Vaya con Dios Jimmy Buffett

I always liked Jimmy Buffett.

Admired is probably a better word. I admired how he built an empire worth an estimated $1 billion off the back of a song entitled Margaritaville that only hit number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. I admire how he parlayed that song into a life of fishing, boating, and beach travel. And I admire how he became a restaurateur, best-selling author, conservationist, boat designer, and all-around guy that I’m pretty damn envious of.

Jimmy was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi on Christmas day 1946 but was raised in Mobile, Alabama where his grandfather, James Delaney Buffett, was a captain on a steamship. Jimmy spent a great deal of time with his grandfather and through their time together developed a love of being on the sea.

Jimmy attended Auburn University and while there became enthralled with how one of his fraternity brothers became surrounded by girls every time he started playing guitar. Jimmy took up the instrument in hopes of replicating this scenario for himself and soon began playing anywhere he could. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969, Jimmy moved to New Orleans where he played in clubs on Bourbon Street. From there he moved on to Nashville to work as a journalist for Billboard Magazine and to try to make his way as a recorded artist. He released a few songs but didn’t develop his style as a true musical storyteller until he traveled to Key West, Florida with soon to be honorary Texan Jerry Jeff Walker in 1971.

In those days, Key West was not the happy go lucky tourists spot it is today. Rather it was considered the end of the Earth so far as the United States went. The island city was an outpost for modern day pirates, fishermen, smugglers, con men, those on the run from the law, and pretty much the dregs of society. Jimmy listened to the stories of these exiles to paradise and crafted songs based on what he heard.

It worked.

Sort of.

Although Jimmy never hit stratospheric fame so far as his recordings went, he did develop a rabid fanbase that followed his easy living, beach bum persona to almost avenue. By the time of his death on September 1, 2023, Jimmy’s Margaritaville brand graced restaurants, apparel, food and drink items, cruises, resorts and hotels, and I kid you not, senior living facilities. Jimmy also designed fishing and charter boats, wrote both adult and children’s books, and developed the Coral Reefer marijuana line. In his free time, Jimmy flew his many airplanes, fished, and enjoyed life on the beach and in the water. The later probably contributed to his developing a four-year battle with Merkel Cell Skin Cancer that led to his death at age 76.

As I stated before, I liked Jimmy Buffett. I enjoyed his music, reading his books, and reading of his travel and fishing exploits. But even more so, I admired how the artist turned his want of an easy lifestyle into a brand that afforded him a lifetime of just such. We should all be so fortunate.

Vaya con Dios Jimmy Buffett.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The first draft of what would become Margaritaville was entitled, Wasting Away Again in Austin, Texasville.

Always wear sunscreen! Every time you leave the house!

While I love the beach and beach lifestyle, I refuse to move into a Margaritaville branded senior living facility.

I’m a big fan of Jimmy Buffett’s beer, Land Shark.

Of his death, Jimmy Buffett’s website posted, “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

 Margaritaville is ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of Songs of the Century.

This piece first appeared in the Fredericksburg Standard.

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