Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilin’s
And drinks his green label each day
He’s writing his memoirs and losing his hearing
But he don’t care what most people say
Through 86 years of perpetual motion
If he likes you he’ll smile then he’ll say
Jimmy, some of it’s magic, some of it’s tragic
But I had a good life all the way
Sad news. Anytime there was a close race in Alabama, Buffet – a Mobile native – was game to record a late robo call to help push the Democrat over the edge.
He'll be missed. https://t.co/TgBCmaANfX
— Zac McCrary (@ZacMcCrary) September 2, 2023
(1/?) A quick story about Jimmy Buffett.
I worked at the New Orleans Margaritaville in college, up until I graduated in 2006. It was a good job. Busy, and with generally good tips, especially on festival weekends – and New Orleans has a lot of those.
— John Veron (@IBetterBeFunny) September 2, 2023
When my friends and I evacuated Katrina, we didn’t think we’d be gone from the city for months, or that we’d lose most of our belongings permanently. We packed light, like for a weekend away.
In the week after, it became clear that we wouldn’t be going home anytime soon.
I ended up in Austin TX with the clothes on my back and little else. For the next three months, I called FEMA every day to try and get some relief money so I could replace what I’d lost.
But you know who didn’t make me wait three months? Jimmy Buffett.
Margaritaville cut us all $3,000 checks immediately after the storm, no questions asked. That money saved lives. They also let employees know that if any of us could get to ANY other Margaritaville, there was a job waiting for us.
Some friends went to Orlando.
In Orlando they were set up with clothes (all Margaritaville merch, but it was better than nothing), a job, and housing. They even comped their meals when they ate at the restaurant.
In October, the New Orleans Margaritaville reopened. With little fanfare, Jimmy played a solo acoustic show in the bar to help bring people in.
Jimmy Buffett showed up for us when we needed it. He took care of me and my friends. I’ll always be grateful.
Character is how someone behaves when they think nobody is watching.
RIP Jimmy Buffett who had .25 seconds of screen time in Jurassic World and knew exactly how to use it. pic.twitter.com/5IKYsRPMkl
— Katie (@KatiePZim) September 2, 2023
When you create a lifestyle brand that appeals to guys who own boat dealerships, you’re set for life
— Two-piece Advocate (@frazierapproves) September 2, 2023
War for Ukraine Day 558: A Brief Monday Night Update
JML
Jimmy Buffet sure seems to have been a good dude who used his fame and fortune to some positive ends and treated people well. Lot of people really enjoyed his music and the vibe from it. Sure made for some fun karaoke sing-a-longs.
I totally get the people who are bummed that he’s gone, who enjoyed the music, went to his shows, etc. What I don’t get are the people who have come out and crapped all over those people for being sad, and also dumped all over Jimmy Buffet as well.
Adam L Silverman
I grew up in Florida and spent a lot of time on, in, and/or around the water and was exposed to Buffett’s music at an early age. He had a good run, is a model for reinvention of one’s career, and was a decent human being who realized just how fortunate he was and, as a result, looked out for others.
BellyCat
And Harleys.
My neighbors own a campground filled with boat and Harley owners. They won’t look at me since I put up a pride flag Today they had a Buffet party.
Wonder how Jimmy really felt about many of his fans.
SiubhanDuinne
What a good man.
trollhattan
A mensch, through and through. I think Jimmy’s secret, which is no secret at all, was remembering the hard times and those who traveled with him, and others who gave him a hand. Fame and fortune are often ruinous and he was a welcome exception to the rule.
Fair winds, Jimmy.
RAVEN
Tom Gara doesn’t know what the fuck he is talking about.
Jackie
Jimmy Buffet was one in a million. I’m glad song writers and musicians such as Zac Brown will carry his brand of music forward and never let JB’s style be forgotten.
RAVEN
@BellyCat: The same way Petty did
Why Tom Petty stopped flying the Confederate flag
Scout211
To be fair, he qualified his statement by adding, “as far as I am aware.” Apparently, he is not very aware.
But none of his close personal friends were Buffett fans, so . . .
RAVEN
@Scout211: I have no intention of being fair.
Jackie
@RAVEN: Thanks for linking that article 🙂
BellyCat
@RAVEN: Paywalled. The gist is he decided not to cosplay any longer?
Steeplejack
Hey, Tom Gara, it’s Jimmy Buffett, with two t‘s. At least get his name right when you’re running him down. Otherwise you’re just illustrating how little your “as far as I’m aware” covers.
twbrandt
@RAVEN: I’ve lived in Michigan all my life and am very much not a Southerner, but I’ve always really liked Tom Petty. I think his music is down-to-earth and unpretentious, just as he seemed to be. I didn’t know the story about the confederate flag, but that only increases my opinion of him.
RAVEN
@BellyCat: Weird, it wasn’t paywalled when I hit it but it is now.
Here’s another.
Hoppie
@JML: Can surely say the same about Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. Musicians who respected their roots FTW.
RE Tom Petty: “Live Like a Refugee” was the story of my childhood. I should definitely not go there.
RAVEN
@twbrandt: He asked, “Isn’t Kid Rock from Michingan”!!!!
Miss Bianca
@JML: I hear ya. JB’s music/mystique has never done anything for me, but the more stories I am hearing about what a good guy he was in general, and how much his fans really, truly, loved his vibe, the more I think, “maybe I should give it a try”, rather than “oh, fuck these people who are into a musician I have no time for.”
(Same thing for Dave Matthews, btw. Was never a fan of his music really, but became a fan of *his*, just because he was kind enough to cold-call my ex-husband’s cousin, who had written him a fan letter that apparently moved him deeply. She was *so* thrilled – just so stunned and over the moon about it – and I thought, “There’s a mensch. He didn’t have to do that, but he did.”)
twbrandt
@RAVEN: he is, dammit, but we’ve disowned him.
BellyCat
@RAVEN: Found a way in (using Duck Duck Go). Powerful article. Much respect to Petty.
He perfectly summarizes the ways in which cultural iconography is often thoughtlessly propagated independently of the larger context. His expressions of regret took insight and courage, and likely hurt his bottom line as well.
marklar
Drove back home today in PA from a wedding up in Montreal yesterday. Put on Fruitcakes and Barometer Soup. Ms. Marklar had never heard them before, and remarked “this is just like a Carl Hiaasen book”. That was before she heard “The Ballad of Skip Wiley” (the main antagonist in Tourist Season). Wonderful music!
BellyCat
@Miss Bianca: Never a huge Matthews fan but was in a space where the lyrics to “Monsters” hit me pretty hard. More than just a ‘jam band’ artist, for sure.
frosty
@BellyCat: All of the Parrot Heads I know are really good people.
Mike in NC
Fat Bastard: “I never heard of Jimmy Buffet. Was he as yuuuge as Kick Rock and Ted Nugent? They love me, their favorite president!!!”
Miss Bianca
@Hoppie: Was never a big Petty fan either, unlike many folks on this here blog, but man, in my humble opinion, “Refugee” is a song for the ages. Gives me chills.
Suzanne
@Miss Bianca: I am a huge Petty fan, and “Refugee” is my favorite of his. And there’s so many greats.
Geminid
@BellyCat: As a liberal product of South African immigrants, Dave Matthews at least provides a good counter-example to that creepy Musk guy. I believe his family were Quakers.
I thought one key to Dave Matthews’ success was that his band had a fresh sound. People had had their fill of jangly guitars and were attracted to something different. Matthews was a journeyman more or less, but his bandmates were all fairly accomplished musicians. And he had a very ambitious and shrewd manager.
Salty Sam .
Hmmm- I was never a huge Buffett fan, even after years of living on the coast on a sailboat. There were a few of his songs that I liked a lot, but the whole Parrothead thing turned me off just as much as the whole Deadhead thing (astute readers may infer that I am an Introvert, and the idea of hanging out with thousands of people at a festival sounds like the Eleventh Circle Of Hell to me).
Because I wasn’t a big fan, I had no idea what a mensch JB was. I guess I always assumed that because he leveraged “Margaritaville” into a business empire, he must have been a typical “business empire asshole”. I hang my head in shame and sorrow for not being more aware.
When we lived on our boat, there was a restaurant within walking distance, run by one of the most dedicated Parrotheads around. “Rusty” decorated his burger joint with his weekend passes from his many Buffett shows- he would shuffle among the tables in his Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops… a great guy. I used to kinda roll my eyes about his Buffett fandom, but I have to rethink that now. I’m sorry I doubted him when he would go on and on about what a great guy Jimmy was.
Damn, I hate it when I’m shown what an arrogant jerk I can be…
mvr
@twbrandt: When TP cancelled a concert in Lincoln to go play Red Rocks he seems to have bought all of his Lincoln fan club fans two tickets to the Red Rocks shows. At least his fan club called me up to give me two and I found myself sitting in prime seats amongst lots of other people from Lincoln.
mvr
@mvr: But since that is off the main thread, I should say something about Buffett. I think he wrote some really good tunes and not the ones many folks think of. (The songs that mention Montana do it for me.)
I also remember seeing Steve Goodman play a song the two of them wrote in the early 70s when Goodman was likely the better known songwriter. Anyone who was pals with Steve Goodman is alright by me.
Gvg
Funny thing, I am a Gainesville native who doesn’t really like Tom Patty’s music, just didn’t quite fit me, but of course it’s over played here. Anyway, years ago, the Klan tried to stage a recruiting rally here in town. Gainesville is a liberal a university town surrounded by rural redneck areas some with a not to distant Klan history that 25 years ago seemed to be receding into the dustbins of history. The Klan types were dying out and wanted to get some shock confrontation attention so they came to Gainesville. At that point Petty was famous and hadn’t lived here in 20 years but he came back for that rally. It wasn’t huge or anything national. He got in those klans men’s faces and yelled at them. Made our front page. Other people did too of course and the klan didn’t have any support or luck. Petty was very clear about his principles.
mvr
@Salty Sam .: I fully get the not getting the obsessive single band/performer fandom thing. Deadheads being the prime example. Which is too bad because there were a couple of really good albums in there amongst other stuff.
I heard an interview with a first or 2nd generation hip hop artist, who talked about how people always resonate with the things they heard at a certain age when the world opened up for them. I have that, but luckily I was listening to a lot of stuff at once when that happened to me. Not rap unfortunately for my musical breadth. I hear stuff now that I think is very cool but I never got really into it.
Chetan Murthy
whoa. TIL that Jimmy Buffett coined the phrase “It’s five o’clock somewhere”. Bowled over. Also, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” is a great song.
mvr
@Gvg: TP played for Gore right after he conceded the 2000
coronation appointmentelection.And if you care at all about climate change that one was pretty important.
Kent
Wow, I’m having the weird experience of cheering Duke as they put an absolute beat down on Clemson and their execrable fundy coach. It is now 28-7 Duke with 3 min left in the game.
As for Buffett? Was never really a fan. I’m 59 and he sort of feels before my time along with other groups like Steely Dan and James Taylor that I never much paid attention to either. The hard core fans were always older than me. Being from the Pacific Northwest I never really lived in Buffett country.
Mai Naem mobileI
@RAVEN: so my question was who the hell is Tom Gara and why should I care what he thinks? I had to waste time looking this up and then waste more time posting . Works for Meta. Used to work for Buzzfeed and WSJ. Kind of OT from the last update on my android I’ve been getting the newsfeed from Samsung not Google like I believe I used to. Anyhoo, I feel there’s a not so subtle RW slant to Samsung’s newsfeed. Anybody else have that happen? I feel like FOX is overepresented by the number of stories. I don’t see MSNBC at all. Also stuff that seems to have racial overtones. AFAIK I didn’t sign up for a Samsung newsfeed.
Yarrow
@Mai Naem mobileI:
I don’t know if this is what you have but this page says you can customize what you see.
KSinMA
@Kent:
@Kent:
It’s always good news when anybody beats Clemson. Even Duke!
caringandsensitive
I’m a few months older than JB. Not really into music (at least not since the early eighties). The last concert I went to was to see JB on Grouse Mountain in, I think, 1979. It was great. I rarely listen to music in my car (my kids and grandkids will say never) but Jimmy Buffet is available along with the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Have been playing Rag Top Day and Door Number 3 in my head since I heard of his death
kalakal
I have to admit until I moved here I’d never heard of JB. As I moved to Fl I pretty soon did 😄. Sounds like a pretty good bloke to me, his music isn’t quite my thing but I do like some of his stuff. Mrs kalakal has fond memories of going to see him in often in Cincinnati, she wasn’t really a fan but says the gigs were a lot of fun. I’m sorry I never saw him live
Doc Sardonic
Losing Buffet has been hard, he was a part of the soundtrack of my life starting at the bandshell at UF when White Sportcoat and a Pink Crustacean came out. My cousin and I conned my uncle into dropping us off to see an older cousin that was at UF then and we went to see this new guy that was up and coming. Fast forward to ’77, I hit UF and saw Jimmy a lot, he played Gainesville frequently. Favorite shows were in the old Florida Gym , otherwise known as Alligator Alley, the weed smoke from those shows you could cut with a chain saw.
unctuous
@Chetan Murthy: I thought “Margaritaville” was good too. The guy actually has a character arc. At the end of the song he accepts “It’s my own damned fault”.
Yarrow
@kalakal: It doesn’t surprise me that you hadn’t heard his music before moving to the US., I don’t see why people are wondering who Tom Gara is and why they should care what he says. I’m not sure it really matters who he is; I think his point is valid. There are artists who are really big in one country – even in the US, which has been so globally culturally dominant – that can be almost unknown in the rest of the world. I don’t know if Jimmy Buffett is one of them, but I can imagine that he is.
Jay
@Yarrow:
Tom Gara basically explained that he doesn’t listen to music, with out telling us he doesn’t listen to music.
When I was pubbing in England, yeah, Jimmy Buffet was in rotation
There is an entire media/BS strain of “negging”,…….
Yarrow
@Jay: The point still stands. Some musicians or bands are big in one country and can’t break through elsewhere.
Mai Naem mobile >
@Yarrow: I figured you could customize it but right now, I have stories from Axios, Politico, FOX x2, NY Post.x2, Newsweek, Business.Insider x2, CNN x2, National Review, They can’t be basing it on my browsing history because it would definitely include the WP.and not National Review or FOX. Anyhow, part of my point is how many people would customize vs leaving it alone and getting fed RW info.
Steve in the ATL
@Geminid:
YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH
lowtechcyclist
@KSinMA:
My wife and I, between us, have three degrees from the University of South Carolina. (It’s where we met, 35 years ago right about now.) I don’t follow collegiate sports at all these days, but I never mind hearing that Clemson’s lost.
p.a.
Way back in the before-time (i.e. newspapers) the Providence Journal-Bulletin had a sports page cartoonist who did an editorial page styled one panel cartoon. When someone worthy died he’d do a drawing, maybe biographical blurb, and the saying “He brightened his corner.” (Frank P. Lanning. Some stuff online.)
Jimmy brightened his corner.
brantl
@mvr: Me, too.
AnonPhenom
@RAVEN:
Thanks for that (and to everyone for the other mentions of Petty, Buffett , Matthews et al.)
It helps to know there are good people who haven’t let the vagaries of fame and fortune crush their humanity (ala Clapton, Van Morrison, Morrissey, etc…)
Geminid
@Steve in the ATL: I have nothing against jangly guitars, just thought their pervasiveness at the time made an opportunity for a different sound to break through.
Dave Matthews and his band were local, and there was a certain snobbery againt them among the local musicians I knew which I absorbed. Looking back, I see this as a Boomer vs. GenX, “Get off my lawn” thing, plus envy. The general public was very proud of the band’s success.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: My Atlanta friend told me a Clemson joke he’d heard from a Universary of South Carolina grad. It’s better when told in person:
“What do the last 3 letters in Clemson stand for?”
“Shivalry, Oner, Nowlege.”
vigilhorn
One advantage to having a dedicated fan base is that they’ll sing all your songs for you at your concerts.
WaterGirl
More tears for Jimmy.
Does anyone know who the other two people he is singing with in the top tweet? Band members? HIs kids?
Scott Mc
@waterGirl comment 55
On the left is Mac McAnnaly and the right looks like Zac Brown.
I keep almost breaking down since Jimmy died.
Not sure I’ve ever posted on BJ, but I lurk frequently.
Doc Sardonic
@WaterGirl: I believe the gentleman to Jimmy’s left is Zach Brown from the Zach Brown Band. The gentleman on his right is I think Mac McAnally, who was in Jimmy’s band and a very good solo artist in his own right.