The war in Iraq forges on. John Kerry headlines the Democratic National
Convention in Boston. Martha Stewart gets five months in prison. Stop the
presses…Jimmy Buffett has a #1 record!
That’s right. For the first time in his remarkably popular 30-plus year career,
the great Jimmy Buffett has landed his first Billboard #1. With an all-star
guest list, a veritable who’s who of CMT hit makers, and near perfect timing on
today’s country music scene, License to Chill will no doubt become
Buffett’s best-selling album to date. The collection of mostly cover tunes (just
three Buffett originals) is probably his best studio record since 1994’s
Fruitcakes.
To the casual ear, Jimmy Buffett hasn’t traditionally been categorized as
country music. But the truth is he began his impeccable career in 1970 on the
streets and in the honky tonks of Nashville. Over time, his signature sound
ventured from twang to calypso, he hocked his cowboy hat for a Hawaiian shirt
and flip-flops, and traded in that rusted pickup truck for a yacht in Key West.
The real reason Buffett never made it in Nashville is that Johnny Cash and David
Allan Coe were succeeding there with songs about murder and prison. Meanwhile,
Jimmy was building a grass (skirts) roots movement in middle America with songs
about boat drinks, pink crustaceans and his dog Spooner.
These days, however, everyone wants to be like their heroes. In country music
that means being like Jimmy! Alan Jackson hit pay dirt last year when he teamed
with Buffett on “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere,” his fun-loving ode to all day
drinking. It quickly became the breakout hit of the year for the genre. Kenny
Chesney is as big as it gets in country music right now and his videos and
concerts are blatant takes from Buffett’s playbook. So it makes sense that these
are two of many artists gathered here to issue Sir Jimmy his License to Chill.
Jackson shines on “Boats to Build,” a mellow island ballad that would fit on
either his or Buffett’s album. The groovy title track features Chesney’s
good-time-at-all-cost approach with corniness to spare (“Let the rat race run,
roll around in the sun until trouble turns funny”).
The ultimate tip of the ten-gallon hat comes on Hank Williams’ vintage “Hey Good
Lookin’,” the first single and video, where Chesney and AJ join in with Clint
Black, George Strait and Toby Keith for the mother of all collaborations. The
Team Buffett originals, however, hold their own and then some. Longtime pen pal
Mac McAnally scripted the lovely “Coast of Carolina,” one of the album’s
highlights. “Conky Tonkin’” (the original working title of this album) will be
an instant Buffett classic and should work wonders on the flock of Parrotheads
in the live venues this summer. But it’s the quirky “Coastal Confessions” that
best displays the sheer beauty of Jimmy Buffett. “It’s been 42 years since my
last confession. Well, Father, do you have the rest of the week?”
On the live album from 15 years ago, Feeding Frenzy, Buffett introduced “Come
Monday” by bragging that he’d never had a hit record, but didn’t need one so
long as he had fans like Parrotheads. “You’re reward enough!” he declared. Now
that everything has come full circle in his extensive career, and the timing
couldn’t be better with regard to what’s being manufactured in Nashville, the
emperor of the Parrothead nation might have to rethink his place in life. Or
not.
~Red Rocker
redrocker@bullz-eye.com
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