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As a very new member of the nation I have been trying to get caught up on JB history. So I have bought several of his older albums like AIA, Living & Dying and Changes in Attitude along with almost all of the later Cd's starting with Songs you Know By Heart. I have watched a lot of videos both professional and amateur. And the thing is I am having a hard time reconciling the mustachioed JB with the bare face JB both musically and physically.

Take AIA for example. On the first three songs he sings he has a very nasally sound, very young, and with a lot of twang. Then there is Presents to Send You and sounds like the JB of today. Back to nasal on the next two. On Pirates he is back to his sound today. And then on the next two he is sort of in between. Theoretically weren't all these songs recorded at approximately the same time? For those of you who have followed Jimmy for years it may not be so obvious. But for a newcomer like me I find it interesting to say the least that it sounds to me like three different people recorded this album.

And then there is the physical thing. I have looked and looked and looked and I cannot see any resemblance of the young Jimmy with the mustache and long hair to the Jimmy with no mustache that began appearing in the late 80's early 90's except for the mole and the nose. Are we sure that there really aren't two Jimmy Buffett's out there in the world?

Welcome to BN.

I just chalk it up to aging. Voices change.. And do any of us really look like we did 30 years ago?

To me, the guy sounds different all the time. Even on his newer recordings. I remember watching a recent video about him and he stated that back in the mid to late 90's, he was taking voice lessons from a singing coach. And you can certainly tell...his voice, especially for live events, was excellent for a short time during and after that period. He did a nice job singing the lyrics and it is right around the time period that Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays came out. I thought that was his best live album...not necessarily due to the song selection, but rather how he and the band sounded together, whether it was in concert or on the album.

He still does well from time to time, but I think he needs to start taking lessons again. Some of the live stuff now seems like he is almost screaming and having to dig deep to hit some of the notes. Granted, I will give him that he is getting old and I am happy enough just to see him anymore, but singing voices tend to get better with age, particularly for men. I think he still has it in him when he wants to.

Interesting observation you had.

I have to admit when I first came to this site and saw old pictures of Jimmy, I thought to myself...Wow I wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a line-up. Most of us look a little like we did when we were young...He looks nothing like when he was young.

However since I never knew of him then, the bald no mustache Jimmy is the "real" one to me.

I recently saw a comparison on a website of examples of some well-known musician's singing in their early days vs. recent days. There were links to audio and/or video illustrating the comparison and it was interesting on many levels. I bet with the various audio and video repositories available, that would easily illustrate differences in Jimmy with hair and young vocal chords vs. not. Now, if I only could remember where I saw that comparison.....

I don't have the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday CD yet, but I do have the Live in Anguilla CD and I think he sounds much, much better on that than he does on Live at Fenway for example where he does sound like he is really reaching. Maybe it was because it was a much more relaxed atmosphere in Anguilla.

And speaking of that album and DVD, on the DVD during the opening scenes where they are getting ready for the show, is that Jimmy singing King of Somewhere Hot. It certainly does not sound like the version that was recorded during the show. But I cannot find anything on the album notes that would indicate it is anyone else.

And also on that DVD during Margaritaville they pan the audience and they stay on one particular girl. She sure looks like Savannah Jane to me but I could be wrong. Does anyone know.

Sorry to rattle on. I guess I am sort of a stream of consciousness writer like JB. I don't know when to shut up like now.

I remember when HOT WATER came out (1988). The clean shaven dude on the album cover bore no resemblance to the man I had been buying albums from since the mid-70s. That was also probably the last album I bought on vinyl.

Now watch this video and pay close attention to what happens at the 0:57 mark

The Jimmy in that clip sounded an awful lot like the Jimmy I paid to hear at Alpine last August ... to me, anyway.

-"BB"-

surfpirate wrote:I remember when HOT WATER came out (1988). The clean shaven dude on the album cover bore no resemblance to the man I had been buying albums from since the mid-70s. That was also probably the last album I bought on vinyl.

Now watch this video and pay close attention to what happens at the 0:57 mark

tHANKS FOR FINDING THESE TREASURES, sp!!

rmissbrook wrote: And then there is the physical thing. I have looked and looked and looked and I cannot see any resemblance of the young Jimmy with the mustache and long hair to the Jimmy with no mustache that began appearing in the late 80's early 90's except for the mole and the nose. Are we sure that there really aren't two Jimmy Buffett's out there in the world?

Well to be fair, how many of us look like we did 30 years ago?
By the way, are you an Eve Arden fan? I thought she was great in
"The Mothers-in-Law".

surfpirate wrote:I remember when HOT WATER came out (1988). The clean shaven dude on the album cover bore no resemblance to the man I had been buying albums from since the mid-70s. That was also probably the last album I bought on vinyl.

Now watch this video and pay close attention to what happens at the 0:57 mark

Do you think it was ever real?

M
aybe a computer wiz out there can slap some hair and a mustache on current Jimmy and we'll see.

As far me, I don't think his singing voice has changed much. There are times when I hear a new song and think it sounds like Jimmy from thirty years ago.

I do have the Margaritavision video with all the music videos on it and there is a huge difference from the first three or four videos like Come Monday and Nautical Wheelers to the last one which is Lovely Cruise. This video came out in 2000. It has Homemade Music on it and that is the first one where I think he begins to look and sound like the Jimmy of today.

Re: my relationship to Eve Arden. No I am not a relative. But I am old enogh to remember when she played Our Miss Brooks on TV along with Richard Crenna. My last name is Brook with no S so the moniker seemed to fit.

There are times on the new album where Jimmy sounds a bit like Will Kimbrough when he is doing Will's songs. When he sings Life Short Call Now, he imitates Bruce Cockburn some. I like that Jimmy is able to subtly do that.

One reason I enjoy studio albums is that the voice is more controlled, but in producing Jimmy's albums, doing "funny things" with his VOICE is not enjoyable to me. I just don't get that. I guess it's Jimmy's way of aiming to make his studio albums sound MORE LIVE!

rmissbrooks, you must be having a ball! Everything JIMMY is new to you. I'm enjoying reading your observations.

For some reason, I was thinking Jimmy did the singing lessons around Fruitcakes time.

It's funny, but I have lightheartedly said to my wife that I wonder if the original Jimmy Buffett didn't quit the music business in the 80's and go underground and the studios got a look alike with no mustache. I used to work with a guy who looks like Jimmy Buffett should look now (add 30 years to the Buffett of A1A. 50's, bushy mustache, full head of shaggy blonde hair). I used to try to get him to admit to me that he was the original Jimmy Buffett, but he never would.

his voice changes depending on the style of music he is playing. the last album was a great example of that. an obviously it has changed with age. just listen to Feeding Frenzy and then put on Live at Fenway and you can hear the difference. personally, i think he sounds terrific on live in anguilla!!

Have you seen the video on CMT.com called "60 Minutes - Jimmy Buffett Uncut?" It is the combination of two interviews that Steve Kroft did with Jimmy plus additional material that did not get on the air. It runs about 55 minutes. In what is obviously the second of the two interviews Jimmy does mention that he took singing lessons "about 8 years ago" in order to help preserve his voice. From his appearance that 2nd interview had to have been sometime in this century which would put the lessons sometime in the 90's. The two interviews are several years apart and the change in his appearance is apparent.

FYI - I have trouble with this video. Sometimes I can get it to run and sometimes I can't.

But how very superficial of me to care about his appearance. I would still like his music and writings even if he looked liked Godzilla.

I'm about 90% sure he's had some work done, and that may account for some of it. If you look at old pictures in profile, he had a Gonzo nose. He either no longer gets photographed from that angle, or he had a nose job.

I don't notice the change in the nose, but I do see quite a bit of change in his mouth. I think he must have had work done on his teeth which changed the shape of his mouth. If you look at early videos he almost had an overbite and now his teeth are very straight. Not that there is any thing wrong with that.

rmissbrook wrote:Have you seen the video on CMT.com called "60 Minutes - Jimmy Buffett Uncut?" It is the combination of two interviews that Steve Kroft did with Jimmy plus additional material that did not get on the air. It runs about 55 minutes. In what is obviously the second of the two interviews Jimmy does mention that he took singing lessons "about 8 years ago" in order to help preserve his voice. From his appearance that 2nd interview had to have been sometime in this century which would put the lessons sometime in the 90's. The two interviews are several years apart and the change in his appearance is apparent.

FYI - I have trouble with this video. Sometimes I can get it to run and sometimes I can't.

That video can be found here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... +60&hl=en#

as well as here:
http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/jimmy_buff ... cial.jhtml