1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: story about escape, about drug trafficking, about God's own badass, 3 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: about dodging bullets with bono and dodging life's restrictions. This 4 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: is a story about an artist I used to despise 5 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: but now kind of love. And this is a story 6 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: about Jimmy Buffett. So yes, that means it's a story 7 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: about great music. Unlike that music I played for you 8 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 9 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called buford 10 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: Can't Fish MK Two. I played you that loop because 11 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: I can't afford the rights to Torn Between Two Lovers 12 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: by Mary McGregor. And why would I play you that 13 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: slice of you know, I've never actually heard the song 14 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: before cheese. Could I afford it? Because that was the 15 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: number one song in America on February fourteenth, nineteen seventy seven, 16 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 1: And that was the day a son of a son 17 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: of a sailor released a song called Margueriteville and changed 18 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: his life forever. On this episode, drug trafficking, a badass 19 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: so bad is still walking tall Bono, dodging bullets, music 20 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: History's Escape artist Jimmy Buffer. 21 00:01:38,920 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan in this, this Disgraceland. 22 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett was not at all what you think unless 23 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: you're ahead. I don't mean a Parrothead necessarily, but a 24 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: deep Buffet heead one who knows is pre Parrothead history. 25 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett was an all American badass. Jimmy Buffett swam 26 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: the Key West Flats with sharks. Jimmy Buffett once fought 27 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: off a bear with nothing but a loss salt shaker 28 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: and his wit. Jimmy Buffett wrestled with Hemingway's ghosts and won. 29 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett drank Tom mcguain under the table, saw more 30 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: lines of coke than Jim Harrison's one good eye. Jimmy 31 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: Buffett's early Nashville records proved that he was Merle Haggard. 32 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: No Johnny paycheck. Jimmy Buffett knows where Bumfardo is buried. Okay, 33 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,919 Speaker 1: I'm exaggerating, but not by much. Also, who's Bumfardo you ask? 34 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: We'll get to that. Jimmy Buffett, the Jimmy Buffett that 35 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: I thought I knew, the one pedaling not just songs, 36 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: but margarita's and cheeseburgers, and T shirts and beer and yes, 37 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: even lost shakers of salt. That dude's past is not 38 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: only fascinating, it directly explains how this super charming, legendarily mustachioed, 39 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: pretty ok seventy singer songwriter was able to create a 40 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: billion dollar empire out of escapism. Because before we made it, 41 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett had to escape himself. Key West aka Bone Island, 42 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: where Florida runs out of road, where the ocean laps 43 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: pink and blue scaffolding for smugglers nowhere left to run. 44 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: If you've made it this far, to the absolute end 45 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: of American Earth, they're likely not going to catch you. 46 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: You've escaped, Except that Jimmy Buffett wasn't running away from anything. Instead, 47 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: he was running towards something. He just didn't know it 48 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: at the time, nineteen seventy two, the smugglers were brazen. 49 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: This was Key West in the early seventies. It was 50 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: a brazen kind of town. And Jimmy Buffett watched drug 51 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: traffickers unload the dope straight off the boats onto the 52 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: shrimp ducks right there in the middle of the day. 53 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: It was so hot it felt like the sun had 54 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: a twin. Jimmy was a shrimper, he'd grown used to 55 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: the heat, but this was something else. He stood there, 56 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: twenty four years old, recently divorced, sweating bullets, long hair, 57 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: bushy mustache, cut off jeans, nothing else, contemplating the dope 58 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: on the dock. There was a lot of money in 59 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: those packages, more money than he was earning from shrimping, 60 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: and more than he was seeing pedaling songs over at 61 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: the chart room at night Z. Far more money than 62 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: he'd ever made in Nashville. The Giant's fist came through 63 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: the half open passenger side window, quick landing hard on 64 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 1: the side of Jimmy Buffet's publicis's face. Jimmy struggled drunkenly 65 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: to get the car started. The giant now had the 66 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: public's head cradled in his bear like paw and was pulling, 67 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: slamming the man's face into the window. Jimmy fumbled with 68 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: the ignition he was wasted. That was the problem. He 69 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: and the publicist from BBC Records, the label had signed 70 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: him on account of some natural recordings, were out celebrating. 71 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: They had just tied one on at Roger Miller's King 72 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: of the Road Motoring, and they stumbled out blotto. Then 73 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: Jimmy jumped up on top of a park Cadillac, this 74 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: giant of a man's Cadillac, apparently, But this wasn't any 75 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: ordinary giant. Jimmy would later learn that this was Beauford Pusser. 76 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: If Jimmy Buffett was, as he claimed in one of 77 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: his songs, God's own drunk, then Baufford Pusser was God's 78 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: own badass. As the former sheriff of McNairy County and Tennessee, 79 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: he'd survived two assassination attempts, He'd been shot stabbed too 80 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: many times to count. His wife got murdered in Old 81 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: Bufford here when at her killers were a determined vengeance 82 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: that was and still is the stuff of legend. Baufford 83 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,239 Speaker 1: Pusser was so bad ass they made one movie, two 84 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: sequels in a TV show after him Walking Tall. Hell, 85 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: they're still making movies about him with the rock. But 86 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: at this moment, Baufford Pusser was training his vengeance on 87 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett, and Jimmy Buffett thankfully got his car and 88 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: gear and escape. He escaped. Not just the violent clutches 89 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: of Beaufford Pusser, but the soul crush of Nashville. Jimmy 90 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: arrived in Music City after a short stint in New Orleans, 91 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: where he saw firsthand how to entertain people hell bent 92 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 1: on losing themselves in music. It was like that back 93 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: home in Mississippi too. It was like that all over, 94 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: he imagined. But Nashville, Nashville was tough. As a songwriter, 95 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: Jimmy didn't learn much aside from the fact that Nashville 96 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: didn't think he'd fit in. He was forced to pick 97 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: up work as a music journalist, penning notices for Billboard magazine, 98 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: and he did learn from his time at Billboard, not 99 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: necessarily how to write or report. Instead, he learned that 100 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: the music business is designed to steal from artists, and 101 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: that the music business is as craven as the smuggling 102 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,679 Speaker 1: business off the coast of Key West. Different commodities, different deves, 103 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: but crimes. Nonetheless, in the music business, the artists are 104 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: the commodity, and like shrimp off the coast of the Keys, 105 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: there is always more to harvest. So if Jimmy Buffett 106 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: as an artist was going to be treated as a commodity, 107 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: then he was at least going to control the commodity. 108 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: It was a valuable lesson, except the reality was harsh, 109 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: because there's no value in controlling something nobody wants to buy. 110 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: So Jimmy split Nashville, but not without a record contract, 111 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: and landed in Key West, where he quickly learned that 112 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: he was the only product in town. Here, songwriters were scarce, 113 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: but writers were not. After locking down a steady ish 114 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: gig at the Charthhouse, where he played for tips and 115 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: goodwill and well, let's face it, the sheer fun of it, 116 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: Jimmy quickly fell in with Key West's literary crowd, guys 117 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: like the celebrated author Tom mcguain, Jim Harrison, the future 118 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: author of Legends of the Fall, the novelists and poet 119 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: Richard Brodigan who'd been sought out by the Beatles sometime earlier, 120 00:08:57,559 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: and Carl Hyason, who would go on to write Stripped, 121 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: Bad Monkey and a host of other bestsellers. Aside from writing, 122 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: these guys endeavored to drink all the alcohol and do 123 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: all the drugs Key West could hold. They formed an 124 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: unofficial social club called Club Mandible, their mandate to inebriate 125 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: in Fornice and Jimmy Buffett fit right in time skipped 126 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: along hazily in Key West. Nineteen seventy two turned into 127 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, and Jimmy Buffett sang songs at night, 128 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: worked sometimes during the day, and he wrote when he 129 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 1: was inspired, making his way back and forth to Nashville 130 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: to record in her studios. His third album, seventy three 131 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: is A White Coat and a Pink Crustacean was more 132 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: island than country. It wasn't novelty, but it was novel 133 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: and as such hard for the record label to find 134 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: an audience for money was tight. Jimmy wondered what it 135 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: would be like a guy he knew who told him 136 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: he could make twice as much as he got paid 137 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: for his last record on just one run. Buying that 138 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: Boston Whaler would be no problem and he could just 139 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: escape drift, Forget it all the grind and the unending 140 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: pressure of proving to the world that you have something 141 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:24,959 Speaker 1: to say, something different, something worth hearing, and the mind 142 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: fuck of knowing that that same thing that makes you different, 143 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: so worthy of listening to, is the same thing that 144 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: makes it so hard for people to hear you. It 145 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: was enough to want to strip it all off, leave 146 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: it lying on the beach, step out onto that smuggler's boat, 147 00:10:41,800 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: and never pick up a guitar again. Jimmy Buffett was 148 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: lost at sea, literally stranded in a tiny dinghy that 149 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,199 Speaker 1: had been poorly nodded to a bigger boat, the boat 150 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: that the party had been on last night. Jimmy went 151 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: to sleep in the dinghy and woke up floating in 152 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by nothing but 153 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: water and horizon in every direction above. The sun baked 154 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: down upon him, and there was nowhere to go. Which 155 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: way was home? Which way spelled death? Jimmy didn't know. 156 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: Then from far off, Jimmy heard it the buzz of 157 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:53,679 Speaker 1: the cigarette boat's engine. Traffickers. Jimmy flagged them down, and 158 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 1: thankfully Jimmy knew them so incredibly they slowed when they 159 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: saw him, and, despite being in the middle of a run, 160 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: pointed Jimmy toward home. Jimmy had had a hell of 161 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: a run. In the four years since he arrived in 162 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: Key West. He released four full length albums, A White 163 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: Sports Code in a Pink Crustacean, Living and Dying in 164 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,680 Speaker 1: Three to four Times, a one a and Havana dreaming. 165 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 1: He'd scored the excellent documentary Tarpin, filmed in Key West. 166 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: It's about Key West Flats Tarpin fishermen, many of them 167 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,119 Speaker 1: as friends, and he provided the songs for the soundtrack 168 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: to a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges, Rancho Deluxe, 169 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 1: which was scripted by Jimmy's Key West buddy, the novelist 170 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: Tom mcguain. That six albums in four years plus touring, 171 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: if there was such a thing as island time, Jimmy 172 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: Buffett's version included hustle. It was that entrepreneurial instinct Jimmy 173 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: learned back in Nashville, and prior to that from his 174 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: family upbringing, being the son of a son of a sailor. 175 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: As he said, no one was coming to save his career. 176 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: It was just him and he was close. If he 177 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: wanted to escape the Nashville grind, if he wanted to 178 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,079 Speaker 1: escape the prospect of living a life in the straight 179 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: world with a nine to five, if he didn't want 180 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 1: to spend the rest of his days singing in bars 181 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: for tips, hustling one nighters on college campuses, or worse, 182 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: propped up against the beach bar yammering on about what 183 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: could have been. Then something needed to change. Jimmy Buffett 184 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: needed to turn his hustle into record buyers. Back in 185 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: Key West, everything was changing. Bumfardo was missing the local 186 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: fire chief, the one who somehow could afford a Cadillac 187 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: on a fireman's salary, a lime green Cadillac, a car 188 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: that he paired with his fire engine red suits and 189 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: his rose colored sunglasses. Florida's Governor, Reuben aske You had 190 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: had enough of lacks attitude on drug trafficking and put 191 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: together a drug squad operation Counch. When state narcotics agents 192 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: swept through town in the fall of nineteen seventy five, 193 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: no one was surprised when Bumfardo got popped, along with 194 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: nineteen others suspected drug dealers. Bum Fardo was convicted for 195 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: dealing coke and pot, but before his sentencing, he disappeared, vanished. 196 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: No one knew where he was. Some Key West residents 197 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: told themselves bum grabbed his go bag and split for 198 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: South America, but most believed something else. Bumfardo was shark 199 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: bait and gone. Maybe gone. Jimmy Buffett laughed it off, 200 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: wearing a wears Bumfardo shirt on stage until he was 201 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: pulled aside by a local in the know, and this 202 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: fellow quietly told Jimmy that if he himself didn't like 203 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: the idea of being chummed for bol Sharks, then he'd 204 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: be wise to never wear that shirt again. After Bum disappeared, 205 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: everything changed in Key West. With the drug dealers off 206 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: the docks, the city instituted a revitalization project in nineteen 207 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: seventy six, and downtown was cleaned up and a new 208 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: tourism marketing plan brought in college kids, gays, and even 209 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: vacationing families. There was now a strange air of overt 210 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: commercialism blanketing Jimmy Buffet's adopted hometown as he set out 211 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: to make his next record, Changes in Latitudes. Changes in 212 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: Attitudes was true to its title. Like Key West in 213 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, this record was about change. It was 214 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: Jimmy's first to fully feature the Coral Reefer Band, the 215 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: group that was once a fictional group of musicians Jimmy 216 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: had conjured up slowly grew into an actual touring band, 217 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: then a gaggle of musicians who accompanied Jimmy along with 218 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: other session players in Nashville and finally into a band 219 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: in the truest sense. On Changes, the album, unlike Jimmy's 220 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: previous long Players, wasn't recorded in Nashville. It was made 221 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: in Florida in Miami at Criteria four sixty one Ocean Boulevard, 222 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: where Eric Clapton had recently found greatness. On Changes, Jimmy 223 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: collaborated with producer Norbert Putnam, whose own genius stroke was 224 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: hearing Jimmy Buffett for who he was not just a 225 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: singer songwriter, not Jim Crochey or some flip flop Chris Christofferson. 226 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: He was something totally different. He was Jimmy Buffett, an 227 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: artist with a completely unique point of view on the world, 228 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: one that was heavily influenced by the end of the 229 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: world that he'd escaped to Key West. His lyrics reflected 230 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: that island escapism, so the album needed to sound like 231 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: island escapism. It needed to sound like Jimmy Buffett, which 232 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: is to say, it needed to sound like a dude 233 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: who just fell out of a hammock and hit his 234 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: head on a tequila bottle on his way down before 235 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: shaking it off, grabbing his easy one and rolling a spliff, 236 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: Norbert Putnam went to work throwing tropical sounding instrumentation all 237 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: over the recordings he Jimmy and the Coral Reefer Band 238 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: were putting down at Criteria congas, steel drums and overall 239 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:19,919 Speaker 1: laid back feel to everything. And then Jimmy brought in 240 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: a new song and nothing would ever be the same again. 241 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: Margaritaville is a fictional place we all know. The sun 242 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: never stops shining, and the whaler's music plays softly in 243 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,880 Speaker 1: the distance. Men and women, Married couples dance slowly, connected 244 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: in ways they haven't been in years. The beer is 245 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: ice cold and the cocktails are just sweet enough, and 246 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: nothing ever runs out. The food puts you taste buds 247 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: to work somehow. The cheeseburgers don't even make you fat. 248 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 1: The bartender is a poet and flirts just enough to 249 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: let you know you still got it going on, but 250 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: not enough to piss off your spouse. And there are 251 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: no hangovers, just bloody Mary's in a short walk to 252 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: the beach, where a rejuvenating dip and coral blue seawater awaits. Shoes, shirts, hell, 253 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:16,199 Speaker 1: even shorts are all optional. What isn't optional, however, is 254 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: a relaxation. You feel like your best self in Margaritaville. 255 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: No boss, no commute, no kids, no pressure, no problems. 256 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:33,640 Speaker 1: Except Margaritaville wasn't really this at all. Margaritaville was Jimmy Buffett, 257 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: mercilessly hungover after a gig in Texas, killing time in 258 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: a Mexican strip mall restaurant before a flight, trying to 259 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: drink away his headache with bottomless Margarita's while writing the 260 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,880 Speaker 1: lyrics to a new song of his called Wealth. Why 261 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: not Margaritaville. That's where the song sprang from. The escapism 262 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: you hear in the storytelling of that song's lyrics, the 263 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: half a fuck up culpability of the protagonists. Some people 264 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: say it's a woman to blame, but I know it's 265 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: my own damn fault. That's Jimmy Buffett's genius, pulling that 266 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: story so simple, yet so layered and so different from 267 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: its actual place of origin, and turning it into something else, 268 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: something so powerful. That was only part of Jimmy Buffett's superpower. 269 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: The other part was what Jimmy Buffett eventually did with 270 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: that song. Not only was it a hit, the signature 271 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 1: song off of changes Margueriteville rocketed him to a level 272 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: of fame that until then had eluded him. It was 273 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: the artistic spark that launched a commercial empire and the 274 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: level of escapism Jimmy Buffett never could have imagined. We'll 275 00:19:51,000 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: be right back after this. We're We're where. One hit song, Margeritaville, 276 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: changed Jimmy Buffett's life. Released in nineteen seventy seven on 277 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: his seventh album, the song charted higher than any of 278 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: Jimmy's previous singles. Margaritaville, despite its hungover origins, nailed not 279 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: only what Jimmy Buffett was all about, but what Jimmy 280 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,040 Speaker 1: Buffett had to offer a break and escape from the grind, 281 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: and it opened him up to a much larger audience. 282 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: Throughout the late seventies and early eighties, Jimmy shows began 283 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: to take on something akin to Grateful Dead concerts, but 284 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: without the darkness. Jimmy's fans weren't zonked out deadheads. They were, 285 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: as Jimmy's bassist at the time, the former Eagle, the 286 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: Great Timothy B. Schmidt, coined them, parrotheads. Parrotheads are a 287 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: very specific type of rock and roll fan. First of all, 288 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 1: they're Jimmy Buffett fans, the second they're shameless dorks, and 289 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: that in the best possible way. There's no shame in 290 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: wearing whatever you want in public, even if that means 291 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: a Hulu skirt and a gaudy Hawaiian shirt in the 292 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 1: middle of October. That's kind of the point. Jimmy Buffett 293 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: shows are all about escaping the confines that prevent you 294 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 1: from wearing whatever the hell you want and having fun 295 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 1: on a work night in the middle of October. There's 296 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: nothing wrong with that, despite the fact that every bit 297 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 1: of fashion sense I have has led me to rebel 298 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: against this tribe for as long as I can remember. 299 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: But now with age, unless punk rock piss and vinegar 300 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: coursing through my veins, I kind of admire it. It's 301 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: that hole so not cool. It's cool type of thing, 302 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: and in my mind, nothing is cooler than not caring 303 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: what other people think, which, in a weird way, is 304 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 1: what your pediatrician or accountant or lawyer were doing back 305 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: in the nineties and two thousands when they were going 306 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: to Jimmy Buffett concerts dressed like a coconut and drag 307 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: and of course the parrot Heeads leader himself, Jimmy Buffett 308 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: was also a shameless stork, despite his cool seventies must 309 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 1: dash and three inch in scene cut off jeans from 310 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 1: back in the day. Jimmy was and always had been 311 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: a shameless dork on stage. At least he was a 312 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: ham My sense is that's who he was off stage 313 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: as well, And again I mean that in the best way. 314 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: Ask my wife who the biggest dork in the houses 315 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,480 Speaker 1: and she'll tell you it's me. And it's because I'm 316 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 1: most comfortable at home for you to act and be 317 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: however I want around my loved ones who accept me 318 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,439 Speaker 1: for who I am. I believe Jimmy Buffett acted this 319 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: way too, except he did it on stage every night 320 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: in front of sixty thousand people, which means Jimmy Buffett 321 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 1: was totally authentic. And that tracks because it's the authentic 322 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 1: creators and artists who developed the most devoted fans, Just 323 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: as Jimmy Buffett did with his Parrot Heeads. They took 324 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: their cue from Jimmy not only in fashion and they 325 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,719 Speaker 1: exaggerated that whole Key West casual thing to the nth degree, 326 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: but also in attitude. They bought concert tickets and records 327 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 1: in T shirts, and when the money started flowing for 328 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: real in the mid eighties, Jimmy recalled those Nashville days 329 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: and the lesson he learned about control. He invested his 330 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: hard earned capital into himself first. Before even the success 331 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: of Margaritaville, Jimmy realized he was getting hosed on merch 332 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: sales by bootleggers, so he opened his own Beach Them 333 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: Merchandise T shirt shop in Key West in the late seventies. 334 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty five, he took a big swing and 335 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: expanded the T shirt shop into the Margeritaville store and cafe. 336 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: Now he was serving food and drinks to fans and tourists. 337 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty nine, Jimmy launched his own record label, 338 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: Margeriteville Records, as an imprint of MCA, seizing not only 339 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: creative control of his own music, but a bigger piece 340 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: of the pie as well. This would last for ten 341 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: years until in nineteen ninety nine, Jimmy started Mailboat Records 342 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: to release his music independently. Mail Boat went on to 343 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: release records by artist Jimmy l liked, Boz Skaggs, Sammy Hagard, 344 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: def Leppard Walter Becker in More. In the year two thousand, 345 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: Jimmy opened to Margaritaville restaurant in Casino in Las Vegas. 346 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: In two thousand and five, he launched Margaritaville Tequila. He 347 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: followed that with a hotel in Pensacola, Flora in twenty eleven, 348 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: and a resort in Orlando in twenty eighteen. And along 349 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,640 Speaker 1: the way he launched everything from the wildly successful land 350 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: Shark Lagger to beach chairs, flip flops, frozen foods in 351 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: CBD gummies. In nineteen ninety six, this billion dollar empire 352 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: in the making was doing more than keeping this son 353 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: of a son of a sailor afloat. That January, Jimmy 354 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,679 Speaker 1: was in the air piloting his new plane, nineteen fifty 355 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: four Grummin HU sixteen Albatross seaplane. His passengers were none 356 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 1: other than U two's Bono, Bono's wife and their two 357 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: young children, aged six and three. Jimmy was held ban 358 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: on landing in this particular area of Jamaica because he 359 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: knew of a little place with the perfect chicken, jerk 360 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: chicken that would blow Bono's mind. Jimmy brought the plane 361 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: down with ease, and the only problem was Jimmy didn't 362 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: have permission to land. As Bono and his wife and 363 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: children began to make their exit, that's when it happened. 364 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: Bullets started flying. Bono, his kids, his wife. They dove 365 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: back into the plane. One bullet cracked the plane's windshield, 366 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: six others peppered the rest of the plane. Jamaican authorities 367 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,439 Speaker 1: descended upon the plane, looking for answers. Who were these 368 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 1: drug traffickers and what made them think they could just 369 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,679 Speaker 1: land their plane unannounced at their small airport And there 370 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 1: were no drug traffickers, of course, Jimmy Buffett had sworn 371 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 1: off that career path years ago. There was only confusion. 372 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: Bono was pissed, he his wife, his children. Once things 373 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 1: were cleared up with authorities, they split from Miami, leaving 374 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett and his jerk chicken behind. How it all 375 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: got to this point was anyone's guess. A pissed off 376 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: pop star, violent Jamaican authorities firing bullets at his plane. 377 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,920 Speaker 1: There wasn't Jimmy's first escape from death's clutches. He'd survived 378 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: the plane crash in Nantucket a couple of years prior. 379 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: But where was all this going? And what was the point? 380 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: More money for more toys, more business endeavors, more adventure, 381 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 1: where's the fund? And escape if it ends up killing it? 382 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett needed his own change in latitude and attitude. 383 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,400 Speaker 1: Throughout the nineteen eighties and nineties, Jimmy Buffett steadily built 384 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: a commercial empire that was on the verge of eclipsing 385 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: his success as a musician. Not that he wasn't a 386 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: success musically. He most certainly was. He sold records, he 387 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,360 Speaker 1: packed stadiums with fans, but he wasn't atop the zeitgeist, 388 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: and he never really was sure. Margaritaville was a smash, 389 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: but by the early two thousands that was decades in 390 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: the rear view. And yes, Jimmy had his name and 391 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: face on all manner of merchandise, but that was all 392 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 1: fans service. Weird as it seems, even with all the success, 393 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett in two thousand and three was kind of 394 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: a niche product. You know, it wasn't a niche product. 395 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: In two thousand and three country music, the genre was 396 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: doing hundreds of millions in concert tickets, in record sales, 397 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: and resurging with youth and American culture beyond the Bible Belt, 398 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: country radio stations were enjoying more success than they ever 399 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: had in non traditional markets. Alan Jackson was one of 400 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: country's biggest stars, so when he asked the question in 401 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: his smash single It's five o'clock Somewhere of what would 402 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,159 Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett do, country music fans everywhere wanted to know 403 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: the answer. That drink they were planning on right after 404 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,160 Speaker 1: work depended on it, God damn it, and Jimmy Buffett 405 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,160 Speaker 1: didn't disappoint. He answered Alan Jackson in an impartial duet 406 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 1: on the hit single, singing with his trademark term and 407 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: Island Ease, and he was instantly introduced to an entire 408 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: new generation of fans. The song was a smash hit. 409 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: It spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard 410 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: Country Charts. At Jimmy's name and voice, who were suddenly 411 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: within earshot of anyone in a parking lot before a 412 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: sporting event, or at a beach, or at a bar 413 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: on a Friday afternoon, getting out of work and in 414 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: rush hour traffic with a radio on, trying to escape 415 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: the confines of their adult lives, and the song helped 416 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: Jimmy escape once again. It helped him level up from 417 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: being the flip flop adventurer with a devoted but niche 418 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: fan base to national treasure status, a sort of half stone, 419 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: half loaded poet, laureate country star for partiers everywhere, the 420 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: guy from that song. No, not that one, the other one. 421 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: That one, No, the other one. Jimmy was no longer 422 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: the Margueriteville guy. He was Jimmy Buffett. And with this 423 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: new level of success, his business is soared, so much 424 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: so that he became friends with another Buffett, the billionaire 425 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: investor in philanthropists, Warren Buffett. I'm not sure what that 426 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: means or why I think it's important to tell you that. 427 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: Maybe because it underscores the fact that Jimmy Buffett was 428 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: so much more than one thing, and that's a hard 429 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: legacy to leave. There's an old interview with Jimmy's friend 430 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: and brother in law, the writer Tom mcguain. He's not 431 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: talking about Jimmy, but he's being interviewed about Key West, 432 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 1: and he quotes French poet Stefan Malarme in part by paraphrasing, 433 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,959 Speaker 1: at a point, an artist dies, whatever his life was, 434 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: whatever his work was becomes one thing. That's heavy because 435 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: it means that being an artist is a curse of sorts. 436 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: I don't know one artist, and I count myself among 437 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: them who was just one thing. Jimmy Buffett's life and 438 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: his work were about escaping the restrictions of being one thing. First, 439 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: it was about escaping the limitations of being a Nashville artist, 440 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: then a trafficker, or just another happy go lucky saloon 441 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: singer in Keith West, or just a niche artist. Jimmy 442 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: Buffett fought his way out of those traps with his music, 443 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: and he inspired millions in the process. But Jimmy Buffett was, 444 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: of course, more than just one thing. He was a musician, 445 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: a fisherman, a sailor, a joker, God's own drunk, a bandleader, 446 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: a businessman, a father, husband, brother, and an entertainer who 447 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: gave millions of fans an offering from their stressful lives, 448 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 1: even if it was just for one night in October 449 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: and not on the shores of Key West as he 450 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: experienced it. He played music until the end, even staging 451 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,239 Speaker 1: his last performance on an island soa Rhode Island, and 452 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: then spending his last moments in twenty twenty three, before 453 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 1: the cancer took him at age seventy six, surrounded by family, 454 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: smiling and laughing, and then leaving it all on the 455 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: beach and sailing away. I'm Jake Brennan and this is 456 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: disgrace Land. All right. Thanks for checking out this episode 457 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: of Disgraceland. Apple podcast listeners, make sure you have auto 458 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: downloads turned on. Listen. Question of the week. Which artists 459 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: did you at one point in time despise and now 460 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: find yourself kind of digging a lot? Jimmy Buffett is 461 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,239 Speaker 1: that artist for me? All right? Let me know six 462 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: one seven nine o six six six three eight voicemail 463 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: and text to let me know which artist you didn't 464 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 1: like before but now kind of can't get enough of. 465 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: Six one seven nine o six six six three eight voicemail. Text. 466 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: You might hear your answer on the after party bonus 467 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: episode coming up right after this. Hit me up on 468 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: the socials at Disgracelampoddisgrace Lampod at gmail dot com to 469 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: email me all right, I getta go here comes from Credits. 470 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 471 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis Credits for this episode can be 472 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 473 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 474 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 475 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 476 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com Slash Membership. Members can listen 477 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: to every episode of Disgraceland as free. Plus you'll get 478 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, 479 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 1: special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. 480 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:15,360 Speaker 1: Visit disgraceslampod dot com slash membership for details, rate and 481 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 482 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot 483 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: com slash at disgracelampod Rock Arolla. He's a bad don Man.