By Damon Poeter
Jimmy Buffett didn’t invent the margarita or the cheeseburger.
But the laid-back light country icon surely penned the most famous
tributes to those staples of life in the slow lane.
By Damon Poeter
Jimmy Buffett didn’t invent the margarita or the cheeseburger. But the laid-back light country icon surely penned the most famous tributes to those staples of life in the slow lane.
Now, nearly 30 years after the release of his last big hits – “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburgers in Paradise” – Buffett has the very first No. 1 album of his meandering, takin’-her-easy career.
Licensed to Chill, which debuted at No. 1 last month, marks the pinnacle of success for Buffett in his musical career.
What’s remarkable is that for a man known as a musician first and foremost, Buffett has scaled such heights before as an author, while also overseeing a string of successful businesses inspired by his 1970s hit records.
A few years ago, Buffett became just the sixth author to have No. 1 best sellers on the New York Times fiction and non-fiction lists, for “Where is Joe Merchant” (1992) and “A Pirate Looks at 50” (1998). He opened the first Margaritaville T-shirt store in his home of Key West, Florida in 1985 – today, Margaritaville Cafes (they still sell T-shirts) serve up slushy delights everywhere from Kingston, Jamaica to Cancun, Mexico. His Cheeseburgers in Paradise restaurants dot the Midwest, the most recent one opening in Omaha, Neb. on May 15.
And if Cheeseburgers in Omaha doesn’t quite seem to jibe with the original sentiment of the song, well, Buffett’s personal paradise is no longer confined to the Key West dives where he made his name.
These days he’s just as at home in the boardroom as that other Buffett with whom he’s sometimes confused, Warren.
While the warbling swashbuckler who had regular run-ins with Caribbean police over alleged drug smuggling may have been replaced in recent years by a corporate raider on the high seas of merchandising, devoted fans of the old Jimmy can take heart.
Licensed to Chill is a return to the mellow vibe Buffett defined in his Key West years. Like Carlos Santana, who rediscovered his groove with a little help from his friends on 1999’s Supernatural, Buffett has assembled a formidable lineup of contemporary country superstars for this mix of old and new.
The title track is classic Key West-era Jimmy, while “Conky Tonkin'” with Clint Black and a cover of Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin'” with a medley of top names are both classic country rendered with a lime-and-salt twist.
Buffett’s also back on the road with the Coral Reefer Band, whose very name calls into question the “alleged” disclaimer on those run-ins with the law in St. Barts and Jamaica.
And he’s playing real venues to promote the new album, rather than the cameos he’d been making at Margaritaville and Cheesburgers in Paradise openings for the past few years.
Perhaps most telling of all, Buffett recently added another sinful-but-legal pleasure to the burgers and cocktails with which he’s synonymous.
With two Krispy Kreme francishes in Palm Beach, can “Mmmm – Donuts” be long in joining “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburgers in Paradise” as a hit for Jimmy?
