NOTE: This is the 3rd and final part of my ranking of Jimmy Buffett's Albums. Please read this first to understand how I'm ranking them and what I mean by the categories of songs (like Best, Favorites, Songs I Dig, or Take it or Leave It) that I refer to. You can view my discussion of his other albums here and here.
Banana Wind (#5) is the most recent album of the top ten. The title track is the only instrumental song on any of the nineteen albums listed. However, despite the lack of Buffett’s signature banter, it gets entered into the best Buffett songs sweepstakes. I listen to it and I imagine myself in a beach chair, cooler to my side, feet buried in the sand, the breeze of the gulf blowing the rim of my oversized beach hat while I lose myself in a book. The song, perhaps better than any other, communicates Buffett’s ability to help us escape the crazy world we live in. "False Echoes" is a moving tribute to his father who was nearing the end of his battle with Alzheimer’s. The song, among others on the album really shows Buffett’s maturity as a musician (yeah, maturity may seem like the wrong word for the guy). To round out the trifecta of truly great songs on the album, "Happily Ever After (Now and Then)" displays Buffett’s talent for augmenting a cliché with a new twist and a personal story. It’s probably my single favorite song on the album. Tunes like "School Boy Heart" and "Only Time Will Tell" also show that Buffett is fairly well beyond the party-til-you-drop persona but still able to remind us of the importance of living a full and fun life. He borrows from his novel Where Is Joe Merchant in telling the story of Desdamona and her rocket ship. The song, aptly titled "Desdamona’s Building her Rocket Ship" is a nonsensical story, but has some very cool music to go with it. "Holiday" and "Cultural Infidel" complete the songs I consider Favorites on this fine album. Both are fun songs that can only fit in the music genre that is Jimmy Buffett. The reason the album can’t be ranked higher is that the remaining songs don’t hold up to the test of time. "Mental Floss" is a cute song but when compared to the rest of the album it comes across as filler. The "Bob Robert’s Society Band" is a nice homage to the big band sound but really wouldn’t flow on any mix CD. Finally, "Overkill" is one of my least favorite Buffett songs and the interesting back story of "Jamaica Mistaica" (Buffett’s plane getting shot at by Jamaican authorities while taking Bono on a joy ride) can’t make up for the fact that the music gets old real quick. Still, that said, Banana Wind shows that Buffett managed to be putting out amazing songs nearly a quarter century after his first album.
Notable Verse (from Happily Ever After (Now and Then))
Take it from me 'cause I found
If you leave it then somebody else is bound
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure
When yours it could have been
At No. 4, we have Son of a Son of a Sailor. The only mediocre song on the album is "Fool Button" which is a typical Jimmy-on-a-bender song, but a not particularly good one. Then there is "The Last Line" which is a Song I Dig, but not a truly distinguished song. It’s got a slow country rhythm that is decent when it catches me in a mood. After that its all uphill from there. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" is fun song about, well, cheeseburgers and while I’m a big fan of chicken, I certainly think beef deserves its share of shout outs as well. My friend Tony and I have eaten a real Cheeseburger in Paradise at the original Margaritaville in Key West after getting hammered at the Econolodge Tiki bar. Good times. Good times. The album also has my single favorite foot-tapping country song in "Livingston Saturday Night". (Editor’s Note: yes, this last line was originally used to describe the album Living and Dying in ¾ Time, but I realized that album actually had "Livingston’s Gone to Texas", which is only a Song I Dig. I’ve been looking at a lot of Buffett song lists. Cut me some slack.) Then we have three songs that just missed getting included in the best Buffett songs breakdown. "Manana" (“please don’t say manana if you don’t mean it”) is a personal favorite. "Cowboy in the Jungle" was possibly my favorite Buffett song for a time, but over the years I’ve cooled on it just a bit. Finally, "Coast of Marseilles" is a wonderful ballad about a Buffett island excursion but I feel it lacks that extra something (of which I can’t describe naturally) that puts it in the best category. The album’s title song, "Son of a Son of a Sailor" is a classic Buffett tune which must be considered in any best of Buffett rundown as should "African Friend", which, like "Coast of Marseilles", describes a (fictional?) Buffett trip to a Caribbean island (this time to Haiti). It’s a lovely song that is one of his best. The album Son of a Son of a Sailor is quintessential Buffett, to say the least.
Notable Verse (from "Cowboy in the Jungle"):
Roll with the punches
Play all of his hunches
Made the best of whatever came his way
What he lacked in ambition
He made up with intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may.
Now we have probably the most contentious selection, Floridays (#3). I love this album. Always have. You’ll note in the comments of Part 2 that my friend and longtime Buffett fan Geb can’t believe I put it this high. Online, a lot of the old school Buffett fans point to this album as being where Buffett went off the rails and buried his classic country musical roots. As I noted before I like all the genres that Buffett covers and I really do like the island calypso beat that he goes for. Also, this album has a definite soft rock sound as well, but it really works here. There is not a bad song on it. "You’ll Never Work in Dis Business Again" is easily my least favorite, but I still kind of dig its beat. "First Look" and "No Plane on Sunday" have a great mellow vibe that hits me right when I listen to the album, but aren’t songs that I individually pick out to listen to. I really like "Meet Me in Memphis" which is more of a country pop song but incorporates some nice horns in the background. "Creola" is a totally groovy song. It’s rather long but is one of those songs that just gets you kind of moving your head to its mellow beat. It also has some of the best steel drum work of any of his songs. Another personal Fav is "If it All Falls Down" which has some of my favorite lyrics. "When the Coast is Clear" is kind of like "Coast of Marseilles" in that I really like this song but it lacks something that says “this is one of Buffett’s best songs.” The three songs off this album that are among his best are "Floridays", "I Love the Now" and "Nobody Speaks to the Captain No More". "I Love the Now" has a good poppy tune but it’s the optimism of its lyrics that gets me. Buffett’s music is, in many ways, like what the Simpson’s and Seinfeld are to our pop culture fabric. There is a line or a situation (regardless of the surrounding circumstances) that just fits in every person's life. “I Love the Now” is a great way to say “things are great.” "Floridays" is a song title that can only be described as a “Buffettism”. Describing “better days” as “floridays” is perfect for any Georgian who drives down to the Florida panhandle to recharge and this song conveys that perfectly, with a melody that is also inspiring. Finally, "Nobody Speaks to the Captain No More" is a song that perfectly hits the Buffett formula where a boat, a sailor, a musical instrument and an island setting are all mentioned. The difference is that it is one of Buffett’s few sad songs. Great lyrics and great ballad with a beautiful and heartbreaking story. This is the song that pushes this album up the list.
Notable Verse (from "If it All Falls Down")
Guidance counselor said
Your scores are anti-heroic
Computer recommends
Hard-drinking calypso poet
Studied life at sea
Studied life in bars
Never passed my S.A.T.'s
So I thought I'd study extra hard
Now we get to the big two. These should be fairly uncontroversial since most Buffett fans I know think highly of these two classics. White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, (#2) other than being a mouthful of an album title is classic Buffett. The album has a great country sound but also hints at his affinity for taking a different musical route. We really get to see his talent for using song as a vehicle for story telling. The only mediocre song on the disk is "I Have Found Me a Home". "Railroad Lady" which has boilerplate country lyrics is a Song I Dig, but one that when I see it I figure I’ll fast forward and then I start listening to it and I remember this song isn’t that bad. What’s left is all really really good. "The Great Filling Station Holdup" and "Peanut Butter Conspiracy" are his two best traditional country songs. They are funny, with rhymes that display a true talent for poetry and musical ability. "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" has a better tune than lyrics but it’s a favorite Song You know by Heart. "They Don’t Dance Like Carmen No More" is a song that you figure he wrote after talking to an old guy on a street corner during Mardi Gras. "Why Don’t We Get Drunk" (and you know what) is a crowd favorite and is really sung like a man with a golden heart is just a little too inebriated to beat around the bush. "My Lovely Lady" is the first of FOUR songs I’ll put into the discussion of Best Buffett song. It might be my favorite of Buffett’s country songs. It might be anyway. "Cuban Crime of Passion" is one of Buffett’s earliest forays into trying something different. He really incorporates a Cuban/Miami sound that just makes you tap your feet and wish you were good enough to do the mamba. "He Went To Paris" is another Buffett classic that most people have heard of and with good reason. It’s a beautiful song with a touching story. Finally, "Death of an Unpopular Poet" is Buffett’s longing for modern literary genius. What would happen if a guy died before his great poetry became a cultural phenomenon. Never mind the absurdity of straight poetry leaving a cultural mark in this day and age (outside postmodern literature departments), the story is interesting and sort of sad, but also a bit silly. The ballad is so beautiful though that the discussion of his dog Spooner living off the royalties never strikes you as nutty. Its Buffett at his best (or nearly his best, not to give to much away).
Notable Verse (From "He Went to Paris")
He went to Paris looking for answers
To questions that bothered him so
He was impressive, young and aggressive
Saving the world on his own.
But the warm Summer breezes
The French wines and cheeses
Put his ambition at bay
And Summers and Winters
Scattered like splinters
And four or five years slipped away.
And the #1 Best Buffet Album ever is A1A. Now it only has three songs that I put in the Best Buffett songs of all time category, one less than the #2 album mentioned above. But those three songs are so good and combined with the fact that this album has none that I would fast forward through and only one (Dallas) that I wouldn’t put on a mix CD, this album an easy choice for the top spot. "Making Music for Money" is the song that many will gripe with the content of considering Jimmy, over the last few years, has really jumped in with both feet on the commercialization of the Buffett “brand.” Still, it’s a patented Buffett is “everyman” song. "Door Number Three" is what we would now call a period piece. He’s referring to going on the “Let’s Make a Deal” game show, which I don’t think has been on TV with Monty Hall for something like 20 years. It’s a funny song, especially if you’ve seen the show. “Presents to Send You”, “Stories We Could Tell” and “Nautical Wheelers” as pleasing to the ear as any Buffett song, all with a great story to tell (pun intended). “Life is Just a Tire Swing” is another one of those classic “Buffettisms.” It describes Buffett’s journey from his humble beginnings to famous musician, and creates a great phrase to couch in conversation as well. "Tin Cup Chalice" is rounds out the “Favorites” off this album and this batch of Favorites, in the aggregate, are better than any of the other songs I have listed as Favorites on his other albums. Really, this whole album is just better than any other. Which brings us to the three “Best” songs. The song “Migration”, besides coining the title of his Caribbean Soul clothing line, has all the qualities of a great Buffett song. A great tune with lyrics that mention, in some form, the Jimmy staples: the sun, the beach/coast, an alcoholic beverage, his partying lifestyle, his care free perspective, and Buffett’s “how did I ever make it this far” introspection. I mean, don’t we all have a Caribbean Soul we can barely control, with that little bit of Texas hidden in our heart? It’s just an awesome song. "Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season" is kind of the title track of the album since it’s the only that refers to A1A, the stretch of highway that goes along Florida’s beaches (and in this case, I’m sure he’s referring to the section of A1A in Key West). This song is like the lyrical equivalent of "Banana Wind". It’s a song that totally transplants your senses to the coast on a stormy day. You completely imagine the storm that’s a brewin.’ You can feel the ocean wind on your face and imagine the sound of the crashing waves that hint at the nastiness that’s about to hit. Throw in the perception of Jimmy fighting a hangover yet catching an inspiration to write this song and you see that Buffett is really nothing more than the musical equivalent of a great painter. He sings about what he sees, but is able to adds a unique personal touch that makes it timeless. Then you have a "Pirate Looks at Forty". Its distinctive opening line of “Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call”, is like Buffett’s “Who Is John Galt”; an opening line that defines Buffett and his work. Similar to “Treat Her Like a Lady” it displays his incredible reverence for the sea. And he makes you sympathize with the criminal “lead character” of the song, and has you feeling sad for this anti-hero. This is a song that I think most longtime Buffett fans see as one of his signature songs, much more than "Margaritaville" I think (or rather, hope). Really, when I look at the totality of A1A, it’s really head and shoulders above the rest of Buffett’s excellent work. And one of these last three songs I mentioned is my favorite Buffett song, though I’m not gonna say which just yet. That’s for another post.
Notable Verse (from "Door Number Three")
I chose my apparel, wore a beer barrel
And they rolled me to the very first row
I held a big sign that said "Kiss me I'm a baker,
and Monty I sure need the dough!"
Then I grabbed that sucker by the throat
Until he called on me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three
That raps my ranking of Jimmy Buffett's best albums (which does exclude a few albums, as mentioned here). Comment early and often and hopefully it’ll rekindle your love of Jimmy Buffett as much as it did me. Were I a better organized weblogger, I would have done this over Christmas since that was his birthday. Alas, I’m a month late. Oh well, it’s no less fun to talk about, especially considering how friggin cold it is.
The Final Scorecard
| Rk |
Album |
Best |
Favs |
SID |
TIoLI |
| 5 |
Banana Wind (Margaritaville/MCA).....1996 PLATINUM |
3 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
| 4 |
Son Of a Son Of a Sailor (ABC).....1978 PLATINUM |
2 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
| 3 |
Floridays (MCA).....1986 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
|
| 2 |
A White Sport Coat & A Pink Crustacean (Dunhill).....1973 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
| 1 |
A1A (Dunhill).....1974 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
|
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