# The amazing career of Jimmy Buffett



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Here is a guy that has been singing the same 10 songs for 30 years and you cannot get a ticket to his concerts. He charges $16.00 for a hamburger at his Margaritaville restaurants and gets away with it. What is his secret?


----------



## Bobby (May 27, 2010)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Here is a guy that has been singing the same 10 songs for 30 years and you cannot get a ticket to his concerts. He charges $16.00 for a hamburger at his Margaritaville restaurants and gets away with it. What is his secret?


i dont know,many people are ignorant and/or lazy culturally and intellectually?

i would say something bad about him like i did about "sir" MCartney. but then people would get upset and point out how many albums hes sold. which of course proves how great a musician he is,and how much integrity he has.

yeah....i went there,i just compared Paul MCartney to Jimmy Buffett......flame on.



Bobby


----------



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Here is a guy that has been singing the same 10 songs for 30 years and you cannot get a ticket to his concerts. He charges $16.00 for a hamburger at his Margaritaville restaurants and gets away with it. What is his secret?


That just about sums it up.


Whats his secret? IMO, cashing in on nostalgia and campy-ness. Its amazing how far some singers can take it (Neil Diamond and Tom Jones also come to mind, although their early careers -Neils especially may have been more noteworthy than Jimmy's).

BTW, I also ate at his restaurant in New Orleans. Very unremarkable and overpriced experience.


----------



## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

His music is cheesy shit, but he's kind of a funny guy. His books are fun reading and crazy bestsellers. His backup group "The Coral Reefer Band" sort of speaks for itself. I've never seen him, but I've heard his shows are liberally peppered with storytelling and humorous social commentary. Perhaps it's the sum of all these parts that the "Parrot Heads" love so much. 

Shawn


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Rugburn said:


> His music is cheesy shit, but he's kind of a funny guy. His books are fun reading and crazy bestsellers. His backup group "The Coral Reefer Band" sort of speaks for itself. I've never seen him, but I've heard his shows are liberally peppered with storytelling and humorous social commentary. Perhaps it's the sum of all these parts that the "Parrot Heads" love so much.
> 
> Shawn


Sort of like the Grateful Dead? I never seen the attraction to that garbage either, but they had that following. That is what Buffett has going for himself.


----------



## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

You can't knock him for making the most of what he has. If I could tour around the world singing the same ten songs, you _know_ I would. And give him credit, you get a different take on each of those songs every time he does them. As for the price of his hamburgers, no one is forcing anyone to buy them. 

(And yes, I will be playing and singing half a dozen of those songs around the campfire this summer - and _everyone_ will join in.)


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

bw66 said:


> You can't knock him for making the most of what he has. If I could tour around the world singing the same ten songs, you _know_ I would. And give him credit, you get a different take on each of those songs every time he does them. As for the price of his hamburgers, no one is forcing anyone to buy them.
> 
> (And yes, I will be playing and singing half a dozen of those songs around the campfire this summer - and _everyone_ will join in.)


I was not putting him down personally, I was asking what his secret was


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

What is the secret to Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and others who do not have great voices? There is something "unique" and different about them that appeals to people. I think Jimmy Buffet has some of that too. 

In regards to the $16.00 hamburger; when a hamburger is that expensive, you have to try it at least once because for that price you figure it has to be the best one you'll ever taste. Then when you get caught eating one of them and people start to mock you, many try to save face by telling others IT IS the best hamburger they've ever had. But that is only because they've never had the chance to sample one of mine.:wave:


----------



## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

Sometimes it's just about entertainment, or as Iris Dement said so beautifully, "forgettin' the bad stuff and just feelin' good"....and how far removed is a $16 burger from a $5 cup of coffee?


----------



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

FlipFlopFly said:


> What is the secret to Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and others who do not have great voices?


I'm going to veer kkjwpw now. The artists you mention above may all have less than ideal voices, but they ALL write amazing songs - that's where their audience comes from.

As for Buffet, the only song I know is Margaritaville, and it's definitely fun to play o a couple dozen of your drunkest friends, but it's no classic. So I think the OP's question stands - why the long-term popularity of Buffet. Is he really that much fun? Or is he a really good businessman?


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I personally think he fell into a gold mine. He was one of those that picked up a following for whatever reason and took full advantage of it. The whole lifestyle thing etc. Reminds me of something like the Rocky Horror Picture show where it has become much larger than it ever should have and has carried on over the years. His concerts are events, they are something to go to not necessarily to listen to. The books and the restaurants were savvy business moves to capatalize on the whole thing. I will give him that much. I dont think you can put Cash and those guys into the same category, they worked hard all their lives on it, Buffett has not had to write a song in 20 years and puts stuff like this out every 10 years or so

This album cover screams out "buy me you idiots, there is nothing new on here either"


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

mrmatt1972 said:


> I'm going to veer kkjwpw now. The artists you mention above may all have less than ideal voices, but they ALL write amazing songs - that's where their audience comes from.
> 
> As for Buffet, the only song I know is Margaritaville, and it's definitely fun to play o a couple dozen of your drunkest friends, but it's no classic. So I think the OP's question stands - why the long-term popularity of Buffet. Is he really that much fun? Or is he a really good businessman?


The answer is likely a lot of both or he has a good brain or two behind him.


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Truth be known .. he's selling the sailing escape dream. Most of his early songs are about getting on a boat and escaping society in some far away island with a beach ... a dream that lot's are still living or desiring... 

"Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late "


umm this is where I was last week...


----------



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Where is that, Shoretyus?
Stoney Lake?
Manitoulin?
The wonders of the Canadian Shield never ceases to amaze me.


----------



## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

OK, I'm about the biggest Buffett fan on this board (which is weird, because I normally don't like that schmaltzy, country kind of music), but I think it's just the whole 'life is fun' thing that he portrays. I love the way he writes about stupid tourists and the stupid ways they behave, just great observational songs that always put me in a good frame of mind (and isn't that kind of what music is for?). I wish I could write songs like his. The other weird thing is that even though I have eaten a few Cheeseburgers in Paradise (and they were okay...but not great, except for the big kosher pickle), I have NEVER been to one of his concerts [I think it's too cold for him to do a show here on the cold west coast of Canada (except for the time he played on the top of Grouse Mountain-go figger), which makes the shows I could GO TO way too expensive, BUT...SOMEDAY...]
-Mikey
P.S. That IS a beautiful pic, Shoretyus!


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Diablo said:


> Where is that, Shoretyus?
> Stoney Lake?
> Manitoulin?
> The wonders of the Canadian Shield never ceases to amaze me.


North of Britt on Georgian bay .....got stuck there for 2 days... oh the pain of it... no cheeseburgers though.. BBQ Pork Tenderloin...


----------

