Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald has an article on Jimmy Buffett’s business empire: “Frozen assets: Margaritaville magnate Jimmy Buffett turns boozy tunes into retail gold”

rom the Bradford Exchange shilling Elvis plates to Ben & Jerry’s dreaming up Cherry Garcia and Phish Food, hucksters have long cashed in on the devotion of rock fans. But Jimmy Buffett devotees possess a unique appetite for, well, anything Margaritaville.

No one knows this as well as Buffett. This guy has a talent for turning his tunes into tacky knickknacks, mass-marketed munchies and a financial empire. With his annual tour bringing him to the Comcast Center in Mansfield Thursday (scattered tickets remain) and Saturday (sold out), Buffett continues to generate megabucks.

But it wasn’t until we dug into “Margaritaville” that we realized how deep his genius runs. Buffett’s signature song has spun off more products than it has lyrics. Just 206 words long, there’s not an unexploited verse. And yet, there are so many untapped lines.

Read the entire article here.

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played the first of two shows from the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA on Thursday night. The Boston Globe has a review of the show:

The gates of the Comcast Center opened at 7 last night, but the parking lot was open for tailgating at 11 in the morning. Who else could be in town but Jimmy Buffett? Faced with the choice of the Republican convention or the mayor of Margaritaville’s annual visit, the sold-out crowd picked the latter. Both were headlined by bald mavericks with the ocean in their veins; it didn’t even take much squinting for Buffett to look like the other guy, the T-shirt, shorts, and bare feet notwithstanding.

Read the entire article here.

Remember, Saturday’s show time has been moved up to 3 pm because of Hurricane Hanna.

The duPont Registry is awarding a 6 night/7 day stay at Jimmy Buffett’s former home in Key West:

duPont Registry will award a 6-night/7-day stay at a historic home in Key West, where famed musician Jimmy Buffett lived for 20 years, to a member of LuxuryRealEstate.com at the 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in Philadelphia.

This prize, valued at more than $10,000, will be awarded at the Luxury Real Estate Sponsors Reception on the evening of Monday, October 13, 2008 at the Fall Conference. The conference is scheduled for October 11-14, 2008 at The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia and organizers expect more than 300 luxury professionals to attend.

“For the serious fan of recording star Jimmy Buffett, this is a dream come true,” said Eric V. Kennedy, editor-in-chief of duPont Registry. “It’s a place that captures the hidden essence of the real Key West that inspired a lifetime of musical favorites. Every step has been taken to ensure that items that were a part of Jimmy’s life here have been preserved. The result is a living museum that allows a privileged few who stay here a chance to experience the same lifestyle as the living legend who has captured the hearts and minds of so many.”

The property is located on a Key West canal with quick access to the sea. It includes a dock that can accommodate most boats. In addition, guests can enjoy a swimming pool, grill and screened patio, plus sleeping arrangements with a master bedroom with king-size bed, guest room with queen bed and a bunk room that sleeps four.

“This is the chance for a once-in-a-lifetime stay in a home that played a major part in the life of an American music icon,” Kennedy said. “Once you’ve stayed here and absorbed the history, those songs you’ve always cherished will relax you even more and sound just that much sweeter!”

Learn more here.

On July 23rd, The Sun Herald reported that work was slowing down on the Margaritaville Casino project in Biloxi, Mississippi. Now, Harrah’s says that the scope and size of the project is shrinking considerably:

The original $700 million estimated cost of the casino resort on the beach in Biloxi is being revised “down, down,” Harrah’s officials said during a conference call Friday.

About $110 million has been invested in Margaritaville as of June 30, and the company anticipates another $40 million to $45 million will be spent through the remainder of the year.

Harrah’s President Gary Loveman said they slowed construction of Margaritaville casino for a couple of reasons. “First, because business conditions in that market are very trying and new capacity is not exactly what that market needs in the short term.”

Loveland said Harrah’s also intends to refine the scope and the cost estimates for Margaritaville Casino “as carefully as possible to make sure that we build exactly what it is we think is prudent in that market. So we have slowed down the pace to regather ourselves” he said, to ensure Margaritaville “is appropriately sized and configured for the marketplace.”

Read the entire article here

Jimmy Buffett and a stripped-down version of the Coral Reefer Band performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon. The Providence Journal reviews the show:

Jimmy Buffett’s concert to close the Newport Folk Festival was perfectly good as far as Buffett concerts go (though by the necessity of the festival context it was shorter than average), but it was far from the acoustic performance that had been billed.

True, there’s always been more than a bit of the singer-songwriter in Buffett’s oeuvre, anyway. And last night’s show included such examples as “A Pirate Looks at 40” and a mostly acoustic “Come Monday,” and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (who had played earlier on the main stage) joined him for Welch’s traditional-based “Elvis Blues.” He also pulled out a skillful, straightforward acoustic encore of Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind.”

While Buffett reminded the Boston Globe this spring that he came up as a folk singer, said he might bring only one other musician and that “it won’t be a Parrothead show,” it did a pretty good approximation of one, with favorites such as “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Fins” — you know the drill.

Festival associate producer Jay Sweet said that there had been a miscommunication of some kind with Buffett’s management — “it was a surprise that he brought the heat” — but maintained that “he put together a set list and a band that was appropriate for the Newport Folk Festival. … Was it a folk show? No. Was it a stripped-down version of a Jimmy Buffett show? Yes.” The band was somewhat smaller — Buffett left the horn section at home — but the electric guitars and drums still pounded away. And the audience (announced at 7,500) didn’t seem to mind.

Read the entire article here.

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