Don Corleone has provide a Scanned image of the TV Guide interview.
Rick in Boston has transcribed the TV Guide article
Please note the article may not appear in your local TV Guide.
TV Guide Interview
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phjim
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Rick in Boston provided the compete transcript
SON OF THE BEACH
Got booze in the blender? Good. So slip off those flip-flops, sip that margarita and relax with Jimmy Buffett as he spins some tales from the endless summer that is his life.
By Tim Williams
Another performer might be biting his nails or chanting or knocking back a couple of courage-fortifying gin and tonics. But an hour before Jimmy Buffett takes the stage before a sold-out crowd of 18,000 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte, North Carolina, he is calm and relaxed. How relaxed? Why, he's tucked away in his dressing room sleeping soundly, way too cool for even the slightest preshow jitters (Perry Como wasn't this serene). Buffett has ambled barefoot down this path many, many times before. Since 1977's "Margaritaville" (his only Top 10 hit), he has been the center of a party on the move, criss-crossing the country every summer, rolling out a beach-themed carnival of music and Mardi Gras. With his country-tinged and slightly sardonic pop songs, Buffett defines an easygoing lifestyle. And after spending a weekend with the guy, it's easy to see that this is no act. Dressed in shorts and an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt, the tanned Buffett looks more like an aging surfer who might give you tips on how to wax your board than he does a high-powered performer whose tour grossed $26.9 million last year.
The 55-year-old father of three (Savannah, 24, a writer; Delaney, 10; and Cameron, 8, all with wife Jane, 50) is proof that being laid-back can pay off. True Buffett believers (affectionately known as Parrotheads) line up in the parking lots of every arena he plays, drinking, eating and just plain partying hours before their Tiki God hits the stage. And after a two hour-plus show, some will pack their coolers and beach balls into their SUVs, adorned with leis and shark fins, and follow their leader to his next gig.
But the concerts are just part of Buffett's success. The entertainer turned entrepreneur now has restaurants, retail stores and three best-selling books: two works of fiction and an autobiography. His latest - tentatively titled "A Salty Piece of Land" (Little, Brown and Company), a collection of short stories and non-fiction - is due out next year. But the music is still the main focus for Buffett; some critics are calling his new album, "Far Side of the World", his most mature effort. During an interview in the Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, Buffett sipped bottled water (c'mon, it was 10:30 A.M.) and discussed music, his unexpected rise to fame and the importance of Elvis. One thing
is clear: He's definitely found his place in the sun.
TV Guide: Many of your songs and short stories deal with growing up in the South. [Buffett was born in Mississippi and grew up in Mobile, Alabama.] What kind of kid were you?
Jimmy Buffett: I was a daydreamer. I was the one that they always said, "He has great potential, but he's an underachiever."
TVG: Was music a big part of your childhood?
JB: I grew up in the '50s, and I think that the thing that revolutionized the world was the 45-rpm record player. Because before that, we listened to the albums our parents had. We listened to their music because we
didn't have money to buy [records], and music wasn't made for kids. Rock and roll wasn't out there. But once the 45s came along, you got your own record player.
TVG: Did Elvis on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1956 affect you?
JB: Yeah, I didn't play guitar then. My mother bought me a guitar, but I never bothered to play it. I kind of banged on it, but I never took lessons. But I loved Elvis. And when "King Creole" [Presley's fourth film] came out [in 1958], it s***ed me in like a black hole. I saw it about 300 times.
TVG: Along with those early rock idols, it seems that folk music was a big influence on you.
JB: The F-word: folk music. Folksingers were entertainers. They communicated with their audience. You just didn't get up there and sing and go, "Next song," unless you were Bob Dylan, and so you had to be an entertainer.
TVG: Did you connect with Dylan's music?
JB: I loved the Dylan stuff, and I did a lot of his songs. But I didn't want to emulate Dylan. Who would I want to emulate? It was more of a Gordon Lightfoot kind of style, and in songwriting it was Joni Mitchell.
TVG: How do you see yourself compared with other songwriters?
JB: My initial entrance into this mad world was as a performer. So performing and an audience reaction were more important to me than perfection in songwriting. I loved songwriting and still do. I don't think I write brilliant songs. I think they're OK.
TVG: You sell this image of a laid-back beach bum, yet you've become a multimillion-dollar corporation.
JB: I'd rather be a multimillion-dollar corporation than a broke folksinger. I didn't know I had it in me. I don't think there's any harm in pursuing whatever your job is with a goal of attaining enough wealth to be independent and be able to do what you want to do. That's all I ever did. But I never, ever envisioned it turning out the way it did.
TVG: Thirty years ago, did you envision the music business being as corporate as it is today?
JB: The music business is not about music much anymore. That might sound like sour grapes, but it's not. I can't keep the names of the [concert] venues straight because they all changed to corporate sponsorships. It drives people crazy because I won't call them by the sponsor name.
TVG: Aren't your concerts sponsored by Corona?
JB: That's right, because I drink it. [grins]
TVG: I know you're also a big Krispy Kreme doughnut fan.
JB: I own franchises [in] Palm Beach, Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale. When I was a paperboy and I used to throw my papers in front of the Krispy Kreme, the people working there would give me the holes of the doughnuts. So I kind of was genetically attached to Krispy Kreme.
TVG: Since becoming a businessman, have you become a Republican?
JB: I'm a die-hard Democrat because I was raised that way.
TVG: I guess a Republican would wear shoes on stage. How come you perform without footwear?
JB: I don't like shoes. The worst part of it these days is waking up and thinking, "Oh, God, I'm going to have to get arch lifts." Growing old is not for the faint of heart. You've got to be tough to grow old because there's stuff that goes on that you just really have to deal with.
TVG: You separated from your wife for almost 10 years but never divorced. What brought you back together again in 1991?
JB: We were always friends, even during our times apart. She's my best friend as well as my wife. When it got down to it and I had an honest-to-God talk with myself, the easiest thing would have been to go, "OK, that's it," and go on, and then you repeat the same mistakes over again.
TVG: I've heard you can be short-tempered.
JB: Yeah. [smiles] I'm working on that. And the older you get, the wiser you get; you realize some things that you would think are crises really aren't. I'm trying to wean myself from that, going to that point where something becomes more serious than it is.
TVG: What's the best part about being Jimmy Buffett?
JB: The best part of it is that I can still do this and walk around pretty nonchalantly "without getting mobbed", as people might say. I have a pretty good amount of anonymity.
TVG: I know you also like to jump on one of your planes [Buffett is a licensed pilot who owns a Falcon 50 jet, a Caravan seaplane and a Stearman biplane] and fly off to exotic places. What is one of your favorite hidden spots?
JB: I'm not telling you. [laughs] I'll tell you there are many. Of course, Key West in the old days. St. Barts. I still go to all those places. I love the Bahamas. There are a few places in the Bahamas where I can get away. There are days and times when I like to get away from this, like anybody else, and I'm not going to tell you those.
TVG: Do you ever sit and wonder what keeps people coming out to your shows?
JB: It's lack of entertainment in the music business today. So [people] go where they can get it. And if you look at it, we've regenerated four or five times. I got people to bring their kids to listen to us. It's a pleasure to be out there. Before, it was a job, and you worked 300 days a year and it was tough work. Now it's to the point where "Do I have to go out here and do this?" Absolutely not. "Do I want to?" Absolutely yes. Because it's what I do. I have a lot of great friends who are in their mid-eighties who are still working because they love working. I am lucky to have a job I love.
TVG: You think you'll be singing "Margaritaville" at 80?
JB: Well, we're all growing old together here. Maybe I'll be up on stage using a walker doing it - I just hope my teeth don't fall out.
SON OF THE BEACH
Got booze in the blender? Good. So slip off those flip-flops, sip that margarita and relax with Jimmy Buffett as he spins some tales from the endless summer that is his life.
By Tim Williams
Another performer might be biting his nails or chanting or knocking back a couple of courage-fortifying gin and tonics. But an hour before Jimmy Buffett takes the stage before a sold-out crowd of 18,000 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte, North Carolina, he is calm and relaxed. How relaxed? Why, he's tucked away in his dressing room sleeping soundly, way too cool for even the slightest preshow jitters (Perry Como wasn't this serene). Buffett has ambled barefoot down this path many, many times before. Since 1977's "Margaritaville" (his only Top 10 hit), he has been the center of a party on the move, criss-crossing the country every summer, rolling out a beach-themed carnival of music and Mardi Gras. With his country-tinged and slightly sardonic pop songs, Buffett defines an easygoing lifestyle. And after spending a weekend with the guy, it's easy to see that this is no act. Dressed in shorts and an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt, the tanned Buffett looks more like an aging surfer who might give you tips on how to wax your board than he does a high-powered performer whose tour grossed $26.9 million last year.
The 55-year-old father of three (Savannah, 24, a writer; Delaney, 10; and Cameron, 8, all with wife Jane, 50) is proof that being laid-back can pay off. True Buffett believers (affectionately known as Parrotheads) line up in the parking lots of every arena he plays, drinking, eating and just plain partying hours before their Tiki God hits the stage. And after a two hour-plus show, some will pack their coolers and beach balls into their SUVs, adorned with leis and shark fins, and follow their leader to his next gig.
But the concerts are just part of Buffett's success. The entertainer turned entrepreneur now has restaurants, retail stores and three best-selling books: two works of fiction and an autobiography. His latest - tentatively titled "A Salty Piece of Land" (Little, Brown and Company), a collection of short stories and non-fiction - is due out next year. But the music is still the main focus for Buffett; some critics are calling his new album, "Far Side of the World", his most mature effort. During an interview in the Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, Buffett sipped bottled water (c'mon, it was 10:30 A.M.) and discussed music, his unexpected rise to fame and the importance of Elvis. One thing
is clear: He's definitely found his place in the sun.
TV Guide: Many of your songs and short stories deal with growing up in the South. [Buffett was born in Mississippi and grew up in Mobile, Alabama.] What kind of kid were you?
Jimmy Buffett: I was a daydreamer. I was the one that they always said, "He has great potential, but he's an underachiever."
TVG: Was music a big part of your childhood?
JB: I grew up in the '50s, and I think that the thing that revolutionized the world was the 45-rpm record player. Because before that, we listened to the albums our parents had. We listened to their music because we
didn't have money to buy [records], and music wasn't made for kids. Rock and roll wasn't out there. But once the 45s came along, you got your own record player.
TVG: Did Elvis on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1956 affect you?
JB: Yeah, I didn't play guitar then. My mother bought me a guitar, but I never bothered to play it. I kind of banged on it, but I never took lessons. But I loved Elvis. And when "King Creole" [Presley's fourth film] came out [in 1958], it s***ed me in like a black hole. I saw it about 300 times.
TVG: Along with those early rock idols, it seems that folk music was a big influence on you.
JB: The F-word: folk music. Folksingers were entertainers. They communicated with their audience. You just didn't get up there and sing and go, "Next song," unless you were Bob Dylan, and so you had to be an entertainer.
TVG: Did you connect with Dylan's music?
JB: I loved the Dylan stuff, and I did a lot of his songs. But I didn't want to emulate Dylan. Who would I want to emulate? It was more of a Gordon Lightfoot kind of style, and in songwriting it was Joni Mitchell.
TVG: How do you see yourself compared with other songwriters?
JB: My initial entrance into this mad world was as a performer. So performing and an audience reaction were more important to me than perfection in songwriting. I loved songwriting and still do. I don't think I write brilliant songs. I think they're OK.
TVG: You sell this image of a laid-back beach bum, yet you've become a multimillion-dollar corporation.
JB: I'd rather be a multimillion-dollar corporation than a broke folksinger. I didn't know I had it in me. I don't think there's any harm in pursuing whatever your job is with a goal of attaining enough wealth to be independent and be able to do what you want to do. That's all I ever did. But I never, ever envisioned it turning out the way it did.
TVG: Thirty years ago, did you envision the music business being as corporate as it is today?
JB: The music business is not about music much anymore. That might sound like sour grapes, but it's not. I can't keep the names of the [concert] venues straight because they all changed to corporate sponsorships. It drives people crazy because I won't call them by the sponsor name.
TVG: Aren't your concerts sponsored by Corona?
JB: That's right, because I drink it. [grins]
TVG: I know you're also a big Krispy Kreme doughnut fan.
JB: I own franchises [in] Palm Beach, Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale. When I was a paperboy and I used to throw my papers in front of the Krispy Kreme, the people working there would give me the holes of the doughnuts. So I kind of was genetically attached to Krispy Kreme.
TVG: Since becoming a businessman, have you become a Republican?
JB: I'm a die-hard Democrat because I was raised that way.
TVG: I guess a Republican would wear shoes on stage. How come you perform without footwear?
JB: I don't like shoes. The worst part of it these days is waking up and thinking, "Oh, God, I'm going to have to get arch lifts." Growing old is not for the faint of heart. You've got to be tough to grow old because there's stuff that goes on that you just really have to deal with.
TVG: You separated from your wife for almost 10 years but never divorced. What brought you back together again in 1991?
JB: We were always friends, even during our times apart. She's my best friend as well as my wife. When it got down to it and I had an honest-to-God talk with myself, the easiest thing would have been to go, "OK, that's it," and go on, and then you repeat the same mistakes over again.
TVG: I've heard you can be short-tempered.
JB: Yeah. [smiles] I'm working on that. And the older you get, the wiser you get; you realize some things that you would think are crises really aren't. I'm trying to wean myself from that, going to that point where something becomes more serious than it is.
TVG: What's the best part about being Jimmy Buffett?
JB: The best part of it is that I can still do this and walk around pretty nonchalantly "without getting mobbed", as people might say. I have a pretty good amount of anonymity.
TVG: I know you also like to jump on one of your planes [Buffett is a licensed pilot who owns a Falcon 50 jet, a Caravan seaplane and a Stearman biplane] and fly off to exotic places. What is one of your favorite hidden spots?
JB: I'm not telling you. [laughs] I'll tell you there are many. Of course, Key West in the old days. St. Barts. I still go to all those places. I love the Bahamas. There are a few places in the Bahamas where I can get away. There are days and times when I like to get away from this, like anybody else, and I'm not going to tell you those.
TVG: Do you ever sit and wonder what keeps people coming out to your shows?
JB: It's lack of entertainment in the music business today. So [people] go where they can get it. And if you look at it, we've regenerated four or five times. I got people to bring their kids to listen to us. It's a pleasure to be out there. Before, it was a job, and you worked 300 days a year and it was tough work. Now it's to the point where "Do I have to go out here and do this?" Absolutely not. "Do I want to?" Absolutely yes. Because it's what I do. I have a lot of great friends who are in their mid-eighties who are still working because they love working. I am lucky to have a job I love.
TVG: You think you'll be singing "Margaritaville" at 80?
JB: Well, we're all growing old together here. Maybe I'll be up on stage using a walker doing it - I just hope my teeth don't fall out.
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UltimateParrothead
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Guest
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Guest
Thanks for transcribing this interview. It didn't appear locally.
That this TV GUIDE interview is so superior to the recent CNN interview is testament to the preparation level of the interviewer.
Maybe her editor was to blame but the CNN person didn't seem to get it. Lame questions and to the end, in spite of JB's explanation, she seemed not to so much as understand the origin of the most recent album title, somehow making me think she thought it was a play on Gary Larsen's body of cartoon work. Unreal.
That this TV GUIDE interview is so superior to the recent CNN interview is testament to the preparation level of the interviewer.
Maybe her editor was to blame but the CNN person didn't seem to get it. Lame questions and to the end, in spite of JB's explanation, she seemed not to so much as understand the origin of the most recent album title, somehow making me think she thought it was a play on Gary Larsen's body of cartoon work. Unreal.
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Guest
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Gardner McKay, Jr.
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Also, thanks. However, JB is a bit too modest in the article. He has written and/or collaborated on some truly great tunes. There are many times though, where you have to really listen a few times over to realize what great work they are. In a lot of cases I've found that they are so pleasing to the ear, or the arrangements are so complex, one tends to not see the forest for the trees.
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PerfectPartner
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A1APHAN123
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PerfectPartner
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- Favorite Boat Drink: Diet Dew and Parrot Bay
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vafins
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I emailed TV guide shortly after this post and just got a response today...
It was from Barbara.Bagge@tvguide.com
She said "Yes, the Jimmy Buffett piece was published only in demographically targeted subscriber issues. While the original back issue is not available, if you provide a full mailing address, we can provide a full black and white photocopy of the Buffett feature for you. Thanks for your interest in TV guide."
So if you want a copy email her......
It was from Barbara.Bagge@tvguide.com
She said "Yes, the Jimmy Buffett piece was published only in demographically targeted subscriber issues. While the original back issue is not available, if you provide a full mailing address, we can provide a full black and white photocopy of the Buffett feature for you. Thanks for your interest in TV guide."
So if you want a copy email her......