From Under My Lone Palm: Somewhere Over China

This month marks one year that Justin has been writing his From Under My Lone Palm columns. We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading them.

Justin writes about the “Somewhere Over China” album in this month’s column:

On January 19, 1982, “Somewhere Over China,” Jimmy’s new release, hit your favorite record store. The album represented a critical point in Jimmy’s career-”Margaritaville” was 5 years ago, and MCA was looking for the next hit single. Sure, Jimmy had been able to score minor hits in-between, but the window for Jimmy being a superstar was getting smaller with each album it seemed. It wasn’t all Jimmy’s fault-as he once put it, “Music changed on us almost overnight, and the singer/songwriter breed who populated the music scene of the seventies seemed to be headed for the proverbial “elephant burial ground.” While chart success hadn’t been there, touring had alaways been a strong point for Jimmy, and that was something that hadn’t changed. Jimmy’s cult following continued to flock to shows and Jimmy continued to please them by playing over 300 shows a year. But this constant cyle of no hit records and lots of touring had begun to wear on the band, and it showed in Jimmy’s writing on the album.

Continue reading this month’s column