Thoughts on Jimmy Buffett

Altar Boys

Yeah,  Jimmy Buffett was a childhood friend of my brother, Tony, and me. In the alter boy picture, I'm in the second row at the end right. I'm the one with his vestment top hanging off to one side. My brother is the first one in the third row left. Okay, you my say, where is Mr. Buffett? Jimmy is in the fourth row about dead center peeking around the guy in front of him.  He's sporting a flattop, which was the "Do" of the day.

Jimmy and his family lived just up the road from us. We all attended St. Ignatius Catholic School. Back then, if you were Catholic, it was mandatory that you attend a Catholic school. We all rode the bus to and from school together.  Jimmy, you know, has two younger sisters, Laura and Lucy. So my brother and I got to know Jimmy pretty well. We played baseball or went to the movies on weekends. During the summer, Jimmy's house was the place to hang out. Both his parents worked and they had a housekeeper to care for the two girls and Jimmy. So there was never a problem for us to show up at his house.

Jimmy had a prize possession of a 45 rpm record player. Plus, he had all the current records of the day: Elvis, the Everly Bros., Buddy Holly and, of course, "the one eyed, one horned,  flying purple people eater."  We spent many hours listening to those records.

The last time my brother and I saw Jimmy was in the summer of 1963. Our family was on vacation from California. So my brother and I were allowed to use the car to visit our  friends. When we arrived at Jimmy's house, his mom invited us in and told us Jimmy was getting dressed. Sitting across from us were Jimmy's two sisters. They both had become attractive young ladies.  They smiled and we smiled back and exchanged small talk while waiting for Jimmy.

When Jimmy came out of his room, he signalled us to come outside with him. He told us that he was headed to a motel to meet up with some buddies, that they had started a band. He showed us he had a bottle of rum that he was taking to the gig. He said that he had just gotten back from Key West, where he had been doing some scuba diving and how he had speared a giant sea bass that dragged him through the water. Jimmy said his air was running out and he had to cut it loose.

He invited us to come along, but we had to decline. We were driving our parent's car and had to be getting back. With that, we all said our goodbye's and Jimmy jumped into to his Ford Pinto. That was the last time we talked to Mr. Buffett.

The next time I heard about Jimmy, I was living in Southern California and driving down I-10.  A song came on the radio. Some guy was singing about come Monday and about the L.A. smog. I related to this right away. So I listened to the rest of the song. It sounded good. Then came the surprise of my life. The DJ said that it was sung by Jimmy Buffett. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Jimmy Buffett! Our Jimmy Buffett?

I took the first exit I could find and looked for a record store. When I found one, I went right to the counter and told the dude I had just heard a song on the radio and did he know who the singer was.  He confirmed his name was Jimmy Buffett and he thought he lived in Key West. That's when I knew it had to be Jimmy.

We'll talk more about Mr. Buffett later and I'll share my thoughts on how Jimmy became a superstar.