Earlier this month, we lost Jimmy Buffett. The man who gave us Margaritaville, Come Monday, Peanut Butter Conspiracy and Cheeseburger In Paradise, as well as so many other catchy little ditties, died at the age of 76. As his official obituary stated, he passed away “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.”
There were some common elements in the music of Jimmy Buffett and the song LOUIE LOUIE. Certainly the idea of pondering “Me See Jamaican moon above” could be a natural theme that could tie into “Havana Daydreamin’ …”
As I pondered such potential connections, I wondered… did he ever record LOUIE LOUIE?
As fate would have it, Los Angeles Times writer Duncan Strauss mentioned that Jimmy Buffet and his band did perform a snippet of LOUIE LOUIE in a little article dated August 18, 1987 with the headline of a Pop Music Review as “Louie Louie Spices Up A Typical Buffett Revue.”
It stated..
Buffett and his band operate as a huge lounge revue that plays softly and carries a big shtick, gliding through wispy pieces with anemic Caribbean rhythms that even Michael Franks might consider too passive. The 11-piece group is a skillful, well-drilled outfit, but it tends to sail along on autopilot.
That’s why the “Louie Louie” episode was such a momentous occasion: The group played a snippet of that barroom classic to punctuate a Buffett joke. Then, at the audience’s insistence, the band launched into a full–and obviously unplanned–version. Nice.
So far, I’ve yet to find any recordings of such performances. If anyone out out there in cyberspace has such a recording, please chime in … and send an email to “louie” at this website.