^{RSS Feed}

The Clarion-Ledger has a nice article on former Coral Reefer Greg “Fingers” Taylor: “Fingers comes home: Storied musician returns to Miss.”

Greg “Fingers” Taylor has spent a large portion of his adult life with a harmonica between his lips, making it weep, howl, plead and bleed.

Still, the instrument mystifies him.

“It’s a mighty, mighty machine with a tiny, tiny body,” he says. “I guess that’s always intrigued me about it. How can such a big sound come from something so small?”

Taylor had taken piano lessons in Kansas, but the blues turned him on to the harmonica. He played both in different bands while at USM, but it soon became clear he had a special relationship with the harmonica. He always kept one stashed in a blue jean pocket.

It came in handy one night in 1973 when Buffett, then a struggling musician who had also attended USM for a while, came to Hattiesburg to play The Hub, a popular bar.

“I’d never seen him before,” Taylor recalls. “I remember he was wearing a 10-gallon hat and had long, long blonde hair. It was just him and his acoustic guitar.”

Buffett had heard about the local dude who could make a harmonica talk. Midway through the show, he invited Taylor to join him for a few tunes.

Musician Jimmy Buffet performs his song, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” for members of Joint Task Force Haiti at the U.S. Embassy as Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Hornsby-Myers and Cmdr. Dana Hall, both from the U.S. Public Health Service sing along.

A video from the upcoming CMT Crossroads show that Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band performing “Margaritaville” is available from CMT. The show premieres on CMT on Friday March 19th at 10:00 PM ET.

Taped before an invitation only audience in Franklin, Tenn., just outside of Nashville, Jimmy and Zac bring their tropical tastes and rousing performances to each other’s hit songs, including Jimmy’s “Margaritaville” and “Son of a Sailor” and ZBB’s “Chicken Fried” and “Toes.” Photos from the show are also available.

Jimmy Buffett and Zac Brown Band – Margaritaville

The Miami Herald has an article “Stars’ proposals for Hollywood Beach to be aired”

Those hoping to waste away — or spend a night — in Margaritaville might be heading for Hollywood Beach.Planet Hollywood sees its plan as a much better fit.

Can Jimmy Buffett take down Sylvester Stallone on Hollywood Beach? Lon Tabatchnick certainly hopes so.

The Hollywood developer signed Buffett to bring the first Margaritaville resort to a city-owned site on the ocean.

“He has this ability to draw people in,” Tabatchnick said. “Where would you like to keep your boat — the Fort Lauderdale marina or the Margaritaville marina?”

But Planet Hollywood, a restaurant chain with Stallone and Bruce Willis as partners, wants the same land for a hotel and water park.

A successful chain of restaurants followed, as well as a catalog worth of island wares — from chicken wings to patio furniture to Margarita makers. John Cohlan, CEO of Margaritaville Enterprises in Palm Beach, said the beachfront location and Hollywood’s no-fuss vibe makes it a good fit for the brand’s first hotel.

“This is a very authentic beach town,” he said. “That’s what Margaritaville is about.”

Plans show a tiki bar wrapped around a seaplane and a sailboat by the pool, as well as an amphitheater with free concerts arranged by the Margaritaville staff.

“There are certain revenue streams Margaritaville brings to the project,” said Tabatchnick, refering to Buffet-themed shops, restaurants and bars expected to bring in day visitors. “A regularly flagged hotel would not be successful there.”

But the Planet Hollywood team rejects the Buffett boost as a tall tropical tale.

“At the end of the day, Margaritaville is a bar,” said Koslow. “What’s so special about a bar?”

There are plans for building a Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood FL (between Ft Lauderdale and Miami).

A public meeting discussing the details for the proposal takes place on Thursday March 4th at 8:15 AM at City Hall. Also a public presentations for the Johnson Street Redevelopment takes place on March 15th from 6pm-8pm in Hollywood City Hall (2600 Hollywood Blvd, 33030). Margaritaville will have 20 minutes to present their plans and Planet Hollywood will have 20 minutes. Then the Public will have 20 minutes to express their point of view. The dress code is NOT CONCERT ATTIRE! You may wear a Hawaiian shirt but we need to show a respectable appearance for the County Commissioners.

If you can’t make it express your opinion to the City Commission and Mayor.

Buffett flew his seaplane down to Haiti to help bring supplies to the homeless victims of the earthquake.

Jimmy Buffett may sing about “Surfing in a Hurricane,” but cruising through Haiti’s earthquake-ravaged capital nearly left the singer without words.

“It’s like it was bombed,” the singer told The Associated Press after touring the ravaged country’s capital. Buffett loaded his seaplane with tents for some of the 1.2 million Haitians who lost their homes and set a course for the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.

The singer is a lover of Haitian music who has his own room named after him at the famed Hotel Oloffson.

“Haiti’s something worth saving to me,” he said.

He was convinced to make his first visit to Haiti since 1994 because of the needs of so many after the magnitude-7 quake struck on Jan. 12. On Tuesday, he was escorted by U.S. Embassy security personnel past downtown and the destroyed national cathedral.