JB Album Ratings

[HurricaneSeason]

Rank Jimmy's LPs!

Down To Earth - Barnaby Records 1970 ***
High Cumberland Jubilee -Barnaby Records 1971 (actual release: 1976) ***
A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean - ABC/Dunhill Records 1973 *****
Living And Dying In 3/4 Time - ABC/Dunhill Records 1974 *****
A1A - ABC/Dunhill Records 1974 *****
Rancho Deluxe - United Artists Records 1975 **1/2
Havaña Daydreamin' - ABC/Dunhill Records 1976 *****
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes - ABC/Dunhill Records 1977 *****
You Had To Be There - ABC/Dunhill1978 *****
Son Of A Son Of A Sailor - ABC/Dunhill Records 1978 *****
Volcano - MCA Records 1979 ****

Coconut Telegraph - MCA Records 1980 ***
Somewhere Over China - MCA Records 1982 ****
One Particular Harbour - MCA Records 1983 ***1/2
Riddles In The Sand - MCA Records 1984 **1/2
Last Mango In Paris - MCA Records 1985 *1/2
Floridays - MCA Records 1986 ****1/2
Hot Water - MCA Records 1988 ****1/2
Off To See The Lizard - MCA Records 1989 ****

Feeding Frenzy - MCA Records 1990 ***1/2
Fruitcakes - MCA/Margaritaville Records 1994 ****1/2
Barometer Soup - MCA/Margaritaville Records Records 1995 *****
Banana Wind - MCA/Margaritaville Records 1996 ****1/2
Christmas Island - MCA/Margaritaville Records 1996 ***1/2
Don't Stop The Carnival - Island /Margaritaville Records 1998 ***
Beach House On The Moon - Island/Margaritaville Records 1999 ***1/2
Tusedays, Thursdays And Saturdays - Mailboat Records 1999 ****

Far Side Of The World - Mailboat Records 2002 ****
Live In Las Vegas NV ‎- Mailboat Records 2003 ***
Live In Mansfield Ma - Mailboat Records 2003 ***
Live In Auburn WA - Mailboat Records 2003 ***
Live in Cincinnati OH - Mailboat Records 2004 ***
Live In Hawaii - Mailboat Records 2004 ****
License To Chill - RCA/Mailboat Records 2004 ****1/2
Take The Weather With You - RCA/Mailboat Records 2006 ***1/2
Live At Wrigley Field - Mailboat Records 2006 ***
Live In Anguilla - Mailboat Records 2007 ****
Buffet Hotel - Mailboat Records 2009 ***
Encores - Mailboat Records 2010 ***1/2

Welcome To Fin City, Live From Las Vegas - Mailboat Records 2012 ***1/2
Songs from St. Somewhere - Mailboat Records 2013 ***1/2
'Tis The SeaSon - Mailboat Records 2016 ***1/2

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I am in agreement with you on most of these rankings however I give Floridays a ****1/2 star rating as it is a good as any of Jimmy's 70's albums.

I would also include Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads box set on your list with a solid ***** rating

There is also Barnaby Records double LP release of Jimmy's first two album entitled Before The Salt is worth at least ***1/2 star rating

[HurricaneSeason]

I didn't include any compilations on purpose, because with BEFORE THE SALT then there's BEFORE THE BEACH and those albums exist anyway so.... I debated including the live albums.

I agree with your position on FLORIDAYS and have corrected it. I also realized I under ranked HOT WATER, which is an outstanding LP. I looked at my own song rankings on my media player and found that with FLORIDAYS only If It All Falls Down got the worst ranking... because that song SUCKS!

[urlcenter]

I didn't include any compilations on purpose, because with BEFORE THE SALT then there's BEFORE THE BEACH and those albums exist anyway so.... I debated including the live albums.

I agree with your position on FLORIDAYS and have corrected it. I also realized I under ranked HOT WATER, which is an outstanding LP. I looked at my own song rankings on my media player and found that with FLORIDAYS only If It All Falls Down got the worst ranking... because that song SUCKS!

My reason for mentioning "Before The Salt is that was the first release to contain all 23 Barnaby songs as it features the first LP release of the song "Richard Frost", which was released on a Barnaby 45 but not released on the original LP release of Down To Earth.

You might find this interesting:

A rare variation of the album "High Cumberland Jubilee" exists, on this variation "Bend a Little" replaces "England" on side two (repeated from side one, but mixed ever so slightly different), and "Ace" replaces and "Travelin' Clean." Also, the track "High Cumberland Jubilee" carries on to the end rather than fading out like on the most common versions of the album (this is the mix that is used on Before The Beach). The label on the second side lists the tracks as they should appear, not as they are.

Also many of the Barnaby songs released on "Before the Beach" are not the original mixes from the original LP's "Down To Earth" and "High Cumberland Jubilee".

This is a list of the songs from "Before The Beach" that have different mixes from the original Barnaby LP's:

A Mile High In Denver
Ellis Dee
Captain America
God Don't Own a Car
Ace
Bend A Little
Death Valley Lives
Livingston's Gone to Texas
High Cumberland Jubilee
The Captain and The Kid
There's Nothin Soft About Hard Times
Travelin Clean
Turnabout

[HurricaneSeason]

I did notice the mixes were different between the two LPs and BEFORE THE BEACH. I have BEFORE THE SALT but haven't listened to it in years.

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I did notice the mixes were different between the two LPs and BEFORE THE BEACH. I have BEFORE THE SALT but haven't listened to it in years.

Not only are the mixes different but the running times differ from the original LP's some songs are just a few seconds shorter then the original LP versions however "Captain America" is 30 seconds shorter while "Bend a Little" is 34 seconds longer; High Cumberland Jubilee is 52 seconds shorter than the original LP version;

[HurricaneSeason]

That's just weird.

[urlcenter]

That's just weird.

Actually is not that weird at all if you recall I posted above about there being an alternate version of the "High Cumberland Jubilee" original vinyl LP. Well for many years there has also been a collection of Jimmy Buffett rarities floating around called "Odds and Ends" six of the "rare" tracks in this collection are alternate takes of songs from "Down to Earth" and "High Cumberland Jubilee"

When Jimmy released "Before the Beach" in 1992 it did not include 3 songs from the LP "Down To Earth", those songs are "The Christian?," "Ain't He a Genius," and "Richard Frost". This is due to Jimmy not actually having the distribution rights to his two Barnaby albums, the rights are held or at least were held by a company called Celebrity Licensing. This leads me to believe that when Jimmy was putting "Before The Beach" together he chose to possibly substitute alternate takes of the songs, that he had, for the original versions he could not obtain the rights to.

Celebrity Licensing on the other hand has been responsible for the release of 13 different collections of songs from Jimmy's Barnaby albums over the years. These collections have been released a number of different music labels both here in the US and overseas. The various reissued collections of Jimmy Barnaby material include releases on both one and 2 CD sets. The actual individual CD releases of "Down to Earth" and "High Cumberland Jubilee" in 1998 were from a music label called Varese Sarabande. In 2007 Varese Sarabande reissued their releases of "Down to Earth" and "High Cumberland Jubilee" as a 2 CD set. Another record label from Canada called Madacy records has released 6 different collections of Jimmy's Barnaby songs over the years.

'

[HurricaneSeason]

That's just weird.

Actually is not that weird at all if you recall I posted above about there being an alternate version of the "High Cumberland Jubilee" original vinyl LP. Well for many years there has also been a collection of Jimmy Buffett rarities floating around called "Odds and Ends" six of the "rare" tracks in this collection are alternate takes of songs from "Down to Earth" and "High Cumberland Jubilee"

When Jimmy released "Before the Beach" in 1992 it did not include 3 songs from the LP "Down To Earth", those songs are "The Christian?," "Ain't He a Genius," and "Richard Frost". This is due to Jimmy not actually having the distribution rights to his two Barnaby albums, the rights are held or at least were held by a company called Celebrity Licensing. This leads me to believe that when Jimmy was putting "Before The Beach" together he chose to possibly substitute alternate takes of the songs, that he had, for the original versions he could not obtain the rights to.

When Varese released DTE and HCJ in 1998 on CD I was floored. Loved it. FINALLY (even though Richard Frost was not on the original issue nor was High Cumberland Dilemma). I loved BEFORE THE BEACH although I found it a bit odd to be the one release for 1993 ie no new LP (aside from the other release, MARGARITAVILLE CAFE LATE NIGHT MENU, having 3 JB songs on it, which has always had me wondering if he did more or if those were from the initial sessions for what became FRUITCAKES a year later).

I guess what I find weird about the different mixes is why did they do that? It's just odd. Because as far as I've ever been able to tell, those aren't remixes ie done after the fact, they're just different mixes done at the time of the album. Someone must've had some ideas that didn't pan out at the time. And that Jimmy (or someone) was able to find and obtain those different mixes for BTB is slightly entertaining, partially because he never mentioned it!

[urlcenter]

That's just weird.

Actually is not that weird at all if you recall I posted above about there being an alternate version of the "High Cumberland Jubilee" original vinyl LP. Well for many years there has also been a collection of Jimmy Buffett rarities floating around called "Odds and Ends" six of the "rare" tracks in this collection are alternate takes of songs from "Down to Earth" and "High Cumberland Jubilee"

When Jimmy released "Before the Beach" in 1992 it did not include 3 songs from the LP "Down To Earth", those songs are "The Christian?," "Ain't He a Genius," and "Richard Frost". This is due to Jimmy not actually having the distribution rights to his two Barnaby albums, the rights are held or at least were held by a company called Celebrity Licensing. This leads me to believe that when Jimmy was putting "Before The Beach" together he chose to possibly substitute alternate takes of the songs, that he had, for the original versions he could not obtain the rights to.

When Varese released DTE and HCJ in 1998 on CD I was floored. Loved it. FINALLY (even though Richard Frost was not on the original issue nor was High Cumberland Dilemma). I loved BEFORE THE BEACH although I found it a bit odd to be the one release for 1993 ie no new LP (aside from the other release, MARGARITAVILLE CAFE LATE NIGHT MENU, having 3 JB songs on it, which has always had me wondering if he did more or if those were from the initial sessions for what became FRUITCAKES a year later).

I guess what I find weird about the different mixes is why did they do that? It's just odd. Because as far as I've ever been able to tell, those aren't remixes ie done after the fact, they're just different mixes done at the time of the album. Someone must've had some ideas that didn't pan out at the time. And that Jimmy (or someone) was able to find and obtain those different mixes for BTB is slightly entertaining, partially because he never mentioned it!

Musicians often do more than one take of a song when recording which is how so many artists box sets end up having unreleased versions of well known songs. Jimmy has a number of unreleased or alternate versions of his songs from his early ABC Records albums most of which have been released in bootleg collections. For "Before the Beach" Mike Utley is listed in the album's production credits as having coordinated the album for Jimmy's Margaritaville records. Mike Utley has what seems to be near encyclopedic knowledge of Jimmy's musical history so it is possible he new about the alternate versions of the Barnaby Album songs when "Before the Beach" was being assembled