RIP to the son of a son of a bitch.

 

Not a great musician by any means, but a great storyteller and entertainer. My best friend at Three Chopt Tech turned me on to him in 75 or 76; someplace I have an A1A and Havana Daydreaming album squirreled away. Saw him in Portland in 1986 or so, it weas the final show of that tour and it was fantastic.

Livingston Saturday Night
Pencil-thin Mustache
Come Monday
Why Don't We Get Drunk
Son of a Son

We drive past Livingston almost every summer on I-90, and I always think of him.

 

A host on Radio Margaritaville a bit ago said one of the things she love about Jimmy was his sense of childlike wonder and curiosity. Then she quietly said “if you haven’t heard, we lost Jimmy last night. He was surrounded by family, music and love as he passed peacefully.” I’d read the NYT obit. I’d gotten about 90 texts from family, friends and associates. But I’ll be damned if that DJ didn’t cause me to start weeping.

 

Given how Bob Weir "carried on the Dead" for a bit after Garcia's passing, I wonder if there is an artist who will try and fill Buffett's void. More than a few country artists have drafted off of him for a few years - Chesney for sure, - but I'd be fine if the Coral Reefer Band kept touring and just let the fans sing the songs. Or just play the music.

 

I got on board when "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean" came out. One of the soundtracks of my life.

When I was maybe 22, my roommate and I staged a weekend run to Fort Walton beach. He had a perfectly serviceable girlfriend, but he took this slutty nurse with us. We got down there and checked into the hotel, and they kicked me out of the room. I took the trashcan, put a six pack in it, filled it with ice and went down to hang out by the pool. There were a couple of guys sitting there drinking. One was playing guitar and they were singing Buffett songs. This seemed to be a fine idea so I hung with them for a while and sang and drank.

Turns out that they were a couple of construction workers. The boss had sent them to the lumberyard with his credit card to pick up some stuff, and they went to the hotel and checked in instead. Sat there singing Buffett. It's funny how much that felt like a Buffett song.

A sailor goes to his rest. Thanks for the memories.

 

I haven’t wept because I will cry at victories more than losses, but I have had a profound sense of suckitude today. I knew this day would come as it will to us all.
One of the world’s great lights has been extinguished, but the flame will burn on.

 

I saw my first Buffett show in 1985. In the late 1980s, PBS played this concert film - Live By The Bay - late on Saturday night after ACL. I wore out a VHS tape rewatching it.

 

At the Margaritaville casino I've been to (in Bossier City, La.), the craps table felts have a "Come Monday" bet (rather than the usual "Come" bet).

 

And, confession, if you watch that concert you may notice Jimmy has a small braid dangling behind his right ear. Years later when I grew out my hair, I got my GF at the time to put in a small braid behind my right ear.

 

He hooked me with his first double live album. The banter was better than the songs.

 

Yeah. I was there. I saw lots of great shows in the Fox in the mid to late 70's, some of the best concerts I ever saw.

Buffett, Genesis with Peter Gabriel, The Dead, Little Feat, J. Geils, Lynyrd Skynyrd (one of the One More From the Road shows), The Stones, among others. My big regret is missing David Bowie there on the Ziggy Stardust tour.