RIP Jimmy Buffett

Interesting article from NY Times about Jimmy Buffet’s business empire. Paywall but NYTimes usually allows a few free articles a month.

Jimmy Buffett’s ‘Margaritaville’ Is a State of Mind, and an Empire
Mr. Buffett, patron saint of the untroubled, has long been known for his business acumen. In some ways, with his approach to concert merchandise and tour sponsorship in the 1980s, he created the model of musician-as-entrepreneur that managers for artists like Madonna and Dave Matthews have pursued more recently. Other singers have parlayed their personas into business empires — Dolly Parton, for instance, with her Dollywood theme park, Dixie Stampede dinner theaters, Dolly slot machines and “Coat of Many Colors” merchandise — but none are as singularly sprawling as Mr. Buffett’s Margaritaville.
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The theme park Margaritaville has been a runaway hit since opening in 1999. Last year, according to Mr. Cohlan, the restaurant generated about $22 million in sales. Something about Mr. Buffett’s mellow, unchallenging persona seems to make parents feel O.K. about tying one on with their children in tow. “Believe me,” Mr. Buffett said, “I didn’t know I was going to end up as family entertainment, either.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/...taville-is-a-state-of-mind-and-an-empire.html
 
Montecfo said:
He had a nice profile on 60 minutes some time ago. 42 minutes. Very interesting.

https://youtu.be/rXaLA2O5IGk?si=zLm1F0SQkMkUgxP6
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"I wanted to play bass in a band to meet chicks" :)

Thanks for finding that and sharing!

The Biloxi TV interview I linked to had a local/family orientation. This one (done years later) showed a very smart businessman grateful for what life, hard work and a keen mind had brought him. Very humble.

FYI-I did the "Pascagoula Run" then on to "Biloxi" from the FL Panhandle this week on the motorcycle. Had always wanted to see the MS Gulf coast, figured now was a good a time as any :)
 
He seemed humble and likeable but also astute and shrewd in the piece.

Had some good times in Pascagoula many years ago.
 
Nibblin' on sponge cake
Watchin' the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil
Strummin' my six string
On my front porch swing
Smell those shrimp, they're beginnin' to boil

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know, it's nobody's fault

Don't know the reason
Stayed here all season
Nothing to show but this brand new tattoo
But it's a real beauty
A Mexican cutie
How it got here, I haven't a clue

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
Now I think, hell, it could be my fault

Old men in tank tops cruising the gift shops
Checking out the chiquitas down by the shore
They dream about weight loss, wish they could be their own boss
Those three day vacations become such a bore

I blew out my flip flop
Stepped on a pop top
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home
But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know, it's my own damn fault

Yes, and some people claim
That there's a woman to blame
And I know, it's my own damn fault
 
Watched both clips. Thanks for posting them.

I think his last comment in the Biloxi interview sums it up pretty well:

"I think a lot of people envy my lifestyle, and they should, cause it's great"
 
If this was posted earlier in the thread I missed it…

On the Margaritaville web site there is a “Margaritaville Radio” feed (apparently a rebroadcast of one of the music streaming services) that plays Jimmy Buffett music 24x7.

https://www.margaritaville.com/rplay

Well, it’s supposed to be 24x7 but once I tried to listen and it kept timing out, presumably because too many people are trying to access it these days.
 
I remember attending a Jimmy Buffet concert in Hammond, Louisiana back in the mid-seventies. The opening band was playing and there were a lot of people dancing just in front of the stage. At one point, the crowd started backing up, kind of forming a circle around one young couple who were dancing together. People were pointing and soon everyone (almost) realized that the guy dancing was Jimmy Buffet. I think the last one to recognize Buffet was the young lady who was dancing with him. When she finally realized who he was, you could see the shock on her face. It was a very memorable moment. RIP Jimmy.
 
CardsFan said:
Watched both clips. Thanks for posting them.

I think his last comment in the Biloxi interview sums it up pretty well:

"I think a lot of people envy my lifestyle, and they should, cause it's great"
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I have occasionally envied JB's life style - but then I realize he must have typically w*rked 18 hours a day! I appreciate that he never retired, but he certainly could have FIREd. I guess some folks do not consider their "j*b" as actually being "w*rk." They are truly blessed - and we were blessed by JB. He will be missed. Thank goodness for the body of w*rk he leaves behind.
 
Jimmy also wrote a few books. The one that struck me was the book about rebuilding a lighthouse.
Some one dies, and the following quote I have used to console many people grieving:
Grief is like the wake behind a boat. It starts out as a huge wave that follows close behind you and is big enough to swamp and drown you if you suddenly stop moving forward. But if you do keep moving, the big wake will eventually dissipate. And after a long enough time, the waters of your life get calm again, and that is when the memories of those who have left begin to shine as bright and as enduring as the stars above.
 
Jimmy Buffett opened several concerts for the Eagles back in the 70's.

As the Eagles kicked off their 'Long Goodbye' Tour this week, Don Henley had some kind words, and then the band played a few of Jimmy's songs.
Here's a link, audio is not too good, but you get the general idea.....
https://americansongwriter.com/eagles-cover-two-jimmy-buffett-songs-during-opening-farewell-concert/

The story going around Charleston is that Buffett and the Eagles played a concert at the Citadel Military College back in April 1975. Some of Jimmy's lyrics didn't sit too well with the Brass, so Jimmy received a letter from the Commandant saying 'don't come back to the Citadel'

Jimmy framed the letter and proudly hung it on his wall.
 
Second, the is a bar singer in Key West (Michael McCloud) who would rag on Buffet to no end. I wonder how he feels today? Maybe just a little remorse?[/QUOTE]

FWIW Michael McCloud retired and moved to Arizona a few months ago. If you think he was hard on JB, just ask him about Toby Keith. He sued TK years ago for stealing a song.
 
foxfirev5 said:
Second, the is a bar singer in Key West (Michael McCloud) who would rag on Buffet to no end. I wonder how he feels today? Maybe just a little remorse?
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FWIW Michael McCloud retired and moved to Arizona a few months ago. If you think he was hard on JB, just ask him about Toby Keith. He sued TK years ago for stealing a song.
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Glad Michael retired (do bar singers ever, really retire? or do they just move and get a new gig "part-time"). Yeah, I recall his diatribe about Toby Keith. I think the song in question was "I love this bar"
 
Trivial Eagles/Jimmy Buffett trivia:

The Eagles were working on the Long Run album at a studio in South Florida. Buffett was invited in to yell out “gator” on “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks”

That song makes me smile every time, as I lived that life in that era, except we were spinning records because we couldn’t afford a band. My original copy of “You Had To Be There” was destroyed at one of those parties[emoji23]
 
Ran across this and thought I’d share. Was not familiar with this tune at all.

 
JB sings "Stars Fell On Alabama" which is DW's favorite JB song (not his, of course, as he points out.) Enjoy the JC show.


 
Koolau said:
JB sings "Stars Fell On Alabama" which is DW's favorite JB song (not his, of course, as he points out.) Enjoy the JC show.


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Your wife has great taste:).

It is also one of my favs. No doubt helped by my proximity to Alabama and the time I have spent in the southern part of the state. I like it so much, I did some research on the origin. Its historical basis makes it even more special to me. I have other versions of the song, but JB's is the one that gets the most plays.


https://www.al.com/wire/2013/09/historic_meteor_storm_inspired.html

"Meteors streaking across Alabama were the inspiration for a jazz standard and a state motto.

The song "Stars Fell on Alabama" was a hit in 1934, the same year a book by the same name was published.

Astronomers estimate that a meteor storm on Nov. 12-13, 1833, bombarded Earth's atmosphere with more than 30,000 meteors an hour blazing over Alabama and much of the rest of the country.

The memories still burn. Two centuries later, the phrase "Stars fell on Alabama" appeared on Alabama license plates from 2002 to 2009.

About a century later, the event inspired the title of "Stars Fell on Alabama," a book by New York native Carl Carmer. He taught English at the University of Alabama in the 1920s and wrote a book of essays, many of them relating stories people told him as he traveled the state.
............Soon after the book came out, Mitchell Parish wrote the words and Frank Perkins the music of the song "Stars Fell on Alabama," a hit after the Guy Lombardo Orchestra recorded it the same year."
 
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