When Jimmy Buffett started his career in Nashville, Tennessee, in the late 1960s, his music was not the trop rock he later crafted. His 1970 debut Down to Earth was more country folk-rock before he began swerving into more gulf and Western sounds.
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Throughout the decades, Buffett’s collaborations, on covers of his songs as well as their own, continued to circle back around to country, and within rock and other genres. In 1994, Buffett joined Clint Black for a rendition of Buffett’s 1978 song “Come Monday.” A year earlier, Buffett also co-wrote “Happiness Alone” for Black’s fourth album No Time to Kill.
By 1999, Buffett sang “Margaritaville” with Alan Jackson for Jackson’s album Under The Influence. In 2003, Jackson and Buffett also duetted on ‘”It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and was featured on Jackson’s compilation album Greatest Hits Volume II.
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Since the late 1970s, Buffett has slipped into other artist’s songs, in country music and beyond. Here’s a look at three other songs that may have slipped under the musical radar that feature Buffett on backing vocals.
1. “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks,” Eagles (1979)
Buffett and the Eagles‘ friendship started in the mid-’70s. On August 3, 1975, Buffett and his band first opened for the Eagles during a show in Columbia, South Carolina.
“Waiting to go on that night seemed like an eternity,” remembered Buffett, following Glenn Frey‘s death in 2016. “Mixed emotions were flowing, fear, excitement, and a lot of ‘what ifs’ were running through my head when the door suddenly opened, and in walked Glenn Frey. That was the first time we met. He greeted me and the band warmly, thanked us for being there, and said to me how much he loved ‘A Pirate Looks at 40.’ He wished us luck and then went back out the door. That was the beginning of a long and lovely friendship.”
By 1977, Buffett had hit it big time.”Margaritaville” was a hit, and he kicked off the year opening for the Eagles on the Hotel California tour. A few years later, the Eagles invited their friend Buffett to sing backing vocals on the Frey and Don Henley-penned “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks,” off the band’s sixth album The Long Run.
Throughout the years, Frey continued to collaborate with Buffett and co-wrote “Gypsies in the Palace,” which was featured on Buffett’s 1985 album Last Mango in Paris.
[RELATED: 4 Songs You Didn’t Know Glenn Frey Wrote for Other Artists]
Buffett always remembered the Eagles’, particularly Frey’s warm welcome, during that first show in 1975. “Only a few people really know how significant Glenn, Don, Irving [Irving Azoff, Eagles manager], and the Eagles were to my rise through the ranks of bands trying to achieve just of sliver of the success that they had achieved,” said Buffett, who was also asked to induct the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
“When the Eagles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, they asked me to give their induction speech,” added Buffett. “I was humbled. Glenn was a true friend, a true professional, an inspiration, and sometimes could be a handful. I cherish great memories of our time spent together and will never forget his kindness that first night and our friendship for all these years.”
2. “Knee Deep,” Zac Brown Band (2011)
Released as the third single off Zac Brown Band‘s second album, You Get What You Give, “Knee Deep,” features Buffett and explores a sunnier outlook. The track is all about letting worries slip away: Gonna put the world away for a minute / Pretend I don’t live in it / Sunshine gonna wash my blues away.
The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and even peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100.
Throughout the years, Zac Brown Band and Buffett performed together numerous times, including covers of Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” the band’s “Chicken Fried,” “Same Boat,” and more.
3. “All Night Long,” Lionel Richie (2012)
Named after the Alabama city where Lionel Richie was born, Tuskegee was the title of his tenth album. Each track was a reinterpretation of Richie’s previously released songs with different artists, mostly within the country genre.
For his 1983 hit, “All Night Long,” Richie called in Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band for a more calypso-drenched rendition with the two of them taking turns with the verses. Tuskegee went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
(Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
