Jimmy Buffett Album: “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean”

I just can't put it any better than Tom McGuane did in the liner notes to this album. Among other descriptions of the album, he states that "What Jimmy Buffett knows is that our personal musical history lies at the curious hinterland where Hank Williams and Xavier Cugat meet...."

Wow. There's no way I could come even close to something that erudite, and McGuane nails it about as good as anyone ever has in describing Buffett's music from those days over 30 years ago.

Hell, it hurts to even think about all that time gone by, but there it is. Still, this music holds up pretty well, even if it is somewhat dated. Especially so when you consider that Buffett, the starving, hard-partying singer/songwriter would become the megastar, businessman, author, salesman, pilot, diver, fisherman, jewel thief, surfer, master chef, lion tamer, environmental activist, palm reader, etc. etc. that he became. With all that going on, it's a wonder he's found the time to write any tunes at all...

What the hell, I digress.

The music on this album has a pretty strong country flavor, as Buffett had been trying to make it in that genre. Don Gant, the producer of the first four albums did a good job on this album and the musicians used were top-drawer Nashville studio people. It made a big difference, no question about it. Michael Utley and Fingers Taylor appeared on this album, and have been with him for the most part, ever since. On the early material, Taylor's harp and the steel guitar work of Doyle Gresham were very influential in defining his sound -- almost equal to Buffett's singing voice and lyrics.

The tunes are clever, occasionally poignant, interesting and in the case of "He Went to Paris," "Grapefruit Juicyfruit," and "Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw)," absolutely essential classic Buffett.

He really does find the spot fairly close to Hank Sr. and Cugat in tunes like "Cuban Crime of Passion," and "They Don't Dance like Carmen (Miranda) No More." "The Great Filling Station Holdup," is a silly uptempo country flavored tune about failure at crime among starving musicians, and the similar "Peanut Butter Conspiracy" is an autobiographical tome about petty larceny. Sounds to me like Buffett might've been low on cash in those early days, but it lent for some good material in any case.

All in all, this album is another essential early-years Buffett opus. You should own it as you should own all of his first six or seven major-label albums. After that, it gets to be something of a crapshoot, because they all started sounding the same, more or less. In general, the post-70s material is okay, but more formula than from the heart. You might even want to put down your hard earned money on some of it, but the early stuff is by far the best. He was doing great work, building his act, honing his songwriting ability and he wasn't yet the big shot. He had ambition, no question about it and he was smart. In the end, I think he decided to go for the gold first (subconsciously?) and the art would take care of itself -- as it always would -- and did.

Oh well, hell, in the beginning, he probably figured if he could sell a few records and get a steady gig, he could maybe even be able to buy a boat of some kind. Maybe travel some. Meet all kinds of women. Wow!

Five stars. The boy earned 'em.

If I had to pick one Buffett album to own, this would be it. I don't want to invite the wrath of the Parrotheads, but once Buffett found his comfortable persona, his songwriting grew a little more predictable. Success will do that to you. On this album, there's still a "making it up as I go along" feel and a huge variety of moods and attitudes. For me, standout cuts include "The Great Filling Station Holdup," about as funny and rueful a portrait of cognitively impaired criminality as you'll ever find ("we're wanted men, we'll strike again, but first let's have a beer!"), "He Went to Paris," a song of great feeling and compassion that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and "Cuban Crime of Passion," with its great lyrics and sardonic take on hispanic stereotypes.

And then there's "Why Don't We Get Drunk," about which nothing more needs to be said.

I know Buffett has occasionally commented negatively on the musical chops of the Coral Reefers of this era, but their loose, good time C&W seems absolutely perfect for the material to me.

Jimmy still wears some of his Nashville influences on White Sport Coat, but looking at his stoned gaze on the cover, you know he's ready to party. Only Jimmy could make petty theft (Peanut Butter Conspiracy) seem like a fun thing to do. His flirtation with Carribean sounds starts to show up here with Cuban Crime of Passion. This was the beginning of his "core albums" That also include A1A, Havana Daydreaming, and 3/4 Time. It's all right there on "I Have Found Me a Home" He certainly did.

This is arguably the first of three of Jimmy's best CD's. Why most people know Mr. Buffett for Margaritaville, Cheeseburger, etc., this CD probably has some of his best music, music that die hard fans and Jimmy himself have ranked among the best. Among those "best" are songs such as "He Went to Paris"; a tale of wanderlust, loss, and what I would call "a little sad island rejuvenation" with almost Hemingway, Islands In The Stream undertones.

Another great song on this CD is "Death of an Unpopular Poet" a song about a poet who seems to only achieve fame and recognition after his death. I believe the song is based after an actual poet Jimmy knew, but I am writing a review and not a novel so I'll leave that for inquisitive fans.

Also included are , " I Have Found Me a Home" a tribute to simple life in the islands/tropics as well as "Railroad Lady" a distinctively "country" sounding song that has been covered by the likes of Willie Nelson. There are several other great songs; classic Jimmy tunes like "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit", as well as "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw" to the not so well known, vintage tunes such as "Peanut Butter Conspiracy"; a song about the sometime "hard times" that are associated with a budding (or whatever you call it) Caribbean/Southern/Country/Rock and Roll musicians musical career. This is a must for any die hard Buffett fan, and a good CD for anyone that enjoys his music

Jimmy had made some 20+ albums but this one has always remained one of my favorites. It isn't over produced, the lyrics are understated and each song is distinct and can live on its own. This album more than any other reminds me of growing up on a Florida beach with too many goodtimes and not realizing when things were bad.