Classic Jimmy Buffett LPs To Be Remastered For Vinyl Reissues
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Some of Jimmy Buffett’s classic albums are being remastered and released on vinyl via UMe throughout summer 2024. Several titles will be released every month for a total of 10 albums that stretch over three decades. They include some of his beloved albums released in the 1990s making their vinyl debut and many of his ‘70s and ‘80s records returning to vinyl for the first time in more than four decades.
The first batch launches on June 7 with a trio of his foundation-establishing albums: Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (1973), One Particular Harbour (1983), and Fruitcakes (1994). Each are available for pre-order here.
Buffett’s fourth album, Living and Dying in 3/4 Time, marked Buffett’s debut in the charts, giving him his first Top 40 hit single, “Come Monday.” At the same time, its leadoff track, “Pencil Thin Mustache” is a legendary tune among Parrotheads. One Particular Harbour features some of his best-loved audience favorites, including “Stars on the Water” and the crowd-pleasing title track, among the songs he played the most at his concerts. 2024 represents the 30th anniversary of the platinum-certified Fruitcakes, the first Buffett album ever to break the Top Five in Billboard’s Top 200.
Arriving July 12 is the second trio of vinyl releases – A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973), Havana Daydreamin’ (1976), and Banana Wind (1996). Featuring the hit singles “Grapefruit – Juicy Fruit” and “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean helped introduce Buffett to a national audience. Havana Daydreamin’ became a real breakout album for him, reaching No. 65 on Billboard Top 200. Showcasing Buffett in his mid-’90s prime, Banana Wind debuted at No. 4 on the Top 200 and contains “Jamaica Mistaica,” a tune inspired by a real-life incident where Jamaican authorities mistakenly shot at his seaplane with Bono, his family and Chris Blackwell on board.
Celebrating Buffett’s hits, the four August 16 releases are Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Altitudes (1977), Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978), Volcano (1979), and Barometer Soup (1995). The transformative, platinum-certified Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Altitudes is his best-selling album with his signature smash “Margaritaville,” an anthem at the core of Buffett’s Caribbean and trop-rock ethos. Son of a Son of a Sailor, also certified platinum, boasts the timeless title track and the beloved classic “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200, the gold-certified Volcano holds the hit singles “Fins,” “Volcano” and “Survive.” The hit single “Mexico” highlights Barometer Soup, which scored Buffett yet another platinum album and reached No. 6 on the Top 200.
The revered purveyor of island escapism, tropical rock, or, as many have coined it, “Gulf and Western” music, Buffett served up his breezy, lyrical storytelling with coastal themes and sunny melodicism, blending rock, folk, calypso, and pop in a frothy cocktail that has rightfully placed him amongst the world’s best-selling musical artists.
Buffett, who sold over 40 million albums in his lifetime, passed away in September 2023 at age 76. He was a beloved troubadour who gave the world a beachy and sunny soundtrack to enjoy. “It’s pure escapism is all it is,” he once said. “I’m not the first one to do it, nor shall I probably be the last. But I think it’s really a part of the human condition that you’ve got to have some fun. You’ve got to get away from whatever you do to make a living or other parts of life that stress you out. I try to make it at least 50/50 fun to work and so far, it’s worked out.”
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3 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationAs a long time Jimmy Buffett fan I am really looking forward to these releases. However, it’s a shame that all of his classic albums from the 70s & 80s never got the remastered CD treatment. All of those CDs were the cheaper, MCA budget releases with no remastering, no bonus songs and no booklets. Over the years MCA did a great job remastering catalog releases from artists such as The Who & Steely Dan but they ignored Buffett’s catalog of great recordings. It’s great that these albums are being released again but it’s too bad we never got the remastered CDs.
Actually, those 1980s CDs actually are what the master tapes sound like and were digitally mastered by the late Glenn Meadows in Nashville during the 1980s.
If you’re looking for something a bit different, check out the “Rancho Deluxe” soundtrack, which was Jimmy Buffett songs written for the movie. I think that was one of the first movies I ever saw on cable TV in the 70s.
You can get the Ryko CD on eBay for about $25.