A&E INTERVIEW

Prior to my first visit to New Orleans I had never heard of the "Parrot Heads." If you've never encountered them either, let me explain. Those who devotedly follow the rock group The Grateful Dead are called "Dead Heads," and those who devoted follow Jimmy Buffett are called "Parrot Heads." The first thing you notice about Parrot Heads is the way they dress at Buffett's concerts. If you see grown men in grass skirts with rubber sharks and birds in their straw hats, the familiar sounds of Buffett's hit song "Margaritaville" is not far behind. It seems their main reason to exist is to have fun, in that laid back quasi-Caribbean Buffett style. In addition, there are 40 states that boast Parrot Head organizations doing charitable work in their communities.

I was in New Orleans to interview Mr. Buffett and attend a taping for a new series called A & E In Concert. Fortunately, Buffett suggested we do not do a traditional sit down type interview. Instead, we met at his "Margaritaville Cafe and Store" and went on a walking tour of the French Quarter. He talked about his life and the town he loves so much.

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Forrest I've been to a lot of places and I'm almost embarrassed to admit I've never been to New Orleans. This is my first time. How long have you had your Margaritaville Cafe here?

Buffett We've been here going on two years now. And don't be embarrassed. Come on, I'll show you around. This actually happens to be where it all started out for me. We're right in the same neighborhood where I started out a long time ago.

Our first stop was the Mississippi River bank.

Buffett I ran away from home to this town. I used to always come down here when I was working Bourbon Street when I was about 18 years old and sit down on the rocks on this river as my contemplating spot. I also came down here when I wasn't contemplating...I remember one day waking up right here rather early in the morning with my performing clothes on from the night before, a bit wrinkled, and tourists were taking my picture. I thought, boy, I've really made it in show business now. (Laughs) But, I had a history here before that. My Grandfather was a captain on a steamship and we'd always come over here as kids and meet his ship and then come into town. I was eight or nine years old, and those were my biggest memories-I think that's why I always think of New Orleans as the northern edge of the Caribbean, because his ship was always leaving from here and going to exotic sounding places like Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro. So I always equated New Orleans with that world, and it was a gateway out. I came here and got started musically, which was my gateway out to the world. And it's a place I always come back to. And it feels strangely enough like some kind of home to me here. I spend a lot of time here.

We left the river and started walking the streets of the quarter.

Buffett See, this is early morning and it's a great time in the French Quarter. It's a great sort of cross culturalization because you can see the night people coming home and the day people going to work.

We stopped at one of the many beautiful old buildings that makes you think you're in Europe.

Buffett This is Tujague's. It's a place I've been coming since I was about 8 years old. It used to be my grandfather's favorite place because we'd meet him on the boat, and come right to Tujague's. It's been there since 1856, and it still is a great restaurant that I go to a lot today. And it's one of those things that's interesting because I was with my daughter, we were down here, and she said to me, "You know, Dad, this town is as much fun as any place I've ever been." And I thought about that because when I was her age it was as much fun to me. I know it's a part of what makes New Orleans what it is: not a very progressive or thinking place. It likes staying stuck in it's roots of time and space. And I think that's great, when you've got a city that gives generations that kind of fun-and I'm not talking about walking down Bourbon Street, I'm talking about the cultural life of the town that you don't see in the Chamber of Commerce ads. And that's part of it. That's just an old neighborhood place that still serves great food, and I've been going there now for 40 years. (Laughs)

We crossed the street and walked down a narrow street of the French Quarter. Balconies, overflowing with flowers and vines seem to be on every block.

Forrest People don't always equate you with New Orleans. More like Key West. But you say you played on the streets here when you were younger?

Buffett I did. I started here when I was about 18. It was my first real job. I went to school in Mississippi, 'cause it was such a close commute to New Orleans. And I started when I was 18 on Bourbon Street in a place called the Bayou Room. And I think it was all Elvis' fault. 'Cause I remember the scene from King Creole when Elvis comes down Bourbon Street and the crawfish lady's singing. I knew at that point I wanted to go to New Orleans and I wanted to sing and live in New Orleans. And strangely enough it all wound up that way. I came here in 1966 the first time and have continued to play music here ever since. But a lot of people don't know that I spent about four years working around here on Bourbon Street. Everything from a barker to a musician.

Buffett pointed to a bar we happened to be passing.

Buffett That's the only place that I was ever fired from because I played drums. I could do "The Look of Love" great, but when it came to "You Can't Always Get What You Want" I was a little stymied in my drumming performance and technique. (Laughs)

Forrest Did you ever put a case out on the street and just play?

Buffett I sure did. I used to street sing here. As a matter of fact, about four or five Mardi Gras ago I got so inspired that I just borrowed a guitar from a street singer, got out and sang on the street one day.

Forrest How much did you make that night?

Buffett I made about $11. (Laughs)

Forrest I heard you once say that pirates were your heroes. What do you mean by that?

Buffett Oh, yeah, when everybody else was studying generals and American war heroes, Jean Lafitte was my hero. I remember when I was a kid I had a plastic model. Everybody else was building battleships, I was building the Black Falcon, which was Lafitte's ship. And he, of course, was heavily entwined with the early history of New Orleans. I guess he was my pirate hero and still is in a way.

Forrest Was it because they were bad guys or romantic or...?

Buffett They were romantic. They looked a lot more adventurous than the people that lived in Sunset Hills in Mobile, Alabama, at the time. (Laughs) I think that it just kindled that spirit that had always been there from my family heritage. We're all seamen. How I wound up doing what I do here is beyond me. It certainly isn't in my family history. So they were all sailors and seamen who came in and out of New Orleans many times.

We rounded the corner and Jimmy realized we were on the street where he first lived in New Orleans, as he announced proudly, "This is where I lost my virginity!" We went into the building and the owner let us up.

Buffett Well, this was the place. I was 18 years old, an alter boy from Mobile, Alabama, and I came here Looking for fun. And this is where I found it. She knows who she is. This was a great old spot in those days-it was like living in a Tennessee Williams play, and that's what I wanted to do when I came to New Orleans. And I did it. (Laughs)

We went out on the balcony and looked down at the street below.

Buffett Oh, this is cool. Check this out, this is a great thing. I don't know if you can see it, but see the marble tile work there? Angela Bercardos-this was an ice cream parlor, it's now called Croissant D'or. But when I lived here it was an Italian ice cream parlor. But, check it out. "Ladies' Entrance," it says. (Laughs) We've come a long way, baby. But this is the other thing I think to me was always a great point of New Orleans. When I think back about it, the balcony was a place where you had a perch, sort of like a bird, and you could look down on what was happening in the streets and other people's lives, and they didn't know you were there. So, you got a broader panorama of life in general. And the balconies in the French Quarter were always like that. I was so broke in those days that I couldn't afford a balcony apartment, so I'd go visit friends who had balcony apartments. And I thought, one day I'm going to make enough money to have a balcony apartment. And I did. (Laughs) I did.

We continued walking the streets.

Forrest The books you've been writing lately, short stories and your novel, is that a logical extension from songwriting or is that a whole other process for you?

Buffett Well, it's a logical extension but it's what I wanted to do first. I, fortunately, had a 20 year music career that got in the way. I wanted to start out being a writer, 'cause when I first came to New Orleans it was a writers' haven, there were great writers-Walker Percy, Tennessee Williams, people that I'd read. And when I lived there I stared reading the things that were effected by their being here. And I wound up in New Orleans for all those years and it was a great place, really a catalyst creatively. Places I've lived since then had to have some kind of uniqueness and character about them. And logically Key West, and then Down Island. So, all of that stuff sort of had it's roots here and went crazy. (Laughs)

Forrest Do you have a couple more novels in you?

Buffett I might. But I'm not forcing them out. When they come they come.

Forrest Just take your time with them?

Buffett Yeah, I think more short stories now. You know, you just have to do what you're going to do, and I'm just going to see what happens. I come back down here, and I always write very well here. When I was doing the books I came here and spent a lot of time just holed up and let it flow, and it really works. And you find as a writer there are certain spots on the planet where you write better than others, and I believe in that. And this is one of them.

We paused in front of a small church.

Forrest I've noticed New Orleans has a strong spiritual side with an emphasis on voodoo and the like. What do you think about all that?

Buffett Oh, I believe in all of it. I think there's more to the cultural roots of the world than the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant religion. I think it's great because New Orleans is the only city in America that has a European feel to it to me, as much traveling as I have done. And I love that fact that you have the sort of cultural abnormalities sitting in the middle of the most redneck area of the country. (Laughs) I think that's what appeals to me about New Orleans more than anything is the fact that when I ran away from home most of the people I knew went to Memphis, or Atlanta, or New York, got straight jibs. But I never had any doubt in my mind that I wanted to run away to New Orleans and do something weird.

Forrest Do you know a hit song when you write it?

Buffett Well, your talking to a guy who's only had two and a half hits in his career, so I don't guess I do. (Laughs) You know, I've never thought about a hit song. I just write what comes out. "Margaritaville," I thought it was good, but I didn't think it was going to have the reaction that it had. And the same for "Come Monday." I know that I make records for people who like Jimmy Buffett music. And it started with a small bunch of crazy people coming to bars, and it's developed into this huge fan base for which I am very happy. And I think it was a lot of hard work and a lot of luck, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I don't really believe that hit records have anything to do with your career. It has to do with you hanging your name on that shingle, and they pay good money to come see you and they walk away going, hey, that's the best two hours of fun I've had. That's what it really means to me. And whether it's music or books, that's sort of the simple technique which I follow. My books, I didn't plan to write Tolstoy.

We headed back to his club.

ForrestYou're not only a singer-songwriter and author but now a very successful businessman with your own record label and a couple of clubs and stores. Are you surprised by your own success?

Buffett Well, it all just sort of came out of an interest in fun. It all started down here, when I look back on it. And learning how to be a good performer and entertainer sort of created an audience, and the audience created a demand for other things. The stores and the things like that, the business side of things came out at the point when, I'd say probably in the early '70s, it looked like the year of the singer-songwriter was over, 'cause music changed in our time and the spotlight was out. You know, I saw people dropping off of record labels like flies. Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, I figured I was next. So, I said, well hell, I'm going to cash in on something, which is only my good name-and we went into the merchandising business because people wanted it. And from there it just developed into stores. You know, I figured in those days really making it would be owning your own club. Because I worked for such-I'll just say, interesting club owners, that...

Forrest (Laughs) That's diplomatic.

Buffett Yeah, I'm trying to be. (Laughs) I said, boy, if I ever get my own place I'll do it differently. Well, lo and behold, when we decided to do a club there was never any doubt in my mind that my heart told me to go to New Orleans. After the success of Key West, which was very easy, and it was such a natural, New Orleans was the second natural spot to me. A lot of people said, why would you want to do that? And I just-I think what it really is, there's no theory to it, but I always saw myself as Ricky Ricardo, you know what I mean?

Forrest (Laughs) I'm not sure I know what you mean.

Buffett Remember Ricky Ricardo would go to the club to work? I wanted to go to the club.

Forrest Was your wife always trying to break into show business?

Buffett Oh, no, no, she stays far behind the scenes. But I wanted to do a club, and it's like coming to the club, and there's the club. So, we're here. And ironically enough, it's in the same neighborhood that I started out in 20 years ago