September 2, 2023. Last night I was up late after midnight as is normal these days. I had strategically planned to get up in time to watch my favorite Formula One qualifying of the year live from Monza, Italy to cheer for my favorite Ferrari F1 team as I have for decades. Sometime after daylight this morning my phone started making noise from text messages and other message notifications. My phone just was not stopping and I could not figure out what was going on as I was in a deep sleep dreaming. In fact I remember what I was dreaming about and I am not making this up. I was talking to a now thin Toby Keith and he was offering me a thing which even now makes no sense as only a dream can. It was a white package about the size of a short aluminum foil box full of things that looked like band aid packages. Toby was excitedly telling me about these amazing Adobe devices and how I should take a few. As I took a few in my hand I asked him if he ever got that photo gift I sent him of him and his wife taken in Key West when he played for the Jimmy Buffett fans when he played there FREE for the 25th anniversary show. He looked at me like he was trying to remember. (Insert disclaimer that he did play for free and help raise tens of thousands of dollars for charity. He also put on a hell of a show.) That is about all I remember about the dream as my phone kept making message notification noises as the clock ticked towards 9:00 AM. Even as I write this my phone is still getting texts from old friends near and far and honestly I just want to pour my thoughts out in a story and not talk to anyone. I do appreciate the fact my friends care about me and many are sending condolences and hugs via text. I have never claimed to be much of a writer but I can tell a story. Some of the best stories and experiences I have from my time on this planet are because of one person and his name is James William Buffett.
I am not going to write down many historical notes about Jimmy as the internet has that history trove and will for centuries to come. I really want to just think back about how I got to today where the room behind me is full of music memorabilia and a few things given to me by Jimmy and his friends over time. I am going to listen to “You Had to Be There” as I write this which is my favorite live album from JB.
Somewhere about the time I was maybe 15 years old I had already moved many times and the short story is I moved all over the southeast having moved about 13 times before I got out of high school in central Mississippi. I was a native North Carolinian having been born about two miles from the place I live in now when I am not out of town. While in high school at this tiny private school in a very tiny town called Madden, Mississippi about the only thing to do on a weekend night in the late 1970’s was to hang out at the general store and listen to music in our cars or watch the few years older guys play guitar. These guys were an influence on my music choices as I was heavily into Southern Rock and Blues. Most of that influence had come from my preteen years growing up in the delta town of Greenwood, Mississippi. Anyhow these guys were traveling to regional colleges and coming home on weekends at times. A few of of them were also going to Texas to haul cattle or flying to oil platforms out of Louisiana to work. They were bringing back all this music from those regions. I was listening and soaking it all up.
During this time I heard the music of Jerry Jeff Walker and learned the lyrics to “Redneck Mother” and his other hits. I heard about this “local guy” named Jimmy Buffett who had attended The University of Southern Mississippi actually while I lived in Petal, Mississippi in the late 1960’s as a kid. Petal is about 5 miles from USM in Hattiesburg. Soon I was listening to all the Jimmy Buffett music and added it to my listening roster which was quickly diversifying to anything from Blues to Bluegrass. I was a music nut starting by listening to a clock radio as a young kid tuning in “The King Biscuit Flour Hour” on Sunday nights and other rock music mostly. As I got a little older I moved to a “console stereo” which had a AM/FM tuner and turntable. At least there was some amp power and stereo speakers!
By the time I was 18 I was hearing about Greg “Fingers” Taylor who played with Jimmy Buffett on harmonica starting at the University of Southern Mississippi playing at places in Jackson. I was excited as Jimmy was starting to get popular in bars and seemingly overnight he was playing at colleges. I can recall the day I heard about the movie “FM” which featured one of my favorite bands “Steely Dan” doing the title track. I thought to myself “The Local Boy” has done good! I still have that movie poster and remember giving another “FM” poster to a charity benefit many years ago to help a military widow in a fund raiser led by a bunch of “Parrotheads.” So that was the time period when I first knew Jimmy was going places. By then he was playing with the Eagles and so many other top rock bands. Even then the bus driver for JB would keep buses parked in nearby Carthage at times… I recall my Mom telling me about hearing that song about a “flip flop” coming out of my speakers underneath my Allman Brothers “Beginnings” poster on my bedroom wall. Later in my life I would see Greg as I always called “Fingers” play solo and even on stage with Jimmy. I will say that he was one hell of harmonica player and there has never been anyone who sounds like that on harp. Ever. I saw him a lot over time and I am sure he led to some hearing loss on a night in 1997 in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Wild Magnolia as I was three feet from an amp that was cranked up way loud. That was a tour with ‘Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone. A few years later I would see him many times in Key West. What a harp player. Just go listen to “Tampico Trauma” which is very close to my favorite Buffett song if there is one. Guess who got to play that one on stage on acoustic guitar with most of the Coral Reefer Band? Yeah that was a dream come true. The only thing missing at that time was Fingers and Jimmy.
In the late 1970’s I was in Starkville, Mississippi at Mississippi State University for what I call a brief tour on my college resume. I had a 3rd class FCC broadcast license which was a low rank to allow you to do FM broadcasting on college radio. I remember playing some Buffett tunes as a part of FM rock radio. Jimmy Buffett was tearing up the college circuit all over the area and beyond. The popularity of these shows was amazing even then. I also got to see a young “local boy” now 10 time CMA Musician of the Year Mac McAnally open for John Prine in October 1978. I ended up on the front row for this show in 1978. As most know Mac went on to be Jimmy’s song-writing partner and right-hand man on stage on guitar. I smile as I think about all the times I talked to Mac over the years in from Key West to untold amounts of other towns and once even showed him the ticket from that show. The memories just flood my mind and make me smile as the tears keep falling today.
Fast forward to the 1980’s. As time and money allowed I was going to see Jimmy Buffett with friends. I recall a bad recession in those times and how I was really just getting started in life on my own. I was back in North Carolina by then and my friends circle there were listening to the music on weekend cookout nights. If we weren’t listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn or Robert Cray I would always bring some Jimmy Buffett cds for the boom box on the deck. We would go see Jimmy and the band play as he toured the area many times back to back shows at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have so many stories from those shows where we would have so much fun. This was well before people were dressing up for shows. We just showed up and had so much fun. I met so many people who became friends from all these shows.
In the 1990’s I started going to shows like there was no tomorrow. This was a time of more hard work and creativity for Jimmy Buffett and his band. The albums were coming fast with Jimmy’s new band and the tours were relentless. I had developed a network of friends who liked this music and had contacts all over the east coast. I could get tickets via Fed Ex from an Austin, Texas scalper. Yeah Ticketmaster is still crooked. I had one local “associate” as I will call him that “always” had tickets…not just a few I am talking a suitcase full of printed tickets to all the shows in the area. I would call him up and we would meet to do deals. I would just smile and pick the seat I wanted…always a cash deal. My friends benefited too… Most of the time I was doing 2-3 shows in a row when Jimmy would play Charlotte or Raleigh to huge crowds at outdoor pavilions. I can tell you that by the end of three nights the long days in the North Carolina Summer sun with all that beer flowing you would drag into work the next day. I was well known to burn significant vacation days to go to concerts of many kinds but Jimmy Buffett shows were marathons… This went on for years. The fun was just beginning.
My first Key West trip was in 1996. I knew I would be back. I fell in love with the place and the feel of being there. Before I leave thinking of the 1990’s I cannot forget to add that around 1993 the internet was taking off and there was a “thing” called the ” Buffett Listserv” where you could post things much like a modern Facebook except primitive text. This is where all people of the Jimmy Buffett fan group would get together and scheme about all kinds of adventures at the next show or talk about upcoming albums, etc. I met many people from all over the country on this tool. I could write a few pages on this topic but now is not the time. I get asked how many times I have seen Jimmy play live. I have many printed stubs from the decades which was a benefit of having a paper ticket. It is somewhere north of 125 times including 4 times in Key West. One at the San Carlos “Set List Show” which is a tiny venue on Duval Street.
Once at the Casa Marina on a tiny stage and I can’t remember the year! Maybe 2005? Once on Duval Street in 2011 when I was backstage and involved in the craziness making that happen.
Then again in 2015 when I got him into the Casa Marina to play with the entire band. That is a long story but there was nothing like standing on the hotel patio talking to him alone and then walking out on the stage to that huge crowd and introducing him. I turned around as he beamed at me from center stage, shook hands with him, and he said “Wow that was some introduction!” I thanked him and walked off the stage to clear the area. As I walked away I looked up and had a personal moment. I remember quietly screaming to myself “I did It.” All that work from a whole year and to give you an idea of the amount of time involved my right hand man Jim Dellocono who was the security director and I spent 40 hours planning the security with a volunteer crew, Jimmy’s security Charleston, and the Key West Police Department. Would I do it again? Yeah I would.
Remember the Y2K Jimmy Buffett show? No I was not there but I heard it live via the internet. Soon by 2003 I was getting more connected to various band members, old and new just from all the connections I had made. I traveled to Key West to the annual fan event for the Jimmy Buffett Fan Club called “PHiP’s Meeting of the Minds.” By this time I had a guest DJ show on Jimmy’s “Radiomagaritaville” which was streaming world-wide and had been started by long-time Florida DJ Steve Huntington and Jimmy. This was before satellite radio which would ultimately pick-up the channel as a staple. I finally met Steve in person in 2003 and since that time he is what I now call my “Brother from another Mother.” I went on to put together over 60 episodes of my “Down South Radio Hour” (downsouthradiohour.blogspot.com is the old companion web site still online) which were one hour shows I recorded in my small studio in my home in North Carolina. (Most were roughly 6 hours of work for one show) I would ship the cds of each show to Florida for broadcast and ended up having three plays a week as I was able to provide shows over time. I enjoyed those as I was able to interview guitar players and other musicians that had played with Jimmy over the years. I remember one trip to Asheville, North Carolina where I met Jerry Jeff Walker at the Orange Peel around lunch time to record a few radio spots for my show. What a treat that was! He was so laid back and nice. We even talked about his “Jerry Jeff Jazz” album which I still love. Later in Key West I would meet his wife Susan in 2006 at a big show on the beach there. At that point I was already becoming friends with many of the guys Jerry Jeff played with and Keith Sykes who was featured heavily on Jimmy’s “Volcano” record. Keith’s wife Jerene and I were standing in the rain in Key West under an umbrella setting up to sell cds with Susan on that night. There is nothing like a rain storm in Key West but if you don’t like the weather just wait five minutes. There were so many of those radio spots from the beach in Key West to the Little Feat Tour bus. Such great times.
My involvement with “PHiP’s Meeting of the Minds” kept growing as a pure volunteer each year. In 2006 I was on the small stage sound and even though I had experience and own lots of gear myself I learned that year that I do not want to be a sound guy and I truly respect their skill. That was a one-off for sure. The following years I started being the “band manager” or the “stage manager” or the guy who with others would go on airport runs to pick up the band members to get them 2-3 miles over to the hotel for performances. Since I knew all the players it was easy for me to help as help was needed. Of course the “real stage manager” was JL Jamison who has worked for Jimmy for decades as the guy on the stage who keeps everything together on tour and in the studio. There were several years where I hung out with Steve as in the early days the event could be streamed online through Radiomargaritiaville for up to 12 hours at a time. He used literally two phone lines hard-wired through the sand back to a hotel phone modem at first. Steve would talk during breaks and that is how I first knew I wanted to attend the event in the first place in the early 2000’s is by listening to him live.
After 2003 I never missed a year going to this fall event. By 2010 I was asked to be the second in charge of the event as “Assistant Director.” I struggled a bit with this decision as I was then working on the “A Team” at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. I was working on the main stage as a volunteer for 3-4 days a year in April and meeting everyone from the Doobie Brothers to Robert Plant. It was so cool to be that close to the legendary Doc Watson and even one of my high school favorites Steve Martin. By 2011 I was asked to be Director of Meeting of the Minds. This meant I had to give up my work at Merlefest as well as work almost full time all year as a volunteer. All this while working at my corporate day job in logistics and supply chain managements in an over-the-top stress job.
So I threw myself at it. I was Director of the event for almost 10 years. I won’t bore anyone with the details as that is a book in itself. What I can say is this. I had some great experiences. I was surrounded by a great team we collectively built. I learned a lot about life, people, and myself. Collectively the large group of volunteers that supported that event raised huge sums of money for the community non-profits. I am very proud of being a part of that effort but I will say if it were not for Jimmy Buffett and the love of his music none of that money would have been raised. I know many had great fun while a long list of people over the years worked hard, many on the only vacation they had for the year and at their expense. Enough of that.
During the pandemic months of Spring 2020 everyone was in lock down all over the country. Concerts had stopped and many people were simply “at home.” Jimmy Buffett was no exception. I got a call from inside his management group and I will leave the names out of this story as I am not sure that I should share many details. The thing I wanted to share was how Jimmy would take time to get involved with making things better, give to charities, and lead the way to help make the world a better place when he was not already working constantly on a book, songs, or a tour, not to mention all of the growing business things he had going on. I got asked by some people I know well through my years of work to get a list of fans from all over the country that were first responders. Jimmy wanted to do a zoom call with about 20 or so and talk a bit while playing a little music from his house. And so that happened in fact it happened about a six or so times over several weeks as I recall and people from all over the United States and Canada were on those calls if they fit the first responder Parrothead description. Each time Jimmy would invite people like Mac McAnally, Lukas Nelson, Mike Utley, and Will Kimbrough just to name a few. I thought it was a cool idea and I worked on this to help for those weeks and joined each zoom call although I always hid my video as did several others who watched. This just shows you how a famous rock star does take time to think of others. There are so many examples of this some of which I will never talk about but know about.
As I sit here just putting my thoughts to the screen I am thinking about Jimmy Buffett on the day he died. I cannot believe I am writing that. Maybe we all know the end will come but Jimmy was like a family member to me. Distant but family. He influenced my life and experiences in so many ways. Yeah I met him several times and had brief conversations directly with him. Even a brief meeting on the lawn in Raleigh as he got on a scissors lift with Fingers to play several songs at a show. I have met a lot of his family and friends. I have met so many who played music with him and spent many hours having great conversations about music, life, and travels in so many locations. I have had great times knowing and talking to all of these people. I hope I can catch up with all of them soon just to say hello.
Now Jimmy is in the history books and I grew to know his name would last as long or longer than one of his heroes Mark Twain. I will miss him. Yes I will. We all will.
Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.