The musical legacy of Jimmy Buffett, the beloved singer-songwriter, performer, entrepreneur, and best-selling author who died on September 1, 2023, continues with the release of a new studio album. Equal Strain On All Parts arrived via Mailboat Records, distributed by Sun Records, on November 3. Listen to many of its tracks below, including “My Gummie Just Kicked In,” featuring Paul McCartney.
The album’s title is inspired by Buffett’s grandfather’s description of a good nap. The record, co-produced by longtime Coral Reefers, Michael Utley and Mac McAnally, features well-known friends, including McCartney, Emmylou Harris, Lennie Gallant, Angelique Kidjo, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The 14-song album was recorded this year.
Listen to the album’s closing number, “Mozambique,” recorded with Harris, and written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy with Harris
Dylan and Buffett shared an admiration for each other’s work; in a 2009 interview with rock critic and MTV producer Bill Flanagan that was published in HuffPost, Dylan listed Buffett among one of his favorite songwriters of all time.
“Nobody Works on Friday” is something we should all adhere to.
From the Sept. 12 announcement: The rocker “My Gummie Just Kicked In” came from an unforgettable dinner party with Buffett, his wife Jane, and McCartney, along with his wife, Nancy Shevell. As the story goes, Nancy stumbled on her way to the dinner table, and when a worried Buffett asked her if she was okay, she responded: “Oh, no — I’m fine. My gummie just kicked in!” The guys laughed and joked that they were going to write a song called “My Gummie Just Kicked In.” And Buffett did just exactly that. McCartney played bass on it, and recounted the experience in his Twitter tribute to his friend: “I was very happy to have played on one of his latest songs called ‘My Gummie Just Kicked In.’ We had a real fun session and he played me some of his new songs.”
Watch the “My Gummie Just Kicked In” video
Of another track, McCartney said, “I loved… ‘Bubbles Up.’ And I told [Jimmy] that not only was the song great but the vocal was probably the best I’ve heard him sing ever. He turned a diving phrase that is used to train people underwater into a metaphor for life when you’re confused and don’t know where you are just follow the bubbles – they’ll take you up to the surface and straighten you out right away.”
“Like My Dog” is an ode to Buffett’s favorite furry friends replete with signature steel drum melodies.
In “University of Bourbon Street,” Buffett is joined by the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the festivities get delightfully out of control like they only can in New Orleans. In the autobiographical track, Buffett recounts how he “danced out of Mississippi to the University of Bourbon Street,” where he received his education through streetcars and smiles, the back beat and brass bands, the music of The Neville Brothers, and building Mardis Gras floats. This NOLA-style education was to greatly influence his music and joyous outlook on life.
Best-selling author Carl Hiassen shares the background of another one of the songs. “The phrase ‘fish porn’ refers to fishermen texting each other photos of themselves holding up a big catch,” he wrote. Jimmy thought it was funny enough to be a song title, and we started playing around with story ideas about a year ago during a trip to the Bahamas. The peerless Mac McAnally got looped in, and very quickly there was music, then a song. My contribution was only a handful of lyrics, but Jimmy generously gave me a writing credit.
Listen to the tropical “Ti Punch Café,” sung with Angelique Kidjo
Buffett recorded over 50 albums. Equal Strain On All Parts is his first since a pair of 2020 releases. Performing with the Coral Reefer Band, his sold-out concert tours were an annual rite of summer for his legions of fans, affectionately known as Parrot Heads. Buffett was one of only nine authors in the history of the New York Times Bestseller List to reach #1 on both the fiction and non-fiction lists. HIs classic, “Margaritaville,” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress, marking its impact on American culture, and was the inspiration behind the global lifestyle brand by the same name.
