My wife is the "woman to blame" - she is the one that got me started listening to Buffett. We have many of his CDs, but there is nothing like hearing him live in concert. We have numerous other live CDs and DVDs. I have to say that this is the best live version due to the high audio quality. It truly sounds like you are there close to him on stage. The acoustics are the best sounding from all of his live releases. If you had to choose between any of the live versions, this would be it. The price is also great considering you get 2 CDs and a DVD. The songs he plays are oldies, but some are ones he hasn't played for a long time. Truly one of his best masterpieces!!!
I bought Jimmy's latest live the day it was released (11/6/07.) There really isn't much of anything that wasn't heard before (many times over.) It is a good cd. Buffett fans like myself will buy virtually anything he puts out simply because it's Buffett. The approximate 82 minute included dvd is worth the $23 I paid alone. Definately worth picking up, but don't look for anything spectacular on this disc. Fins up!!
Jimmy Buffett's
(2007) was recorded during an outdoor stage show at reggae singer Bankie Banx's beach bar, The Dune Preserve, in the British West Indies. Bankie also joins Jimmy and The Coral Reefer Band on stage to sing his own Still In Paradise (that's Bankie pictured on the album cover with Jimmy). The show was a benefit concert that assisted local charities and foundations.
is a 3-disc set (2 CDs, 1 DVD) that's packaged in a double clamshell jewel case and includes a colorful booklet. Combined, the two CDs offer 30 songs, and the sound quality is absolutely flawless. Crisp and clear, it's easy to imagine being right there in paradise enjoying this professionally casual performance.
Most of the songs feature sexy female backing vocals and a steel drum that gives the music a very nice Carribean flavor, but songs like Domino College, Fins and Cheeseburger In Paradise all rock with heavy drums and meaty electric and slide guitar solos. Mostly, this show is a laid back affair that's perfectly suited for rockers and Parrotheads who are kinda sorta grown up and well adjusted. Nobody's singing the blues here, that's for sure.
Jimmy is having a great time as usual, and his audience quite naturally adores him. Buffett is a sort of antithesis to the modern day rock star. He's a sailor, pilot, author and businessman, and many everyday adults find him much more accessible than an emotionally troubled head banger or a stage prancer wearing high heels and make up.
Heading up to San Francisco
For the Labor Day weekend show
I've got my hush-puppies on
I guess I never was meant for glitter rock n' roll
Those lines are from an early Jimmy Buffet hit, Come Monday, and there's a nice version of the song included here. Buffett cheerfully serves up most of the Parrothead anthems and biggies including Margaritaville, Changes In Latitudes Changes In Attitudes, A Pirate Looks At Forty, Volcano, Son Of A Son Of A Sailor and It's Five O'clock Somewhere. Other highlights are the fantastic versions of One Particular Harbor and Treat Her Like A Lady, Buffett's tribute to the ocean.
Some of us sailors call her home
She's big and she's strong and she's mighty
Some of us sailors call her our own
I guess that's the reason why I treat her like a lady
There are a few surprisingly good covers here, too. Jimmy had a hit single with Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl, and it's included, but he also performs pleasant versions of CSN's Southern Cross, The Beach Boys' In My Room, and Bob Marley's Waiting In Vain.
The 82-minute DVD includes an intimate session down on the beach with two acoustic guitars, a steel drum and a bongo drum in front of a small group of people. That morphs into the actual stage show, and it's all great footage that's very enjoyable. Shots of the audience having fun, boats in the water, Jimmy piloting a plane, and sweet young thangs in bikinis cut in and out of the concert scenes. Parrothead Heaven!
is essential for Parrotheads, and Jimmy Buffett fans will get a top quality updated live album with a DVD. There's nothing groundbreaking here, just summertime family fun and live music. The essence of Jimmy Buffett and the Parrothead phenomena is quite pleasantly experienced here, but this set probably won't instantly turn someone who's not a fan into a Parrothead. After a few margaritas maybe...
A confirmed Parrothead, I'll admit I delayed buying this one out of ignorance: I didn't realize there was a DVD included until I was in the supermarket the other day and it was playing on a big flat-screen television. I immediately ordered it from Amazon and watched the entire DVD start to finish the evening after it arrived in my mailbox.
I'm a sailor. I've bareboat chartered in the Caribbean. There's salt water in my veins. I'm from Florida. I'd give up a couple years of my life to be in Jimmy's skin for a couple months. I've read all his books. This compilation is a "must have" if you like well engineered CD's in a fantastic setting. Forget the old songs...they're all classics, just like Mr. Buffett. Enjoy them, the fantastic shots of water and boats, and the obvious joy of the people who had the great fortune of being able to attend this "festival"...."concert" is too stuffy a term for this. Jimmy in shorts, t-shirt, flip flops (which he gives away to two women in the crowd at the end of the event, one who can be clearly seen mouthing, "OH, MY GOD!!!", is at his best.
My favorite part is the clever transition from a song being sung on the beach to the stage performance. Get the DVD and you'll understand what I'm talking about.
Fins Up, My Friends
The two CDs are good with some songs not previously recorded live and some really nice versions of Buffet favorites. But what makes this a "must have" for parrotheads is the DVD, which is 80 minutes of the show in Anguilla. The DVD is extremely well produced - it's as close to the experience of the real show as you can get. The DVD starts out with an informal beach performance that ends with "One Particular Harbor" morphing into the on-stage concert. I wouldn't rate this as the best live Buffet CD, but the DVD makes it something special.
