The late Jimmy Buffett was recently announced to join Dionne Warwick, late producer-songwriter Norman Whitfield, and Michigan rockers MC5 as a recipient of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Musical Excellence Award.  The singer-songwriter who passed away last September at the age of 76 left behind a legacy of music (and beyond) that continues to entertain and inspire.  His final album, Equal Strain on All Parts, was one of his most moving, blending his infectious optimism and tropical pop with ever-sharp observational songwriting.  A gaggle of pals including Paul McCartney, Kenny Chesney, Eagles. Jackson Browne, JD Souther, Brandi Carlisle, Sheryl Crow, and others paid tribute to their late friend earlier this month at the Hollywood Bowl with the appropriately-entitled concert Keep the Party Going.

In that spirit, UMe is looking back on his storied career with a series of newly-remastered vinyl reissues - the first reissues in some time to come from his best-selling discography.  A batch of titles will be released every month this summer (when else?), all of which will be available on both standard black and limited colored vinyl.  Several 1990s titles will see vinyl for the very first time while his '70s and '80s LPs are returning to the format for the first time in decades.

The first group sets sail on June 7 with a trio of his albums spanning over 20 years: Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (1973), One Particular Harbour (1983), and Fruitcakes (1994). Buffett's fourth album, Living and Dying in 3/4 Time yielded the Pascagoula, Mississippi-born artist's debut top 40 single, the evergreen "Come Monday."  By the time of One Particular Harbour - Buffett's first album as co-producer - spun off AC hits with the title track and the cover of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl."  JD Souther teamed with Buffett and Josh Leo to write "Livin' It Up."  Fruitcakes, Buffett's eighteenth studio album, returned him to the studio after a five-year absence in which he focused on writing books.  Co-produced with Russ Kunkel, it became Jimmy's first top five album on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum.  The title track also became a top 30 AC hit; among its other highlights are covers of The Kinks ("Sunny Afternoon") and Grateful Dead ("Uncle John's Band").

On July 12, the second trio of releases arrives in stores, with two early favorites and one latter-day classic: A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973), Havana Daydreamin' (1976), and Banana Wind (1996). Produced by Don Gant, A White Sport Coat was recorded in Nashville and was the first LP to refer to The Coral Reefer Band.  It's also the first LP in which Michael Utley and Greg "Fingers" Taylor played with Buffett.  The naughty sing-along "Why Don't We Get Drunk" was the B-side of "The Great Filling Station Holdup" but became a mainstay of Buffett's concerts through the early 2000s.  Havana Daydreamin' became a crossover success, charting at No. 65 on the Billboard 200 and No. 21 on Billboard's Top Country Albums.  It's somewhat of a "lost" album, though, as Buffett rarely revisited its songs live; he was more than fond of "The Captain and the Kid," though.  It first appeared on his 1970 pre-fame album Down to Earth and was re-recorded for this album and again in 2002 and 2020.  Banana Wind showcases Buffett the international superstar, debuting in the top five of the Billboard 200 and featuring a slew of mostly co-written songs including "Happily Ever After (Now and Then)" with Dave Loggins.  "Jamaica Mistacia" told the true-life story of Jamaican authorities shooting at Buffett's plane while he was flying Bono, his family, and Island Records' Chris Blackwell on board.

The August 16 batch is the most hit-packed, with Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977), Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978), Volcano (1979), and Barometer Soup (1995).  Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Altitudes remains Buffett's top-selling LP with the title track and the song that inspired Buffett's lifestyle empire, "Margaritaville."  Its follow-up, Son of a Son of a Sailor, also went Platinum and introduced both "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and the autobiographical title song.  Volcanos went Gold and has become another perennial in the Buffett catalogue with "Fins" ("...to the left, fins to the right!") as well as "Volcano" and "Survive."  The last title in this quartet, Barometer Soup, was another Platinum smash anchored by Buffett's cover of his friend James Taylor's 1975 top five AC hit "Mexico."

The colored vinyl variants include a "Sea Breeze" design for Living and Dying in 3/4 Time, and a
"Daydream"-colored design for One Particular Harbour; the 2LP Fruitcakes will have one album in "Sunshine Ray" color and the other in apricot. A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean will be released in transparent "Pumpkin Spice" Orange.  Havana Daydreamin' arrives on opaque "Carmine Red," and the 2LP Banana Wind will pair a "Light Sky Blue" album with an opaque "Marshmallow White" one.

Parrotheads and non-Parrotheads alike can find the remastered Buffett collection on vinyl this summer.  There has no been word of CD or digital editions of these new remasters.  Track listings and pre-order links (where available) are below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Pencil Thin Mustache
2. Come Monday
3. Ringling, Ringling
4. Brahma Fear
5. Brand New Country Star
6. Livingston's Gone To Texas

Side B

1. The Wino And I Know
2. West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown
3. Saxophones
4. Ballad Of Spider John
5. God's Own Drunk

One Particular Harbour (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Stars On The Water
2. I Used To Have Money One Time
3. Livin' It Up
4. California Promises
5. One Particular Harbour

Side B

1. Why You Wanna Hurt My Heart
2. Honey Do
3. We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About
4. Twelve Volt Man
5. Brown Eyed Girl
6. Distantly In Love

Fruitcakes (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

LP 1

Side A

1. Everybody's Got A Cousin In Miami
2. Fruitcakes

Side B

1. Lone Palm
2. Six String Music
3. Uncle John's Band
4. Love In The Library

LP2

Side C

1. Quietly Making Noise
2. Frenchman For The Night
3. Sunny Afternoon

Side D

1. Vampires, Mummies And The Holy Ghost
2. She's Got You
3. Delaney Talks To Statues
4. Apocalypso

A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (Amazon Links TBD)

Side A

1. The Great Filling Station Holdup
2. Railroad Lady
3. He Went To Paris
4. Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit
5. Cuban Crime Of Passion
6. Why Don't We Get Drunk

Side B

1. Peanut Butter Conspiracy
2. They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More
3. I Have Found Me A Home
4. My Lovely Lady
5. Death Of An Unpopular Poet

Havana Daydreamin' (Amazon Links TBD)

Side A

1. Woman Goin' Crazy On Caroline Street
2. My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Don't Love Jesus
3. The Captain And The Kid
4. Big Rig
5. Defying Gravity

Side B

1. Havana Daydreamin'
2. Cliches
3. Something So Feminine About A Mandolin
4. Kick It In Second Wind
5. This Hotel Room

Banana Wind (Amazon Links TBD)

LP1

Side A

1. Only Time Will Tell
2. Jamaica Mistaica
3. School Boy Heart

Side B

1. Banana Wind
2. Holiday
3. Bob Robert's Society Band
4. Overkill

Side C

1. Desdemona's Building A Rocket Ship
2. Mental Floss
3. Cultural Infidel

Side D

1. Happily Ever After (Now And Then)
2. False Echoes (Havana 1921) / Treetop Flyer (hidden track)

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (Amazon Links TBD)

Side A

1. Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
2. Wonder Why We Ever Go Home
3. Banana Republics
4. Tampico Trauma
5. Lovely Cruise

Side B

1. Margaritaville
2. In The Shelter
3. Miss You So Badly
4. Biloxi
5. Landfall

Son of a Son of a Sailor (Amazon Links TBD)

Side A

1. Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
2. Fool Button
3. The Last Line
4. Livingston Saturday Night
5. Cheeseburger In Paradise

Side B

1. Coast Of Marseilles
2. Cowboy In The Jungle
3. Mañana
4. African Friend

Volcano (Amazon Links TBD)

Side A

1. Fins
2. Volcano
3. Treat Her Like A Lady
4. Stranded On A Sandbar
5. Chanson Pour Les Petits Enfants

Side B

1. Survive
2. Lady I Can't Explain
3. Boat Drinks
4. Dreamsicle
5. Sending The Old Man Home

Barometer Soup (Amazon Links TBD)

Side A

1. Barometer Soup
2. Barefoot Children
3. Bank Of Bad Habits

Side B

1. Remittance Man
2. Diamond As Big As The Ritz
3. Blue Heaven Rendezvous

Side C

1. Jimmy Dreams
2. Lage Nom Ai
3. Don't Chu-Know

Side D

1. Ballad Of Skip Wiley
2. The Night I Painted The Sky
3. Mexico