Jimmy Buffett A1A 1974

I know, Jimmy Buffett, really? These days Buffett runs his very own nostalgia empire, and he has done quite well for himself with tours, books, merchandising, recordings both studio and live, and Margaritaville properties. His net worth is estimated at 500 million. I was a fan for many years, and I still like some of his work. I bought most of his records from 1973-1985 (12 of them), and I own his 1992 four-CD box set Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads, which is pretty well curated with the hits and album tracks most anyone would ever need. At 76, he's still at it these days, and his records still chart pretty high. His good time beach bum message is still popular, and he teamed up with country stars for some of his relatively recent hits.

The record that got me hooked was his 1974 effort A1A. Named after Florida's eastern beach access road, it was the third of the four recordings in his Don Gant produced, Key West inspired era of early, fairly modest, success (All four are worth hearing even if imperfect). Two records later would come Changes In Latitude, Changes In Attitude 1977, produced by Norbert Putnam and including the hit Margaritaville, and from there Buffett's recording and touring career skyrocketed, especially his live tours. Who doesn't like a good party?

A1A isn't perfect, but it comes mighty close, and it is definitely his early highlight. The album opens with Makin' Music For Money, a cute country number that eschews capitalism back when Buffett could actually mean it. Door Number Three is a funny novelty song about Let's Make A Deal. Dallas is an upbeat country tune with a catchy chorus and pedal steel guitar break. Presents To Send You, Stories We Could Tell, and Life Is Just A Tire Swing all show off Buffett's way with a sentimental lyric and his penchant for the country/Caribbean sound he was perfecting. 

Side two is my favorite Jimmy Buffett experience. His classic A Pirate Looks At Forty opens the side, and it is a great tune about a life style that disappeared two hundred years before the singer wants to live it. It is a great song, and stayed in rotation at his live shows for many years. Migration is a quick jaunt of a country ode to the keys, with a melancholy, hook-filled chorus. Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season is the perfect beach bum treatise, and one of Buffett's classic Key West numbers, and yet another fine chorus. Nautical Wheelers is a country waltz that expresses his love of sailing as well as any of his songs that cover the topic. The album closes with Tin Cup Chalice, and if any song encapsulated a record perfectly, this is it. Images of the beach, the sky, the ocean, of "shrimp boats tied up to the piling", it's another great ballad from his pen.

Changes In Latitude, Changes In Attitude kicked off a series of pretty solid Buffett records, and there were at least two excellent songs on everything through Last Mango In Paris 1985. That's when I pretty much stopped listening, so I can't tell you about his last 14 or so records. Of the ones before 1986, I'd say the strongest records with the most good material would be Volcano 1979, Coconut Telegraph 1981, and One Particular Harbour 1983.