Here's what's going to run in the paper tomorrow ... hasn't been to editing, so it might change, but my wonderful Managing Editor has indulged my parrotheadism ...
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Springtime in Margaritaville: The happiest place on the planet
For people who like Jimmy Buffett, the world’s richest beach boy, springtime brings great anticipation. Springtime means it’s almost summer, and summertime means it’s time to break out the flip-flops, tropical party favors, the Margarita machine and Jimmy’s latest album.
Parrotheads (Jimmy’s fans) have already started lining up for “Live at Texas Stadium,” the new album with his buddies George Strait and Alan Jackson, due to hit stores tomorrow.
According to a press release from MCA records, the three stars have released over “85 number one singles, and sold more than 120,000,000 records.” One hundred and twenty million records? That’s impressive, by any standard.
This album, recorded at the trio’s 2004 mega-stadium show in Irving, promises to be a great addition to the “fun, happy, let-it-hang” section of your music collection. It’s hard to listen to Buffett without smiling and the cuts on this album are no exception.
Although Buffett is famous for “Margaritaville,” he actually got his start in country music, working in Nashville during the late 1960s. It wasn’t until good friend Jerry Jeff Walker took him to Key West that Buffett discovered his distinctive point of view, songwriting skills and developed his laid back, island style of music.
Buffett teams up with Strait on three cuts, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas,” Hank Williams’ “Hey, Good Looking” and “Sea of Heartbreak.” “Hey, Good Looking” and “Sea of Heartbreak” were released in 2004 on Buffett’s country crossover, “License to Chill.” Strait’s smooth vocal styling is the perfect foil for Buffett’s world-weathered sound.
If you're from the 50s or even the early 60s and you grew up in the south, Jimmy and King George’s cover of the Don Gibson hit “Sea of Heartbreak: might evoke memories of a Saturday night when your parents were going out on the town. They were all dressed up, a cocktail or two consumed, with Hi-Fi playing the latest dance tune. Cha-cha-cha.
Of course, Buffett and Jackson do a great turn on the Grammy-nominated “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” their huge 2003 hit. The song spent 38 weeks on the top 40 charts, including a five-week stint at number 1. The duet won a limousine full of awards for the song, too.
Strait and Jackson step up to the microphone and deliver some pure country on “Murder on Music Row” and they wail on “Cowboys Like Us.”
Strait and his band have a rollicking good time with Bob Wills’ “Milk Cow Blues” and Jackson proves why he’s one of the best voices in country music with his cover of The Eagles’ “Seven Bridges Road.” The tight harmonies stop the show.
The album wouldn’t be complete with a visit to “Margaritaville,” and Jackson adds a nice dimension to the parrothead national anthem.
One of the more pleasant surprises on the CD has to be Buffett and Jackson teaming up on “Boats to Build.” The song was written by Texan Guy Clark and it’s a great choice for the two musicians who first met when they were out cruising around the Caribbean.
Long-time parrotheads will be delighted that Jimmy chose to include Willis Alan Ramsey’s song, “Northeast Texas Women,” on his set list for the show.
Buffett, Ramsey, a Dallas native, and Jerry Jeff Walker used to hang out together during the early 70s, playing the bars on lower Greenville Avenue in Dallas, struggling to make a living the music business.
Ramsey’s self-titled 1972 album has influenced musicians for years, including Buffett and Walker, who have covered some Ramsey’ tunes, including “The Ballad of Spider John.”
Ramsey’s second album, “Gentilly,” is due out later this spring, so maybe including the tune on the new album is Buffett’s way of tipping his hat to his old friend.
Here’s the first verse from “Northeast Texas Women”:
South of Oklahoma
east of New Mexico
west of Louisiana,
where all the Cajuns grow.
We’ve got a little place called Texas,
where the women grow on trees.
They’re right there for the picking, just as pretty as you please.
You’re smiling now, right?
Smiling and happiness is what Buffett does best. He’s so much more than “Margaritaville” and “Come Monday.”
Buffett’s been playing happy music for over 30 years and after more than 20 albums, he obviously knows what his fans want. The album from the historic Texas Stadium show is no different. Having George Strait and Alan Jackson on the stage just makes listening to the 15 songs twice the fun.
Buffett and his talented Coral Reefer Band are about to head out on the road. The Bama Breeze Tour takes its name from a cut from Buffett’s last solo CD, “Take the Weather with You.”
Buffett, who has been touring since 1976, and the band are doing the Texas two-step this year.
They’ll be at The Minute Maid Park in Houston on April 21 and at the Pizza Hut Park in Frisco on April 28.
Big stadium shows are not my favorite way to see Jimmy and his talented Coral Reefers. I prefer the smaller venues, like the shell on Waikiki or the Maui Arts and Culture Center in Kahului, where the shows are pared down and the crowds are smaller, but I’ll take any Buffett show over no Buffett show at all.
If you want to kick-start your summer, grab the new album, put on your best Hawaiian shirt and flip flops, and come on over to the Frisco show.
Look for the big party in the green-are parking lot. People are coming from all over Texas, and from South Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Florida, Rhode Island and New York City for the show.
About 300 parrotheads who hang out at
www.buffettnews.com will be there, grilling yummy cheeseburgers, drinking Margaritas, wearing grass skirts and coconut bras, wiggling their toes in the trucked-in beach sand, collecting money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and smiling - a lot.
Just ask Benny and Sue Ann Johnson, Alice Black and Linda Petty about Jimmy’s shows. Sulphur Springs was well represented several years ago when Benny and Sue Ann loaded up their RV with East Texas parrotheads and headed to Smirnoff (formerly Starplex) for Jimmy’s show. It was a great day.
Seeing a Jimmy Buffett show is a slice of parrothead heaven and when Jimmy and the crew roll into town, the daylong tailgate and show are the happiest place on the planet.
Hula, hula!
I went to a promotion from a radio station that got cancelled and sent them hate email. So I just got in the mail, some country expo tickets, a t shirt, a country CD, and the Texas CD! I feel special. 
