STUCK IN THE VINYL AGAIN - JIMMY BUFFET - SOMEWHERE OVER CHINA

[maggot]

Good morning, mourning people and welcome back to the Sunday edition of Stuck In The Vinyl Again . Yesterday brought us all the sad news that Mississippi born singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman, Jimmy Buffet, had passed away at 76, after battling cancer. He is severely missed. He was born on Christmas Day 1946 to parents Mary Lorraine and James Delaney Buffett Jr, who worked for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In grade school he played the trombone and became interested in nautical life through his Grandfather who was a steamship captain. These experiences helped shape his brand of Tropical Rock. Over the course of his five decade career he released 29 studio albums, 9 compilation albums, 14 live albums, 8 specialty albums, and 67 singles. His 11th studio album, Somewhere Over China is turning on our table. The LP was released January 1982 on the MCA label and was the last of Buffet's records produced by Norbert Putnam. It peaked at #72 in Australia, #43 in Canada, and #31 on the Billboard 200 and saw the birth of two singles ; "It's Midnight And I'm Not Famous Yet" (#32 Mainstream Rock) and "Where's The Party" (did not chart). He passed away September 1, 2023.

Oddly enough this is his only album we have on vinyl and then we also have his 17th album, Off To See The Lizard on CD. My Beautiful Wife Lynn has seem him live in concert many times and has some memorabilia that we will outline here and in the pictures section. 

The first show she attended was on July 3, 1977 at the Rock Super Bowl II. She was there primarily for the Eagles' Hotel California tour, but also saw Jimmy on his Latitude/Attitude tour, Hall & Oates and Andrew Gold. The second show August 5, 1978 at the Rock Super Bowl V, which was the Cheeseburger In Paradise tour which also granted her the luck in seeing Steve Miller, Little River Band, South Paw, and Randy Meisner. Both of those shows were in Orlando. The next time was here at The Lakeland Center on October 22, 1979. She has the ticket stub as shown in pictures. The next two times were at the Ice Palace on February 21, 1997 and the Orlando Arena on February 24, 1997. Both of these shows were on the Banana Wind tour that she worked and was local crew. The crew passes and t-shirt are from those shows. I'm not sure which show the guitar pick originated from. 

In addition to the performances, she also met Jimmy and waited on him while working at Lake Alfred, Florida's oldest business and Polk County's oldest oyster bar, Gary’s Oyster Bar. These are some things she remembers from that time:

He drank unsweet tea (lots of sweetner) and she never saw him drink a beer. He liked to tells stories and when he did everyone would gather around and listen, enthralled. Afterwards he was all business. He was very good friends with the bar owner, Gary Gossett, who in a strange twist of fate, passed away the day before Jimmy, on August 31, 2023. He too, will be severely missed. So we purpose this post as a send of to both of them. May they rest in peace. 

"Where's the Party" (Jimmy Buffett, Steve Goodman, Bill LaBounty) – 3:37
"It's Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet" (Jimmy Buffett, Steve Goodman) – 3:49
"I Heard I Was in Town" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley) – 3:36
"Somewhere over China" (Jimmy Buffett) – 5:20

Side 2:

"When Salome Plays the Drum" (Jimmy Buffett) – 3:25
"Lip Service" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley) – 3:57
"If I Could Just Get It on Paper" (Jimmy Buffett) – 3:32
"Steamer" (John Scott Sherrill) – 4:06
"On a Slow Boat to China" (Frank Loesser) – 3:56

The Coral Reefer Band:

Jimmy Buffett – vocals, rhythm guitar
Michael Utley – piano, organ, synthesizer
Greg "Fingers" Taylor – harmonica
Harry Dailey – bass
Matt "Matty Dread" Betton – drums, timbales
Josh Leo – electric and acoustic guitar
Barry Chance – electric and acoustic guitar
M.L. Benoit – congas

Additional Reefers:

Farrell Morris – vibes and percussion
Norbert Putnam – upright bass and Casio
Doyle Grisham – pedal steel
Hank DeVito – pedal steel on "If I could Just Get it on Paper"
Deborah McColl – reeferette
Florence "Bambi" Warner – reeferette
Christian Bachellier – reeferette
David Loggins – reeferette
Freddy Fishstick – reeferette