His upcoming album Equal Strain On All Parts [Mailboat Records, distributed by Sun Records] is due November 3.
For over five decades, Jimmy Buffett has transported listeners to easy living paradises through his music. His passion for travel and good-time escapism continues in a pair of new singles from his upcoming album Equal Strain On All Parts [Mailboat Records, distributed by Sun Records], due November 3.
The two new tracks include a balmy version of the most Jimmy Buffett-esque song Bob Dylan ever wrote, “Mozambique,” and the rollicking original, “University of Bourbon Street,” destined to become a New Orleans Parrot Head party anthem.
On “Mozambique” Buffett treats listeners to a getaway on the eastern coast of southern Africa with his effervescent take on Dylan’s 1976 classic. Thirteen-time Grammy Award winner and Country Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris sang with Dylan on the original track, and she comes along for the ride again with Buffett as he effortlessly transforms the tune into one of his signature easy-living songs.
Dylan and Buffett shared an admiration for each other’s work; in a 2009 interview with rock critic and MTV producer Bill Flanagan that was published in HuffPost, Dylan listed Buffett among one of his favorite songwriters of all time.
In “University of Bourbon Street,” Jimmy is joined by the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the festivities get delightfully out of control like they only can in New Orleans.
In the autobiographical track, Buffett recounts how he “danced out of Mississippi to the University of Bourbon Street,” where he received his education through streetcars and smiles, the back beat and brass bands, the music of The Neville Brothers, and building Mardis Gras floats. This NOLA-style education was to greatly influence his music and joyous outlook on life.
As the music world remembers Jimmy Buffett—beloved singer-songwriter, performer, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and Mayor of Margaritaville—it celebrates his musical legacy with the upcoming album, Equal Strain On All Parts (out on November 3). Jimmy worked diligently on the record over the past year, bringing together a list of well-known friends, including Paul McCartney, Lennie Gallant, Angelique Kidjo, as well as Harris and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
"’Mozambique’ and ‘University of Bourbon Street’ speak to the incredible creative force that was Jimmy Buffett, an artist who was still in his prime recording songs that will stand amongst the greatest ever in his incredible catalog of music,” said Dominic Pandiscia, Chief Strategy Officer, Primary Wave/Sun Label Group.
Jimmy Buffett was a legendary musician, songwriter, best-selling author, actor, and businessman. He recorded over 50 albums, with most going gold, platinum or multi-platinum. Performing with the Coral Reefer Band, his sold-out concert tours were an annual rite of summer for his legions of fans, affectionately known as Parrot Heads.
Buffett was one of only nine authors in the history of the New York Times Bestseller List to reach #1 on both the fiction and non-fiction lists and musically he received two Grammy nominations and numerous Country Music Association awards. Jimmy’s all-time classic, “Margaritaville,” is honored in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress, marking its impact on American culture, and was the inspiration behind the global lifestyle brand by the same name.
Photo credit: Julie Skarratt
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