Listening to "You Had To Be There" today......

[PeretHed66]

.......and had some thoughts.

1. What a great setlist.
2. This version of the Coral Reefers rocks like nobody's business - raw and rough. This is a road band. Today's band is much more polished, and probably more talented, but doesn't throw it down like those guys.
3. He needs a harmonica player in the band. Mike, Robert, and Jon cover the harmonica parts with their respective instruments, but it just ain't the same as the original harp (and to be clear, I'm not begging for Fingers back, just somebody).
4. JB liked his drugs back then.
5. Interesting to hear how 'Margaritaville' has evolved since it's beginning. It started out as an easy-going, wistful ballad, and this record shows it as an uptempo rocker. Now it's evolved into a full blown party show tune.
6. The definitive version of 'God's Own Drunk' - "Next thing I knew, I was on I-75, headed for Florida!"
7. It's a great snapshot of what is now a dying breed, the live double album.

Please don't mistake this as a criticism of who Jimmy is today, or of the music he's making, or of today's Coral Reefers. Just some random observations and musings on a great album.

[surfpirate]

Well, it was I-95, but other than that .... you nailed it.

edit ... I beg your pardon ... it just may have been I-75 ... my bad

[Tiki Torches]

When and if Buffett ever gets around to giving any of his records the expanded remaster treatment, You Had To Be There is crying out for it. For some reason, the levels are incredibly low on it, which means even when I have it at full blast it's still not loud enough. When I list my favorite live albums, You Had To Be There is always in there. Though I do have to say there still some great live records being made with the Drive-By Truckers' Alabama Ass Whuppin', Wilco's Kicking Television, R.E.M.'s Live at the Olympia, Todd Snider's Near Truths and Hotel Rooms, and James McMurtry's Live In Aught-Three being right up there.

[PeretHed66]

Well, it was I-95, but other than that .... you nailed it.

edit ... I beg your pardon ... it just may have been I-75 ... my bad

No worries, I just spun it up to make sure - it is I-75, which makes sense since he "was only supposed to go down to Buckhead to pick up the paper....."

[PeretHed66]

When and if Buffett ever gets around to giving any of his records the expanded remaster treatment, You Had To Be There is crying out for it. For some reason, the levels are incredibly low on it, which means even when I have it at full blast it's still not loud enough.

You are 100% correct, Tiki. Needs some definite audio help.

[FinsUp6835]

Man, I love that album. I agree, get the harmonica back! You just can't beat that sound. Jimmy's voice and Fingers instrument is like PBnJ

"You can do what you wanna
Do what you like
Twist a big ol' number
Ride a motorbike
It's alright, It's alright

Dance to the drum
Drink a lot of rum
Love till you come to a stop

Swing like a monkey in a coconut tree
Sing like the dolphins in the deep blue sea
Sing it's alright, it's alright"


I have this in my vinyl collection. I always thought my vinyl players audio sucked ( it kinda does) but is even worse when I play this album. Interesting!

[surfpirate]

Love the 1970s references too. (Anybody wanna Get Small?).

"'s like, somethin' I'd never experienced before,
's like,
's like I was in love,
In love for the nine hundred and 35th time
With anything that moooooved...
Animate, in-animate, conehead, no cone it didn't matter."

"I's awful tired,
went over to the hillside, laid down,
Slept for four hours, and dreamt me some tremulous dreams
(I think Cheryl Tiegs was in one of 'em, I don't know)
Oh-ho, yeah. Oh-ho... Big ol' American breasts, you know? Hoho!"

[Tiki Torches]

The only You Had To Be There era footage that I'm aware of:

[JePH]

[quote="Tiki Torches"]The only You Had To Be There era footage that I'm aware of:

You Had To Be There still remains my favourite live one. I sure wore out those 2 cassettes in my cars over the years.

Thanks for the vid.
It appears that he's wearing a Washington Capitals jersey, can anyone else tell if it is one or something different? If it is, the video is from 1974 or later as the Caps expansion franchise didn't start until the 74/75 season and the team's nickname wasn't announced until January '74.

[Tiki Torches]

The only You Had To Be There era footage that I'm aware of:

You Had To Be There still remains my favourite live one. I sure wore out those 2 cassettes in my cars over the years.

Thanks for the vid.
It appears that he's wearing a Washington Capitals jersey, can anyone else tell if it is one or something different? If it is, the video is from 1974 or later as the Caps expansion franchise didn't start until the 74/75 season and the team's nickname wasn't announced until January '74.

I believe it was someone else here that originally posted this video in another thread. The person that uploaded it on YouTube has it labeled as being from 1973 but there's no way that can be accurate. In the original thread for the video it was determined via an interview with Buffett himself that the song wasn't written until 1976. Then you have to factor in how the crowd in the clip is already familiar with the song. Since "Margaritaville" wasn't released until 1977 I would have to guess it's from that era. Also, judging from Buffett's intro, which is nearly identical to how he introduces it on You Had To Be There, I'm guessing it's from '77. I've tried to contact the person that uploaded it to YouTube for more information but so far I haven't heard anything back from him.

[FinsUp6835]

Looks like a caps jersey to me

[sonofabeach]

"You had to be there" is great. The banter between songs is great, although I edited it out for my mp3 player.
I got it on wax too and the cover is on my garage wall among a bunch of other Buffett albums.
I prefer "Feeding Frenzy" over "You Had To Be There". If only it were a double album.
"Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday" is a special album for me because it had just came out when I first became a Parrothead..
I'm not really big on the "Live In" series of a few years back.

[Tiki Torches]

I think the downfall of those Live In.. albums is how the setlists really weren't all that different. I think the main thing Feeding Frenzy has going for it is just how good it sounds, not that the song selection is bad or anything. I haven't listened to Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays in forever so I may have to take that one out for a spin over the weekend.

[Dr.Corona]

"You had to be there" is great. The banter between songs is great, although I edited it out for my mp3 player.
I got it on wax too and the cover is on my garage wall among a bunch of other Buffett albums.
I prefer "Feeding Frenzy" over "You Had To Be There". If only it were a double album.
"Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday" is a special album for me because it had just came out when I first became a Parrothead..
I'm not really big on the "Live In" series of a few years back.

Sounds real similar to my story. Local library had Feeding Frenzy which I checked out & that is what "hooked" me into Jimmy, but time wise it was actually about the time that TTS came out.

[bananaman]

"Tuesdays..." will always have a special place for me just because I'm actually on it!! Ragtop Day was his opening song when he came to Columbia,SC....I'm the guy hollering in the background. heehee

[surfpirate]

"Tuesdays..." will always have a special place for me just because I'm actually on it!! Ragtop Day was his opening song when he came to Columbia,SC....I'm the guy hollering in the background. heehee

So annoying. Ruined the entire album for me.
You owe me the $12.95 I spent on this.



Kidding.
That is pretty cool.

[Dr.Corona]

"Tuesdays..." will always have a special place for me just because I'm actually on it!! Ragtop Day was his opening song when he came to Columbia,SC....I'm the guy hollering in the background. heehee

I often wonder on "live" albums when you're in the middle of the quiet song & you hear that one person who shouts out wildly if they actually remember doing so? Or like on Frampton Comes Alive, during "Wind of Change" if the person who lights up the firecracker remembers doing so without the buds remind him so?

[Tiki Torches]

"Tuesdays..." will always have a special place for me just because I'm actually on it!! Ragtop Day was his opening song when he came to Columbia,SC....I'm the guy hollering in the background. heehee

I often wonder on "live" albums when you're in the middle of the quiet song & you hear that one person who shouts out wildly if they actually remember doing so? Or like on Frampton Comes Alive, during "Wind of Change" if the person who lights up the firecracker remembers doing so without the buds remind him so?

I've wondered the same thing. Same thing when looking at photos of vintage concerts, wondering where all these people are today and how their lives turned out. In regards to Frampton Comes Alive!, it's been revealed that a lot of the crowd noise on that album was added after the fact in an effort to "sweeten" the sound. Unfortunately, that's turned out to be true for a lot of live albums from that era.

Speaking of the former, this was taken at the first California Jam at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California on April 6, 1974 (photo by Ralph Smith).

[bananaman]

"Tuesdays..." will always have a special place for me just because I'm actually on it!! Ragtop Day was his opening song when he came to Columbia,SC....I'm the guy hollering in the background. heehee

So annoying. Ruined the entire album for me.
You owe me the $12.95 I spent on this.



Kidding.
That is pretty cool.

Haha....BTW, I totally just stole your sig line quote and posted as my FB status.

[Gypsy In The Palace]

"Tuesdays..." will always have a special place for me just because I'm actually on it!! Ragtop Day was his opening song when he came to Columbia,SC....I'm the guy hollering in the background. heehee

Are you sure you have the right album? Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays does not have Ragtop Day on it.