Original Noise ALLIGATOR-JIMMY-BUFFETT-1978-PM

Date: 30 Jan 2026

By: dave hogerty

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Ocean Dreams
On the road between Pascagoula, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Key West, Florida; Jimmy Buffett often stopped in Gainesville, and played a number of memorable shows at UF. (BELOW)

Cowboy In The Jungle
Jimmy Buffett
1978 — Son of a Son of a Sailor
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Jimmy Buffett by rick mccawley
Diver by kevin kolczynski

Somewhere along the way, Jimmy Buffett learned to play the guitar, and decided music was the life for him.

Key West became home in 1972, after a gig in Miami fell through. His music acquired the flavor of the Caribbean reggae with just a pinch of the recklessness of a sea pirate. Soon his music spread, and gained in popularity.

He had settled into the Caribbean lifestyle by 1974, when he recorded “Makin’ Music for Money.” Part of it goes like this – “I know that this may sound funny, but money don’t mean nothin’ to me…” Some say money does mean something to Buffett now. We can’t say what’s really important to him. We can just hope when he drops anchor in Lake Alice and strolls up to the gym for a little music and a lot ol hell-raising, he does it for fun – the way he used to do it.

Those were the days. The days of $500 concerts, cheap hotel rooms and no steady back-up band. Now it’s $30,000 concerts, Hilton Hotels and a bus load of rowdy roadies called the Coral Reefers.

His eighth album, Volcano, is already up to 25 on the bestseller list. His success has gotten him a bigger sailboat and houses in Key West and Aspen. He’s even got a big-name manager. But has Jimmy Buffett changed?

“No,” says Student Government Productions Director of Entertainment, Thorpe Shuttleworth. “I think he would say, ‘1 haven’t changed — my music’s making me money — but I haven’t changed.'”

Buffett’s promoters say he’s still the same old rowdy – he’s just got a little richer and he’s finally got a boat that doepn’t leak. He continues to be the captain of his own ship – both literally and figuratively, they say – sailing his 48-foot clipper Euphoria II (Euphoria I was only 32-foot) through the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. The boat is a vehicle for relaxation, meditation, inspiration and maybe, just maybe, a little hell-raising.

But what about Buffett before the times got so good! Where is he really from, and how did he get rolling?

He was born Christmas Day, 1946, and grew up in Mobile, Ala. His father was a naval architect and his grandfather was a ship’s captain – Captain James Delaney Buffett. Grandpa Buffett first sailed aboard a whaling ship at the age of 14.

Aha — that’s where we get the idea for “Son of a Son of a Sailor!” Ditto for “The Captain and the Kid.”

The junior Buffett left home at 18, headed for Auburn University. After a while at the home of the War Eagles, he migrated to the University of Southern Mississippi, earning a degree in journalism.

Only 10 months after he last set sail from Gainesville, Jimmy Buffett, along with his Coral Reefer Band, is due to drop anchor in Lake Alice Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19 and 20, and stroll up to the Florida Gym for a little music and a lot of that hell-raising he talks about.

After several free concerts and three pay shows, Gainesville still can’t get enough of the Caribbean Cowboy. Buffett seems to enjoy playing to the raging crowds as much as they like to listen.

Perhaps it’s Gainesville’s partying spirit that draws Buffett back.

Although he’s hit the “big time,” Buffett can hardly turn his back on Gainesville.

For it was here, before “Margaritaville,” and “Changes in Latitude, and Changes in Attitude,” that where his fledgling-star, free concerts were met with such enthusiasm.

He was Gainesville’s hero far before the rest of the world heard his name.

— kyle kulish (alligator staff writer)