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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > August > 06 > Entry
A Shout-Out from Jimmy Buffett
It was late one summer night in the early 1970s.
I was down in Key West with my pal Capt. Tony Tarracino. We were sitting at the bar at his sagging, old saloon on Greene Street. He was chain smoking Lucky Strikes and nursing a beer as he told me fishing tales. I was drinking rum and trying to write down some of the stuff he was saying on my bar napkins.
A guy walked in off the street carrying a guitar and Tony called him over.
“This is Jimmy Buffett,” Tony said in that gravelly, smoke-cured voice. “One day he’s gonna be big.”
Buffett bellied up next to us and joined the conversation and from fishing stories we eventualy moved to talk of our families, especially our grandfathers.
Later, at Tony’s invite, Buffett went back to the bandstand and did a couple of songs. To be truthful I can’t remember the first one, but then he called out to Tony and me and said, “Here’s one you two might like.”
He sang “The Captain and The Kid” which is a story about his own granddad:
“I never used to miss the chance
to climb upon his knee and listen
to the many tales of life upon the sea.
We’d go sailing back on barkentines and
talk of things he did, tomorrow just a
day away for the Captain and the Kid.”
It was pretty magical listening to him right then and I remember thinking, “Tony’s right, this guy is something special.”
I’m reminded of that again now as some 20,000 Buffett fans — many of them from the Dayton area — turn Riverbend into Parrothead Nation tonight.
Buffett has sold out 48 straight shows in the Cincinnati area, going back to a half dozen concerts he did at Kings Island in the mid-1980s. In fact, that’s where the whole Parrothead concept began.
As Buffett writes on his website:
“Timothy B. Schmidt (Eagles bass player) was in the band, and we were playing a venue outside of Cincinnati called King’s Island. People had already started wearing Hawaiian shirts to our shows, but we looked out at this Cincinnati crowd, and they were glaringly brilliant to the point where it got our attention immediately. I said “Look at that!” Then Schmidt says to me, “They look like Deadheads in tropical suits. They’re like Parrot Heads!” He yelled to me in the middle of a song. So I immediately took the term and threw it over the microphone — the people identified themselves with the term from the get-go.”
That Buffett — a kid born in Mississippi and raised in Alabama — became the poster child of the tropics had a little to do with Tony.
The two first met late in 1971 when another of Tony’s pals — Jerry Jeff Walker — brought a mostly-broke Buffett down to Key West from Miami in his old Packard.
“Jimmy came in here, a kid from Alabama with cotton sticking out his ears, and I gave him a job,” Tony used to say. “Paid him $10 and a few beers and told him he had to play something people here identified with. I said, ‘Nobody sings about Key West - that could be your ticket.’
Years later Buffett’s paid triubute to Tony with The Last Mango in Paris. “
“I went down to Captain Tony’s
To get out of the heat,
And I heard a voice call out to me,
Son, come have a seat.
I have to search my memory
As I looked into those eyes,
Our lives change like weather
But a legend never dies.
I ate the last mango in Paris
I took the last plane out of Saigon,
I took the first fast boat to China,
And Jimmy, there’s still so much to be done.”
Captain Tony died last November 2. That night Buffett was playing a show in Tampa and from the stage he called out a tribute to his old buddy. When I heard about it it reminded me of that magical night so many years before when he did the same in Key West.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment |
Comments
By Gary
August 13, 2009 3:21 PM | Link to this
Great article. We just saw him in April as we always do. His show, like his music, is timeless. I enjoyed singing his songs with 35000 others, including my 12 and 15 year-old. They know every word. Thanks for writing this.By Arlene
August 10, 2009 7:19 PM | Link to this
wE FORWARDED YOUR ARTIICLE TO RUSS WHO HAPPENS TO BE ON THE ROAD AS ALWAYS WE TOOK OUR MON AND DAD TO CINCI SEVERAL YEARS AGO WITH FOND MEMORIES wE ENJOY BEING PARROT HEADSBy trox
August 7, 2009 11:15 PM | Link to this
smile:)By Linda
August 6, 2009 4:47 PM | Link to this
The first time we went to Captain Tony’s different peoples names were on the bar stolls and low and behold Tom Archedeacon we asked the bartender who this guys was and they said some reporter from up north. We have a picture of that stoll. Key West is my favorite place to visit.By Tom
August 6, 2009 4:01 PM | Link to this
I was at that Kings Island concert when the Parrot Heads came alive, and yes, I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. After the show was over, a few of us stayed around, and Jimmy came out on stage by himself, and asked us what we wanted to hear. I told him: West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown, and he played that and about ten other songs, all the time chatting with the small crowd that remained. What a great night! I went on to play in a few bars myself, along with my partner, Ranger Rick, and we did lots of JB’s music. I guess he could hit us up for royalties, but we drank up most of our meager profits. If I could have been anyone else, it would have been Jimmy. He remains one of the great storytellers in America, and I still buy each album. By the way, Rick and I never gave up our day jobs as lawyers.By Tom
August 6, 2009 4:00 PM | Link to this
I was at that Kings Island concert when the Parrot Heads came alive, and yes, I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. After the show was over, a few of us stayed around, and Jimmy came out on stage by himself, and asked us what we wanted to hear. I told him: West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown, and he played that and about ten other songs, all the time chatting with the small crowd that remained. What a great night! I went on to play in a few bars myself, along with my partner, Ranger Rick, and we did lots of JB’s music. I guess he could hit us up for royalties, but we drank up most of our meager profits. If I could have been anyone else, it would have been Jimmy. He remains one of the great storytellers in America, and I still buy each album. By the way, Rick and I never gave up our day jobs as lawyers.By AK
August 6, 2009 3:26 PM | Link to this
Wow, Tom!!! Thank you for this great article “The Last Mango in Paris” and “The Captain and the Kid” are my 2 favorite Jimmy Buffett songs…they remind me of fishing with my dad when I was a little girl…every weekend we went! This is the first Summer for awhile that we aren’t going to Buffett :-(. But if I had a memory like the one you have with “Captain Tony” and Jimmy I would never need to go to a concert as nothing could top that…that is a wonderful memory worth cherrishing. Thank you for sharing…it brings a huge smile to my face and I will sit on my own porch tonight listening to the man’s tunes while I enjoy a couple “Boat Drinks!!!” Enjoy fellow Parrot Heads!By Kevin
August 6, 2009 3:14 PM | Link to this
Excellent story, just like one of Jimmy’s songs. I wish I would have spent more time on my Grandpa’s knee telling me stories of his life in Germany and his coming to America. He died about the time I realized the experiences he had would have been wonderful to hear.By Phil Spaugy
August 6, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this
Great story. I have spend more than one day, night or day into night at Captain Tony’s bar, and got to meet him a couple of times. We were in Key West when he passed away, and that night the bar with friends and fans paying tribute to the very unique man !! Following winds Captain, following winds !By justin
August 6, 2009 12:00 PM | Link to this
Great article Arch. I’ve always enjoyed your story telling. You should write songs if you’re not already. Believe it or not I played for drinks on that stage in the late 70’s with a buddy of mine. We were asked to leave after two songs and one drink because we stunk. Guess JB had already set the bar too high! Thanks for the memories.By jason
August 6, 2009 11:28 AM | Link to this
Tonight?? I’m heading there right now. Early bird gets the wormBy Jim
August 6, 2009 9:54 AM | Link to this
What a wonderful story, thanks for sharing it. I’m headed to Riverbend tonight and reading this is a great start to the day.