Yes yes..... Quick anecdote. I enrolled in Ornamental Horticulture program in my 3rd year at UF (1975). Finally figured out the career path I wanted to pursue! Well there were these girls in the program from HOMESTEAD. Homestead, as some may know, is known for the plethora of nursery operations and plant production. Major industry there! These girls were not only cute with great personalities.....they were smart - and in particular about horticulture. So I naturally gravitated toward them...lol. And....they were Parrot Heads before anyone knew what a Parrot Head was, not to mention the wonderful genius of Jimmy Buffet. And that is when I first became a fan. I still have those first 3 albums - my favs. - plus many others. And the memories...... Those last 2 years in the OH program were nothing short of amazing - because of my fellow classmates - and the music of JB!
Come Monday is the first Buffett song I heard on the radio. That summer I was working in Spartanburg South Carolina, and three days a week drove the 50 minutes up to Forest City North Carolina to work out. AM radio was playing that song quite often, and every time it came on I cranked up the radio with the windows rolled down and sang along. I loved that song and still do. After graduating UF, I took a job in the San Francisco area. A number of us at work were from the south and we all went to hear Buffett at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. For a couple hours we were transported back to Florida, and it was great. When I was leaving California to go to graduate school in Belgium, a coworker, who was also a Parrot Head, made me a cassette copy of every Buffett album up to that time. I sat down in a compartment on a train in Germany back then and two other guys came into the compartment. At exactly the same time we all three reached into our bags and pulled out a Walkman. I laughed and asked the other two guys what they were listening to. The Englishman was listening to Jethro Tull. The German was listening to ZZ Top, of all people. I was listening to Jimmy Buffett. Unfortunately, the other two had never heard of him.
Fun fact, Death of an Unpopular Poet is about who? Gamble Rogers Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach
"Come Monday," was released when I was 14 years old. Listening to it transports me back to when I was hanging with my friends on Mallory Pier (before it became a cruise ship destination.) It's always been a sentimental favorite of mine.
I saw him with Gamble Rogers at the old Jai Alai Fronton in Casselberry. He used to open for Gamble Rogers. Then Gamble opened for him after 'Attitudes' came out.
I don’t even know how many of his concerts I’ve been to. He would play Nissan pavilion every here, and most years a big group of us would go. Some friends would rent a party bus, and the tailgate would be long and eventful. For many years it might be the only time I saw some of this friends. Being the Florida guy, I tended to be the only one who knew the words to most songs. I remember before I got into his music, I was at a bar in Ft. Meyers, and some guy on guitar played Changes in latitude. I didn’t even know it was a Jimmy song at that point, but I remember thinking what a cool little tune it was. Point being, yeah Jimmy made a lot of his money and fame off of the beach bum tropical dream persona/dream, but the underlying music was really good. Better than he got credit for. Big loss for his fans, music, and fun generally.
I didn’t realize until just a few years ago how far back Jimmy and Jerry Jeff went. Jerry Jeff was also one of my favorites going back to UF days and his !Viva Terlingua! album.
Ditto for me. It has been Prine and Lucinda for a long while now but once upon a time - and today - I played Buffet around the clock. Saw him in concert when we both were young men. RIP
We have a great little dive bar at the beach here in wilmington. He popped 8n one night when a cover band was playing Buffett tunes. Before it was over there was a traffic jam coming out to the island lol, but none of those people got to see him as he was long gone by the time they got there. He literally walked up and said, "mind if I play a few songs?"... Band was speechless.
One of the first songs I sang to my daughter was "Come Monday" when she was about 3-4 years old. She would try to sing it back to me, but she could only remember the title line, so she would sing it over and over again. Then we finally caught it on the radio one day, and she turned to me and said, "He sounds just like you!" I just smiled.
I sang a different Jimmy Buffet song to my daughter. Constantly amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling The clever little glances she gives me can't help but be appealing She loves to ride into town with the top down Feel that warm breeze on her gentle skin She is my next of kin I see a little more of me everyday I catch a little more moustache turning gray Your mother is the only other woman for me Little Miss Magic, what you gonna be?
Summer of '74. I was 13 and on vacation in Florida for the first time ever when I first heard that song. Stayed in a house near Dunnellon where the Rainbow River ran right behind the house. Swimming and diving. The water was deep and cold. Went to Disneyworld, Silver Springs, and Rainbow Springs, where they still had those underwater boat rides. Had no idea I'd be coming back in a few years to spend the rest of my life in these parts.
