Unfortunatley, I was not able to attend the Philadelphia Buffett show this past summer, this album makes up for it. It has all of his great classics as well as hard to find stuff such as Southern Cross and a live version of Love and Luck. I liked the vocal solos by Tina Gullickson and Nadirah Shakoor. Plus what can beat a lost verse of Margaritaville.
I became a Parrothead In Training halfway through the first side of this CD, which was my first real exposure to Jimmy Buffett, other than the overplayed "Margaritaville." Buffett's enthusiasm and joie de vivre radiate from this recording and just makes me want to laugh and dance. I loved the wackiness of "Fruitcakes." The audience participation just bubbles over and is delighfully apparent in "Pencil Thin Mustache." Unfortunately, Buffett's rendition of "Southern Cross" is a slurred effort and can't touch Crosby, Stills and Nash's version. This version of "Come Monday" is much more heart-felt and romantic than the canned radio version. The woman who accompanies Buffett in "Son of a Son of a Sailor" has a sweet voice that is evocative of tropical island breezes. "Fins" is clever, jazzy and just plain fun. Buffett's voice is like being in the company of an old friend and energizes you. I just adore this CD...BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!
I think there are some subtle differences in the classics (music arrangements) than in previous live recordings which makes them interesting. The lesser-known songs are done well and, it goes without saying that his covers of Southern Cross and Brown-Eyed Girl are excellent! Southern Cross has been getting quite a bit of air play around here since the release of the CD. Keep them coming Jimmy--you're not getting older, you're getting better!
I have been enjoying Jimmy Buffett music and concerts since 1977. I own every album he has released, and then some. I even took my eight-year-old daughter to a concert this year. Obviously, I won't give this album a bad review. If you are a huge fan or a Parrothead -- and I'm not sure what the distinction is -- you're going to buy this album.
That being said, I have to weigh in here with some disappointment. Live albums are usually a snapshot of where an artist is at a given point in time. They also may to pay homage to a distinguished past.
As far as the former point is concerned, "Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays" has only three songs that could be considered a representation of Buffett in the 1990s.
"Southern Cross" is older than "Margaritaville." In fact, it wasn't even written by Jimmy. But, it is a song he has been performing the past few years and it is the only officially released new song. "Love and Luck" was written and recorded by Jimmy in the mid-1980s, but wasn't released until 1992 as part of a boxed set. The only genuine song of the `90s in every sense is "Fruitcakes." These three songs are genuine highlights to be sure.
Too bad the list ended there though. There was nothing from "Barometer Soup"; nothing from "Banana Wind"; nothing from "Don't Stop the Carnival"; nothing from "Beach House on the Moon"; nothing from "Christmas Island"; and nothing from the "Margaritaville Café" compilations.
The concert I attended this past summer had five selections from the "Beach House" album alone.
Heck, there were no songs from "Off to See the Lizard", "Hot Water", "Floridays", "Last Mango in Paris", or "Riddles in the Sand" either. That takes the listener back to 1984 with no representation except the aforementioned two songs.
There are other highlights, however. "Tryin' to Reason with the Hurricane Season" and "One Particular Harbour" are two of my favorite songs. "Pencil Thin Mustache" was released live on "You Had to Be There." It was nice to hear a more updated live version of it. All of these are welcome additions.
There were three other songs making their first official in concert release. "Coconut Telegraph" is a fun song. "Brown Eyed Girl" is a Van Morrison standard that is also a Jimmy Buffett standard. "Tin Cup Chalice" is an oldie that harkens back to simpler times. These songs slice through different aspects as to what Jimmy Buffett and his fans were and are about. They deserve two fins up.
So where is the disappointment? Surely you don't expect me to slam the other six songs not mentioned, do you? Well, no. Of course not.
It's just that five of them were included on "Feeding Frenzy" and I would have preferred more representation of the more recent but ignored albums.
There are two other shortcomings I feel compelled to mention. First, the recording quality suffered this time around. "Come Monday" could have been a highlight if the slide guitar could have been heard more distinctly as it was on the original studio recording and as it was at the concert I attended. Consequently, the song represents the imperfect album perfectly. The "You Had To Be There" version was a cut-loose, no-holds-barred, without-a-net, warts-`n'-all recording while the "Feeding Frenzy" version is a polished Jimmy-at-his-best recording.
"Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays" falls into some muddled, undefined, and compromised position. That's too bad. Jimmy Buffett concerts are anything but that.
"Tu, Th, & Sa" also lacks in another aspect that makes Jimmy Buffett concerts worth the price of a scalper's new stereo system. That is the way Buffett engages the audience.
The cuts from this album are from all over the place. This is true on his earlier live releases to a degree, but in those two previous efforts the songs are blended together in such a way that the listener believes he or she was transported there seamlessly and they're still listening to one concert.
Not here. We're back in Florida; we're in Wisconsin; we're near Cape Cod; we're leaving the moon; we're headed to Margaritaville; we're in need of Dramamine. What? Did you say we're leaving the moon? Unless you attended a concert this past summer, that reference makes no sense -- there's no connection. And Jimmy Buffett concerts are all about him connecting to the audience.
If the album opened with a NASA-style countdown followed by "Lage Nom Ai" as the concert I attended had done, some of these deficiencies would be more than half eliminated. Instead, one gets the feeling they tailgated too long and staggered in on "Fruitcakes."
There is a glimpse of this concert opening during daughter Jane's backstage tour. The video portion is a highlight with the Coral Reefers doing a dressing room rendition of "Margaritaville" being the highest-light. (I would have liked to have heard that from start-to-finish.)
It was also nice to see Jane. It erased the memory of seeing a picture of her semi-scowl inside the "Jolly Mon" book. Now my daughter wants to go back into her glitter phase again. Oh, darn.
And one last thing. Placing the audio reminder for us computer literate folk that we have purchased an enhanced-CD at the end of the album would grow old real quick while listening in the car ... that is, if I were to play the album often ... which I won't.
It'll get the occasional play reserved typically for those silly bootlegs that accidently find their way into my possession.
That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
I thought Feeding Frenzy and You Had to be There were much better. Nearly half the songs on Tu, Th, Sat were on Frenzy anyway. And the "new" verse of Margarittaville has been on Be There since 1978. I would have expected at least 4 or 5 songs that were off the newer albums (Baram Soup, Banana Wind, etc). And maybe some that aren't on the other live discs (We are the People Our Parents Warned Us About, The Weather is Here, Who's the Blonde Stranger, etc). Those would be great to hear live. Also, what's the big deal about Southern Cross? He played that at all 4 concerts I've been to and it's not even a good song! Does Jimmy still owe Crosby, Stills, and Nash money from the 60's or something? Jimmy, here's the plan: release a live box set (if you don't think it will sell, call Bruce Springsteen and ask him how his did). One disk with all the stuff you HAVE to play (Cheeseburger, Margville, and so on). A second disk with the fun stuff you WANT to play. A third CD (unplugged) with the ballads - maybe recorded in some small bar somewhere or the Margarittaville Cafe. I am glad that Jimmy left Get Drunk and Screw of of this CD so I don't have to skip over it or explain it to the kids.
