Jim Allen at uDiscover Music has a good article on Jimmy Buffett’s origins in Outlaw Country: Before Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett’s Outlaw Country Underground Years

Before becoming the godfather of yacht rock, Jimmy Buffett released seven mostly unnoticed albums where he came off like a cross between an outlaw country rebel and a character from a late 60s underground comic book, with songs criticizing materialism, religious hypocrisy, and jingoistic politics, and extolling the glories of getting high, having as much sex as possible, and being a thorn in the side of the law. How did Buffet go from fabulous furry freak brother to laid-back pope of the Parrotheads?

Long before “Margaritaville” led to legions of Hawaiian-shirted followers embracing him as their guru, Buffett was a hirsute hippie troubadour struggling to make a name for himself in Nashville. He hit Music City at the right time. A couple of years earlier, a countercultural type like him would’ve been run out of town. But revolution was on the rise, and scruffy songpoets like Kris Kristofferson were bringing folk and rock influences and a new kind of attitude to country music.

Read the full article at uDiscover Music.

Jimmy Buffett will join Riley Green in the state of Alabama’s annual campaign to promote voter registration:

From the AL Political Reporter:

Every year, the Secretary of State’s Office conducts a statewide multimedia campaign to promote voter registration, ensure citizens have a photo ID, and encourage voter participation. Today, in honor of National Voter Registration Day, we are excited to announce the participation of two well-known Alabamians.

Legendary singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett and country music sensation Riley Green are featured in this year’s media blitz. Advertisements will start running in early October and continue through Thanksgiving. Every year, the selected spokespersons are individuals who are well-known to the people of our state and are committed to good government.

The campaign consists of statewide television and radio ads, as well as digital advertisements, and through our partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the state. Throughout all 67 counties, posters will also be distributed to courthouses, schools, universities, civic clubs, political rallies, and events.

On August 14th, Jimmy Buffett boarded an Ocearch.org research vessel off the coast of Montauk, NY where he watched the efforts to tag and track great white sharks. The researchers let Jimmy name one of the tagged sharks, which he dubbed “JD” after his father James Delaney.

JD was spotted this week off the Jersey shore, about 178 miles from where it was tagged.

JD, a tagged 75-pound juvenile male white shark that was named by singer Jimmy Buffett — who was on the vessel when the shark was tagged — was only yards from the Barnegat Light beaches Wednesday morning, according to the shark’s satellite tag.

The 5-foot 4-inch long shark was tagged by OCEARCH researchers on Aug. 14 after it was captured off the coast of Montauk, N.Y. during the group’s monthlong Empire State and Garden State expedition to search for great white sharks.

The shark traveled 178 miles from its capture site to Barnegat Light since being tagged.

Chris Fischer, OCEARCH’s founder and expedition leader, explained why the “Margaritaville” singer was on board the vessel at the time JD was tagged.

“Jimmy has been a real big supporter of OCEARCH,” said Fischer. “He named the shark after his dad, James Delaney.”

OCEARCH is researching the life-cycle of white sharks, an apex ocean predator. The sharks are known scientifically as Carcharodon carcharias and can grow up to 21 feet in length and weigh over 4,000 pounds.

Fischer estimates JD, which can be seen being tagged in the video above, is one year old and is feeding on small prey fish such as mackerel, menhaden and squid.

A second juvenile male white shark named Bruin also “pinged” off the coast of New Jersey Wednesday, but about 100 miles east of the coastline near the continental shelf.

A ping is when the shark’s dorsal fin, where the tag is placed, appears above the surface for more than 90 seconds, which enables the tag to be picked up by satellite.

Read more at app.com

Meet JD – a baby great white that was tagged and released on the Ocearch expedition. JB named him after his father…. A son of a sailor. You'll be able to follow JD at www.ocearch.org

A post shared by Jimmy Buffett (@jimmybuffett) on Aug 14, 2017 at 9:52am PDT

Visiting the Ocearch expedition off Montauk. Shark conservation is critical to ocean health. Ocearch doing important work. #ocearch #dontfearthefin

A post shared by Jimmy Buffett (@jimmybuffett) on Aug 14, 2017 at 6:11am PDT

Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” is not only known around the world as a song and a brand, it’s now being used in federal court!

A Virginia man who wants to open a tattoo parlor in Key West can thank Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” for helping him with his latest court case.

City officials twice referenced the song in opposition to Brad Buehrle’s proposal for a new tattoo shop, saying drunken tourists would be more likely to get tattoos and then regret it if more ink shops were open in Key West’s historic district.

But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said the city misunderstood the song lyrics in which the narrator reflects on a brand new tattoo – but how the “Mexican cutie” got there, “I haven’t a clue.”

The judges wrote in a footnote to their ruling that the character in the song deems his new tattoo “a real beauty” and seems far from embarrassed about it.

The appeals court ruled last week that the city failed to show that more tattoo shops would erode the historic district’s “character and fabric,” The Key West Citizen reported.

According to the ruling, the city feared that “rash tourists will obtain regrettable tattoos, leading to negative association with Key West.”

Tattoo parlors were banned within Key West city limits until 2007, when the city amended zoning rules to allow a limited number of them.

Currently, two tattoo shops operate there and “the city concedes the absence of any ill effect as a result” of them, according to the ruling.

Read the full article.

Forbes is out with their annual list of the highest paid musicians and Jimmy Buffett came in at #28 with $36 million earned.

Among the best in the business at extending his brand, Buffett boasts a Margaritaville empire with more than two-dozen locations. His earnings from non-musical business ventures easily outstrips income from both his songs and live shows, putting him in an elite group alongside the likes of Diddy and Dr. Dre.

Number one on this year’s list? Katy Perry with an astonishing $135 million, followed by One Direction at $130 million and Garth Brooks at $90 million.