And now a slightly boring story about how I came to be introduced to the music of Jimmy Buffet.
It was the final quarter of 1971, probably around the start of October more than a month before I turned 21. After marching band practice one day, someone suggested we walk across the Montlake Bridge and
Why don't we get drunk and screw?
I just bought a waterbed
It's filled up for me and you
They say you are a snuff queen
Honey I don't think that's true
So why don't we get drunk and screw?
I loved the tune, and the lyrics appealed to my twisted sense of humor.
But I had no idea who wrote it or sang it, and nobody was saying. The card in the jukebox was blank.
I'm not sure when I finally identified it, but when I did I bought the album, which had the catchy title of A White Sports Coat and a Pink Crustacean. I was somewhat disappointed in the LP, some of the songs were downers, like He Went To Paris, Death Of An Unpopular Poet and Railroad Lady. But it also has the quirky Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit and Cuban Crime of Passion. Not to mention They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More. The next one I bought appealed to me a lot more: Changes in Latitudes - Changes in Attitudes. I still play the title song before and/or during any trip. And it also has Margaritaville and the cleverly worded Banana Republics (sing me a song I can dance to or a melody that rhymes).
It went downhill from there. I own maybe 2/3 of his CDs, I've been to several Jimmy Buffet concerts, but lately the people in the cheap seats have been way drunk & rowdy and the good seats are too expensive.
Strange but true, currently the song he's most famous for is It's 5 o'clock Somewhere. Which he didn't write, and was mostly sung by Alan Jackson with Jimmy as a surprise special guest.
