4 Underrated Jimmy Buffett Songs of the 1980s — A Commentary

Jimmy Buffett’s most famous songs were written and recorded during the 1970s, but some of my personal favorites originated in the 1980s. Previously a solo songwriter, Buffett was increasingly writing songs with some exceptional co-writers. While continuing to record songs in his own, distinctive style, he began exploration with new instrumentation.

I’m going to look into four fabulous, but underrated Buffett songs from the 1980s. I went for the deep, deep cuts that have hardly or never been performed live and didn’t appear on the “Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads” box set or the acoustic “Songs You Don’t Know By Heart” re-recordings of rare songs that came out in 2020.

I’ll share what attracts me to these songs and also have some quotes and audio comments from some of Jimmy Buffett’s co-writers Michael Utley, Marshall Chapman and Will Jennings. I’ll also be featuring some words from serious record collector Frank McInvale.

With so many underrated Buffett cuts from the 80s, narrowing it down to just four was no easy task. I may leave out one that you feel is underrated, but what do you say we get to it?


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