The mayor of Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett has passed away at the age of 76 of unspecified causes.
While Jimmy had only one song reach the U.S. Top 10 (the aforementioned “Magaritaville”), he enjoyed considerable success with his long players, becoming a staple of album rock radio stations from the mid-seventies through the mid-eighties.
He also developed a substantial following of perpetual concert vagabonds, similar to the Grateful Dead, known as Parrotheads, who followed him from show to show. Most youngsters probably know him for the successful string of Magaritaville restaurants that now dot the landscape.
When we first moved to Florida (lo, those many years ago), we learned you could not consider yourself a true Floridian until you had seen Buffet perform live at least once.
We had that privilege a little over a year later when he was on the bill of one of the first, legendary "Rock Superbowls," held at Orlando's Citrus Bowl stadium. The previous act had been plagued by a typical summer thunderstorm (Hall & Oates, who nevertheless persevered, turning in a killer set of their own). But the rain stopped moments before Buffett took the stage. It remained sunny for his entire set. Once he left the stage, the rains returned. You may take that for whatever sort of omen you wish.
It sort of sad that "Margaritaville" overshadowed the rest of his output because he produced a great, substantial body of work. But then again, without "Magaritaville," would we even have Yacht Rock?
Do we even have to say that we will miss him and that his music will live on here at Boomtown America?
