Jimmy Buffet, Hawai'i form happy marriage
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
A picture of Jimmy Buffett dressed in an Arab headdress while sitting on a sand dune with a cell phone was supposed to be on the cover of his new CD, originally scheduled for release in October.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It was a great photo," Buffett said. But after Sept. 11 he realized, "It's not in good taste to do this. So we pulled it."
Jimmy Buffett's performance at Duke's Canoe Club brought an energetic crowd of about 2,200 people.
They burned 150,000 covers. Then shot a new one for his CD, "Far Side of the World."
Buffett also knew that part of the United States' recovery meant finding joy again. So his concert schedule remained the same. "It's like (fans) need it now," Buffett said from his suite at the Royal Hawaiian. "There's a different energy. Part of the American lifestyle is about being able to have fun."
This enthusiasm was abundant at Duke's Canoe Club on Thursday, when Buffett performed a solo acoustic set for a crowd of about 2,200 at the club and on the beach. Fans and Duke's employees agreed that he projected a kind of vitality that Waikiki hasn't seen in a long time.
He got the idea to play at Duke's when he heard Henry Kapono there while in town for a concert last year. "It was just so cool," Buffett said. "I thought, man, I'd just love to play here like that."
The club proved ideal for the effervescent performer. "It's the perfect marriage for a guy like Jimmy and the kind of stuff he does," Don Ho said before introducing Buffett at Duke's. "Very island. Very beach. Very surf. Very good times."
Judging from those who waited in line for hours to see his 5 p.m. show, Buffett appeals to fans of all ages. "Thanks to our dads, we love Jimmy Buffett," said Alisha Smith, a 21-year-old college student from Montana visiting Hawai'i with several friends for spring break.
"We're three or four generations into this now," said the 55-year-old Buffett, who likened sharing music among generations to a "tribal connection."
He also acknowledged how few performers are welcomed by parents, children and even grandchildren, calling his own acceptance "amazing, gratifying and comforting."
"We don't have to play by the traditional rules," he said. "We have our own people who like whatever we do. When I do a record ... I don't care if the music critics like it. Because that's not what it's about. It's about doing something of quality ... and if you like it you can add it to your collection."
Hawai'i's lure runs deep with Buffett, possibly because it is full of the same dichotomies as the man himself. He loves the privacy of Hana — yet he stays in Lahaina when visiting Maui.
"I've been in tourist towns all my life," he said. "I'm not ready to go run away and live isolated in the country. I like communication and I like connection. I can get away if I need to, and you can't find me. But I also like the action. I'm not ready to park myself on a papaya plantation quite yet."
He is a creative soul, yet one of the most astute businessmen in the entertainment world. He delegates to people he trusts but stays involved in everything on a casual level.
"I never had a problem (taking care of business)," he said, "because I never wanted to be doing the third set at the Holiday Inn when I was 60."
He can disappear to write, but admits that "it's a lonely business." He needs more. "I love that applause. I love gettin' on that stage."
The man universally known for his songs has always considered himself a writer first. He rises at 5:30 each morning to compose at least one page a day so he can make pancakes for his children at 7 a.m. His new book, which Buffett said may be out by Christmas, is titled "A Salty Piece of Land." It features three short stories and three novellas.
Topics include the Pope's visit to Cuba, a story about "the insanity of flyfishing" and a longer piece called "A White Trash Dream of Epic Proportions."
In describing his affinity for Hawai'i, Buffett cites his family's Polynesian roots, his love of surfing — a sport he rediscovered at age 40 — and his long history of performing here, beginning in 1978 when he opened for the Eagles' on their "Hotel California" tour at Aloha Stadium.
Since then, he has tried to return once a year. At one point in the conversation, he chided himself for passing up the opportunity to buy Charles Lindbergh's house about 10 years ago. "I've been trying to buy it ever since."
If it isn't Lindbergh's house, it may be someone else's. Buffett admits that he is constantly looking because, he said, "What I do kind of fits here."
