Rock and Roll

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett has translated his easy-going Gulf Coast persona into more than just a successful recording career -- he has expanded into clothing, nightclubs, and literature. But the basis of the business empire that keeps him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers is his music.

Buffett was born on Christmas Day on the shores of the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi and later moved to Mobile, Alabama where he was raised. This is where he developed his early Cajun influences and appreciation for country/folk music. The Gulf Coast is also where Jimmy developed his love for the sea and sailing, largely due to the influences of his grandfather.

Jimmy attended Auburn University, and later received a B.S. in History from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969.

Jimmy's own words describe his early days:
"I got into music basically to meet girls, no doubt about it. Women have always been an influence on my music, good and bad. It looked like the greatest job in the world. I was in college at the time, a freshman at Auburn University. I was a shy, awkward kid from Mobile, kind of a wallflower. My roommate had a guitar, and even though he knew only three chords, he always seemed to be the center of attention with women. I said, 'Teach me those chords'."

So I learned the guitar and started hanging around folk clubs, watching the bands. They all had big shiny Martin guitars; I would've given my right arm for a Martin guitar. And the women -- all the time women -- were hanging around the band. I thought: this is the job for me"

Before he signed his first record contract in 1970, Jimmy worked as a writer for Billboard Magazine in Nashville, Tennessee.

He released one album for Barnaby Records, called "Down to Earth" in 1970, the single from which, a socially conscious song called, "The Christian," suggested he might be more at home protesting in Greenwich Village. Barnaby "lost" his second album, "High Cumberland Jubilee", though they would find it and release it after he became successful. Instead, he moved to Key West, FL, where he gradually evolved the beach bum character and tropical folk-rock style that would endear him to millions.

Jimmy tells the story:
"I was always a lover of the lyrical song, and I think the people who influenced me in those days typified my upbringing. I grew up in Mobile, and my relatives on my grandmother's side were a kind of Cajun, Indian, wild people from that area. My grandfather was a sailing-ship captain who migrated from Nova Scotia. So it was a gumbo type of musical experience. I'd listen to the radio from New Orleans -- Benny Spellman, Irma Thomas, and great old black New Orleans artists -- which is contrary to what most people think. They assume if you come from Alabama, you listen to country music. I didn't really like it much; all my early influences were out of New Orleans".

"I first started playing in folk clubs, and I drew on all this great Gulf Coast, New Orleans, black input. I was also listening to people like Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell, who were great writers above everything else. I wanted to write clever, good songs like those people".

"I was in Nashville in 1971. I'd been turned down by 26 record labels and couldn't get songs published. I had wrecked my first wife's car, and I had no alternative, I thought, but to look toward warmer climates. So I took an expired Diner's Club card, held my thumb over the expiration date, went to the TWA counter, and bought a ticket to Miami. I was supposed to have a job at a little coffee house called the Flip, the "in" place for folkies in south Florida then. At any rate, I got to Miami, and of course there was no job. I was in Florida, with no job, and I was broke. Fortunately my old friend Jerry Jeff Walker had a house there and took me in. So I lived in Coconut Grove for about 6 months and worked the folk circuit. I had always wanted to go to Key West. Watching Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart in Key Largo was the catalyst that sent me farther South. So we got into Jerry Jeff's '47 Packard and took the old overseas highway to Key West. We got there sometime in November; the temperature was about 85 degrees, there was a sailboat race going on, I found a bar, and the rest is history".

Signing to ABC-Dunhill Records, Buffett achieved notoriety but not much else with his second (released) album, White Sport Coat & a Pink Crustacean (1973), which featured a song called, "Why Don't We Get Drunk" ("... and screw?," goes the chorus).

Buffett revealed a more thoughtful side on "Living & Dying in 3/4 Time" (1974), with its song of marital separation "Come Monday", his first singles-chart entry.

"I was in Europe on a film documentary, shopping in a department store in London, when I heard Come Monday over the loudspeaker. I thought I'd better call home and see what was happening, and by that time it was #10 or so. I had to stay in Europe for three more months, yet everything had taken off in the U.S."

But it took the Top Ten song "Margaritaville" and the album in which it was featured, "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977), to capture Buffett's tropical worldview and, for a while, turn him into a Pop star. He would later admit that he wrote that million selling tune in about six minutes. The next release, the title track from the album, sounded so much like Margaritaville that it received little air-play and follow-ups got even less. Still, Buffett's beach bum image made fans flock to his concerts and he became a top draw.

By the start of the '80s, Buffett's yearly albums had stopped going gold, and he briefly tried the Country market again. But by the middle of the decade, it was his yearly summer tours that were filling his bank account, as a steadily growing core of Sun Belt fans he dubbed "Parrotheads" made his concerts into Mardi Gras-like affairs. Buffett launched his Margaritaville line of clothes and opened the first of his Margaritaville clubs in Key West. He also turned to fiction writing, landing on the book bestseller lists. He also found time for his passion of flying, purchasing his own sea-plane and taking off in an F-14 Tomcat from the deck of an air-craft carrier.

His recording career, meanwhile, languished, though a hits compilation called "Songs You Know By Heart", sold millions, a 1990 live album, "Feeding Frenzy", went gold, and a 1992 box-set retrospective, "Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads", became one of the bestselling box sets ever.

Buffett finally got around to making a new album in 1994, when "Fruitcakes" became one of his fastest-selling records, reaching platinum status. The title track received plenty of radio air-play and the LP entered Billboard's Top 200 album chart at number 5. It was followed in 1995 by "Barometer Soup", which entered the charts at number 6 and went gold (with some help from The Weather Channel even), and the number 4 platinum selling "Banana Wind" in 1996, from which he got airplay with a radio single of James Taylor's "Mexico". The following year, Buffett began working on a musical adaptation of Herman Wouk's novel Don't Stop the Carnival with the author himself. After Broadway producers expressed little interest, the production ran for six weeks in Miami during 1997. In spring of 1998, Buffett released "Don't Stop The Carnival", an album based on the book and the play. He began mulling over the idea of taking the play on the road (it went to Miami and the Bahamas). He also released another book - the number one selling A Pirate Looks At Fifty.

1999 brought more successful live shows and the release of two new albums, "Beach House On the Moon" and "Buffett Live - Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays", both of which went gold.

March of 2002 saw the release of "Far Side of the World", Buffett's first studio album for his new self-run label, Mailboat Records. In mid 2003 a double-album hits compilation "Meet Me In Margaritaville" was released and his 2003 Tiki Time Tour shows were recorded and released on Mailboat. Amidst the summer tour was a number one single with Alan Jackson on "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" - Buffett's first ever number one in music. The Tiki Time Tour ended in January of 2004 in Hawaii (the live album and DVD was released through Mailboat in the fall of 2004 and was released nation wide in the spring of 2005 with the same DVD from the two shows). In December, before the Hawaii shows, he recorded a new record in Key West with a group of country stars and various well respected musicians. Originally called Conchy Tonk , (and later changed to) "License To Chill" debuted at number one on the Billboard LP chart in mid-July of 2004 - Jimmy's first ever number one album. It spun off two Top Ten videos on CMT - the Hank Williams cover of "Hey Good Lookin'" and the Buffett / Martina McBride duet "Trip Around The Sun". Jimmy was even featured in Rolling Stone - the summer of 2004 was truly Buffett's summer. Part of the Chill tour was playing Fenway Park in Boston.

Just in time for Christmas of 2004, he released another book, a continuation of the travels of Tully Mars (from Tales From Margaritaville). A Salty Piece of Land did not get to number one but it did sell very well. Its first printing run included a song called "A Salty Piece Of Land" that was a leftover from the Conchy Tonk / License To Chill sessions.

A Salty Piece Of Land 2005 Summer Tour saw Jimmy playing in football stadiums (Pittsburgh) and another baseball stadium (Wrigley in Chicago for two nights) along with the usual ampitheatres.

In February, 2006, Buffett announced that he would take the summer off from touring. "I'm kinda taking it easy now," he said in a conversation with Radio Margaritaville DJ Miles Hampton. "It's the last summer with my kids before they go off to boarding school, so I'm gonna travel with them and work the spring and the fall. I don't want to do much right now." Buffett also put in time at his Shrimp Boat Studios in Key West, Florida, recording the follow-up to 2004's "License to Chill", called "Take The Weather With You", which was released in August of '06.

Jimmy Buffett remains one of the hottest concert draws ever, playing sold out shows to legions of "Parrot Heads" where ever he goes. His 2007 touring schedule was cut down to about 25 shows, in part because he is also the head of a massive empire that includes recording, distribution, publishing, merchandising and concerts, as well as his best selling novels, internet radio, movie and stage productions, two restaurant chains, a brewery and casino interests.

In the latter months of 1967, four shaggy wannabe's congregated in the Southern UK town of Luton, Bedfordshire. From the debris of the disillusioned and disintegrated John Evan Band and McGregor's Engine, the naïve, untutored talents of Ian Anderson, Mick Abrahams, Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker formed the original Jethro Tull line-up.

This early combo had many different names which usually changed every week in order to get re-booked in the clubs where they aspired to find fame and fortune. Their agent, who had studied history at college, came up with the name Jethro Tull (an eighteenth century English agricultural pioneer, who invented the seed drill).

As the group became tighter, they landed the job of house band at London's famous Marquee club and made their recording debut in March of 1968 with "Sunshine Day". This commercially minded single, erroneously credited to Jethro Toe, merely hinted at developments about to unfold.

By the spring of '68, they had built a following as the new face of the blues-based British underground music scene. Lines stretched around the block on a Thursday night when they performed at the Marquee. Ian Anderson would typically join the line as if to buy a ticket himself, wearing the shabby hand-me-down overcoat which was to become his trademark for the next few years. Often, he would be seen with a Woolworth's carrier bag containing flute , harmonicas, alarm clock and hot water bottle, in strange precursor role of the Aqualung/tramp persona. His exaggerated gestures, long, wiry hair, ragged coat and distinctive, one-legged stance cultivated a compulsive stage personality to the extent that, for many spectators, Jethro Tull was the name of this extroverted frontman and the other musicians merely his sidemen.

Following appearances in Hyde Park and at the Sunbury Jazz and Blues Festival in the summer of '68, the band gained wider public recognition with the release of their first album "This Was" which, while paying homage to the blues heritage which they all revered, hinted at the broader influences which were to become apparent in the post-Mick Abrahams times to follow.

After the personal and musical differences which marked the then acrimonious separation, Mick Abrahams left to form the briefly successful Blodwyn Pig. The remaining Tull members embarked, with the then unproven addition of replacement Martin Barre, on the recording of the landmark album "Stand Up" at the beginning of 1969.

Happily, the new record proved to be a great success, and lead the way to new opportunities in Europe and the USA. Ian Anderson's music writing came of age with this album and the influences of classical, jazz, folk and ethnic music forms made the eclectic result an early landmark for the band.

After achieving the position of Number one album in the UK charts, Tull, initially in the shadow of Led Zeppelin and others, began the explosive ascent to the lofty heights of U.S. stardom, culminating during the next three years in the cover stories of Time and Rolling Stone magazines, five nights at the Forum in Los Angeles and three nights at Madison Square Gardens, New York.

A few hit singles livened up the band's career, among them, "Living in the Past", written during the first U.S. tour early in 1969, to keep warm the reputation back home in the UK.

However, it was the albums as a whole which provided the strength for the developing Jethro Tull, containing as they did, not one, but usually several classic rock radio-friendly tracks to keep the band's profile high between concert tours and new releases.

"Benefit", "Aqualung", and the so-called concept albums "Thick As A Brick" and "A Passion Play" confirmed the progressive rock tag which complemented other terms like "Art-rock", "Blues-rock", "Folk-rock", and "Hard-rock", depending on the critics' personal views of the often-complex musical thought trains of flautist and singer, Ian Anderson.

Jeffrey Hammond replaced Glenn Cornick on bass, Barriemore Barlow took over the drum chair from Clive Bunker, and the addition of old school chum, John Evan on piano, made easier the transition from the blues band of '68 to the band of the mid-seventies who sounded like...well, just sounded like Jethro Tull.

The first rock act since the Beatles to perform at Shea Stadium, New York, Tull laid claim to the live concert throne in North America. Not without its share of critical abuse, Tull pushed on with difficult and sometimes controversial themes, often falling into a knowing self-parody and employing humour to lighten up the occasionally bombastic and overly serious subject matter.

With two number one albums in the USA and other world-wide chart and sales success behind them, the band began to remove itself from the more commercially-driven side of recording and touring. Through the latter 70's and into the 80's, they produced several records and tours which, although not replicating their earlier numerical successes, proved throughout the world the enduring artistic credibility of a band continually able to reinvent itself.

"Warchild", "Too Old to Rock and Roll: Too Young to Die", "Minstrel in the Gallery", "Songs from the Wood", and "Heavy Horses" saw the popularity of the band extend into parts of the world where rock music had not before been encouraged and the Tull legend from Buenos Aires to Budapest took root, eventually to be rewarded by the many tours in places where other acts feared, or simply did not care, to tread.

At various times, David Palmer, John Glascock, Dave Pegg, drummer Doane Perry, and more recently, Andrew Giddings on keyboards and bassist Jonathan Noyce, have brought their unique and valuable contributions to the line-up to join the ever-ready mainstay, guitarist Martin Barre who, like Anderson himself, provided the continuity and legacy of the earlier years.

The loyalty of the long-standing fans and the ongoing enlistment of new converts were to ensure the survival of Tull into the eighties and nineties with "Crest of a Knave" ('87) and "Roots to Branches" ('95) being highlights of those decades, together with the Ian Anderson solo flute album "Divinities" providing the first Billboard Magazine number one chart record since 1973.

With 60 million albums sold and over 2500 concerts played in 40 countries, the band continued to record and perform live, albeit on a lesser scale, using a nucleus of Anderson, Barre and Pegg. "Catfish Rising" in 1991, although a disappointing album, was a return to their blues roots. "Roots To Branches" was a return to the standard Tull progressive rock album, full of complicated time changes, and fiddly new age and Arabian intros and codas.

In his time away from the band, Ian Anderson also became a renowned entrepreneur, owning tracts of land on the west coast of Scotland and the highly successful Strathaird Salmon processing plant.

In 2004 and 2005, Jethro Tull were still touring all across the globe.

One of Britain's most consistently successful groups of the seventies and eighties began life as a glam rock unit in 1968, when Brian May and Tim Staffell, both students at Imperial College, decided they wanted to form a band. Brian placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Ginger Baker type" drummer, and a young medical student named Roger Taylor auditioned and got the job. They called the group "Smile". The band was signed to Mercury Records in 1969, and had their first experience in a recording studio in Trident Studios that year. Staffell had been at Ealing College of Art with Freddie Bulsara, and introduced him to the band.

When "Smile" decided to call it a day in 1970, Staffell went off to join a band called "Humpy Bong", (featuring former Bee Gees drummer Colin Petersen) and Freddie left his band "Wreckage" to join up with Brian and Roger. Freddie not only legally changed his name to "Mercury", he also changed the band's name to "Queen". John Deacon was asked to audition as their bass player (they had three temporary ones so far in their short history), and in February 1971, Deacon signed on as the fourth member of Queen.

The band rehearsed tirelessly and played several small gigs at Imperial College. Eventually, they were offered the chance to 'test' a new recording studio called "De Lane Lea". In return for trying out the new equipment, they could also make free demo tapes. The demos went well enough that they signed a recording contract and publishing and management agreements with Trident in 1972. They were paid a weekly salary of just £60, and were given time in the studio during off peak hours, to record.

Soon after the failed single, 'Keep Yourself Alive', they issued a self-titled album, which was an interesting fusion of 70s glam and late 60s heavy rock (it had been preceded by a Mercury 'solo' single, a cover of the Beach Boys' 'I Can Hear Music', credited to Larry Lurex). Queen toured extensively and recorded a second album, which fulfilled their early promise by reaching the UK Top 5. Soon afterwards, 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' gave them their first hit single (UK number 10), while "Sheer Heart Attack" consolidated their commercial standing by reaching number 2 in the UK album charts.

In January 1975, Queen left for the USA on their very first headlining tour. Quite a few shows on that tour had to be cancelled, as Freddie had developed a severe throat problem, but he soldiered on and performed as many as possible, although doctors had advised him against it. Also in January 1975, Queen engaged the services of a music business lawyer, Jim Beach, to negotiate them out of their Trident agreements, as Trident were no longer being as supportive and the band were unhappy with the situation.

As fan support grew, the concert scenes where reminiscent of Beatlemania in the sixties, as Queen's live act was embodied in the outrageous theatrics of the satin-clad Mercury, who was swiftly emerging as one of rock's most notable showmen. In May of '75, the single "Killer Queen" reached number five in the U.S. and number one in the U.K.

After touring the Far East, they entered the studio with their producer Roy Thomas Baker and completed the epic "Bohemian Rhapsody", in which Mercury succeeded in transforming a seven-minute single into a mini-opera. The track dominated the charts in the UK, remaining at number 1 for an astonishing nine weeks. The power of the single was reinforced by an elaborate video production, highly innovative for its period and later much copied by other acts.

The follow up album, "A Night At The Opera", was, at the time, one of the most expensive ever recorded, and when it was released in November 1975, it was a massive hit, and gave them their first platinum album. Freddie had designed a band logo for the "Queen" album, which was re-worked and used as the cover for "Night At The Opera". The now-famous 'crest' features the band's star signs - two fairies for Virgo, a crab for Cancer and two lions for the two Leos.

"A Day At The Races" continued the hit streak, while the catchy "Somebody To Love" and "We Are The Champions", both reached number 2 in the UK. Although Queen seemed in danger of being stereotyped as over-produced glam rockers, they successfully brought variety to their singles output with a '50s rock 'n' roll style single called "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and the disco-influenced "Another One Bites The Dust" (both, U.S. number 1 hits). Despite this stylistic diversity, each Queen single seemed destined to become an anthem, as evidenced by the continued use of many of their songs at U.S. sporting venues, especially "We Are The Champions". Meanwhile, "The Game" gave Queen their first U.S. number 1 album in July, 1980. The group's soundtrack for the movie 'Flash Gordon' was another success, but was cited by many critics as typical of their pretentious approach. By the close of 1981, Queen were back at number 1 in the UK for the first time since 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with 'Under Pressure' (a collaboration with David Bowie ).

After a flurry of solo ventures, the group returned in 1984 with the satirical 'Radio Gaga' (UK number 2), followed by 'I Want To Break Free'. A performance at 1985's Live Aid displayed the group at their very best.

Queen's record output lessened during the late 80s, as the members concentrated on other interests. The band released their sixteenth album on May 22nd 1989, entitled "The Miracle". It entered the UK chart at Number One and went on to become a massive worldwide success, reaching Number One in most European countries.

The space between releases did not affect the group's popularity, as was proven in 1991 when 'Innuendo' gave them their third UK number one, and the album of the same name also topped the UK charts. By this time they had become an institution. Faultless musicianship, held together by May's guitar virtuosity and the spectacular Mercury, made Queen one of the great theatrical rock acts.

On November 23rd, 1991, Freddie announced to the world that he had AIDS. The very next day, his fight was over, and he died peacefully at his home surrounded by friends and family. The music world was in shock. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him had been aware of just how close to the end he really was. Fans from all over the world sent flowers and cards, and many even travelled to London to be at Freddie's house. A quiet family cremation service was held three days after his death, conducted in the Zoroastrian faith that Freddie's parents followed so strictly.

'Bohemian Rhapsody' was immediately re-issued to raise money for AIDS research projects, and soared to the top of the British charts. The song also climbed to U.S. number 2 in March 1992, after being featured in the movie "Wayne's World" (it had originally reached number 9 in January 1976). A memorial concert for Mercury took place at London's Wembley Stadium on May 20 1992, featuring an array of stars including Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Guns N'Roses, George Michael, David Bowie and Annie Lennox.

Even though Freddie was gone, Queen never announced an official break-up, so it was with nervous anticipation that a new Queen album called "Made In Heaven", was issued in 1995. Freddie Mercury's vocals were recorded during his last year while at home in Switzerland, and the rest of the band then filled in the instruments. While Mercury must be applauded for the way he carried his illness with great dignity, it is fair to say that May, Taylor and Deacon performed wonders in crafting an album from slightly inferior material. The album carries a dedication to the 'immortal spirit of Freddie Mercury', in recognition of his request that the material be completed and be heard by the public.

While "Made In Heaven" will be the last original Queen album, there is no doubt that the future will see further projects from Roger, John and Brian. To date, Brian May's solo career has enjoyed the highest profile, while Roger Taylor went on to work with his band called The Cross.

In November, 2006, The Official UK Charts Company released a list of the 100 best-selling albums of all time in the UK. Topping the list was the 1981 release, "Queen's Greatest Hits".