| Jimmy
Buffett, singer/songwriter has
translated his easygoing Gulf Coast
persona into more than just a successful
recording career -- he has expanded into
clothing, nightclubs, and literature.
But the basis of the business empire
that keeps him on the Fortune magazine
list of highest-earning entertainers is
his music.
Buffett moved to Nashville to try to
make it in country music in the late
'60s. Signed to Barnaby, he released one
album, Down to Earth (1970), from which
the socially conscious single "The
Christian?" suggested he might be more
at home protesting in Greenwich Village.
Instead, he moved to Key West, FL, where
he gradually evolved into the beach bum
character and tropical folk-rock style
that would endear him to millions.
Signing to ABC-Dunhill Record (later
absorbed by MCA), Buffett achieved
notoriety but not much else with his
second (released) album, White Sport
Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973), which
featured a song called "Why Don't We Get
Drunk". Buffett revealed a more
thoughtful side on Living and Dying in
3/4 Time (1974), with its song of
marital separation "Come Monday," his
first singles-chart entry. But it took
the Top Ten song "Margaritaville" and
the album in which it was featured,
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in
Attitudes (1977), to capture Buffett's
tropical world view and, for a while,
turn him into a pop star.
By the mid 1980's, it was his yearly
summer tours that were filling his bank
account, as a steadily growing core of
Sun Belt fans he dubbed "Parrotheads"
made his concerts into Mardi Gras-like
affairs. Buffett launched his
Margaritaville line of clothes and
opened the first of his Margaritaville
clubs in Key West. He also turned to
fiction writing, landing on the book
bestseller lists.
His recording hits compilation sold
millions; a 1990 live album, Feeding
Frenzy, went gold; and a 1992 box set
retrospective, Boats, Beaches, Bars, and
Ballads, became one of the best-selling
box sets ever. Buffett finally got
around to making a new album in 1994,
when Fruitcakes became one of his
fastest-selling records. It was followed
in 1995 by Barometer Soup and Banana
Wind in 1996. The following year,
Buffett began working on a musical
adaptation of Herman Wouk's novel Don't
Stop the Carnival with the author
himself. In spring of 1998,
Buffett released a collection of songs
from the production as he began mulling
over the idea of taking the play on the
road. In 1999 he released Beach House on
the Moon as well as Live:
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. |
