You can’t PLAY, but you can SIT here…
On a trip to the beach last week, we wandered in to the Banana Cabana late one afternoon on the Isle of Palms for a bite.
It’s a little hole in the wall, but with the heat index at 115 degrees that day, it promised air conditioning and a cold drink- a haven just steps off the beach.
What it didn’t promise was a trip back in time. Like back to 1975. Apparently Jimmy Buffett and I occupied the same seat in the same booth. Just 30+ years apart.
Photo: imgbooks
1975 was a year that Jimmy was still just beginning to pull together his band, the Coral Reefers, and had just one hit at the time, “Come Monday”, from the year before. He opened for the Eagles in Columbia, SC, that year, and also played the Citadel- just down the road from The Cabana in Charleston- for the first and LAST time.
Next to the signed program in a frame is a letter from the head of Citadel Student Activities, who had apparently booked Jimmy after contact with his Nashville agent. That letter takes offense at Jimmy’s “vulgarity”, says he’ll never play the Citadel again (he didn’t), and tells the agent to take the Citadel “off your mailing list”.
Not a big surprise, given the times. Remember, Buffett’s only top 10 hit, “Margaritaville”, didn’t come along until two years later. Other than “Come Monday”, the only other song getting much awareness at this point in Buffett’s career?
You might recognize the chorus, “Why Don’t We Get Drunk…..and Screw?”
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I’m always fascinated by the drinks you can get at the beach. Fruit juices, light rum, dark rum- and some great names. Jamaican Me Crazy, Rum Runner, etc. No word whether or not Jimmy Buffett had a Goombay Smash while he was here. And we’re not telling, either.
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