Jimmy Buffet

Songs From St. Somewhere

Mailboat Records,  2013

Jimmy Buffet’s legendary back catalog can be his worst enemy.  In the years following his best pop radio moments when a new CD was released, fans, casual and bona fide parrot heads alike needed to brace themselves for what potential audio disaster lay in wait. Record companies with their eyes firmly set on the bottom line, wanted and expected another Son of a Volcanic Cheeseburger in Margaritaville, and alas, it never came.  This didn’t stop him from trying though.

Songs From St. Somewhere  is a mostly flattering album that reflects two well worn, yet incredibly likable aspect of Buffet’s salt kissed persona,  The aging beach bum/sailor/surfer, and the Mark Twain inspired storyteller.

“Some Kind of Boat” starts off the disc softly enough, a laconic reflection on life’s simpler joys.  Followed up by “Einstein was a Surfer,” a wry musing on the Austrian physicist’s secret life in the surf. “Einstein was a surfer/Who found the perfect break/Where the string of time meets the final chime/It’s the path all surfers take.”

There is one song so awful is seems bound for what passes as country music radio these days.  His duet with Toby Keith, “Too Drunk To Karaoke.”  If the title makes you wince, well, it should.  It is however, probably headed for heavy rotation.

“Useless but Important Information” and “I’m No Russian,” feel like updated versions of the “Great Filling Station Hold-Up.”  The latter could stand to be a minute shorter as the joke wears down rather fast.“Serpentine,” “ Soulfully,” and “Rue de la Guitare,”  are stand out tracks, which bear repeated listening, and it seems as though Buffet has started listening to his muse,  instead of a suit as to what constitutes a good song.

“Rocket that Grandpa Rode” is a wonderful nod to the space center and the Astronauts.  And “Oldest Surfer on the Beach” once again catches Buffet reflecting on the importance of doing, versus doing it best. “I stopped searching for perfection/Many waves ago/What really matters is the here and now/That’s about all I know.”

Songs From St. Somewhere is a pleasant surprise. Focusing on what he wants to say, instead of the mega hit, skip over the dumb bar song and listen to what an old friend has to say. It may just surprise you