Jimmy Buffett: “I think it was all Elvis’s fault.”
To get to the heart of the matter, we’ve got to go back to the fifties. Our journey starts with the movie King Creole starring Elvis Presley released by Paramount Pictures on this date 64 years ago: July 2nd, 1958.
“I think it was all Elvis’s fault.” That’s what Jimmy Buffett said to broadcast legend Elliott Forrest on A&E television show Breakfast with the Arts. Buffett reminisced further: “I think it was all Elvis’s fault ‘cause I remember the scene from King Creole when Elvis comes down Bourbon Street and the crawfish lady’s singing.”
Remembering this interview with Buffett, Forrest told me: “It was done in New Orleans and great fun! I think it was 1994. We walked around the French Quarter with a camera crew. He pointed out important places in his life.”
Buffett was just a child when that King Creole movie came out, but it seems Elvis Presley has made quite an impression on Buffett. In fact, Jimmy Buffett was inspired to write Elvis Presley into four of his songs, going all the way back to his beloved “Life is Just a Tire Swing” from his classic album “A1A.” He brings up Elvis again in the songs “Off to See the Lizard,” “Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling” and a personal favorite of mine: “Oysters and Pearls.”
Elvis historian on Presley & Buffett
I also spoke with Elvis Presley historian Stephen Bartenfeld, formerly an Elvis tribute artist. Bartenfeld is also a Buffett fan and commented about the connections between Jimmy Buffett and Elvis Presley:
“There’s actually a lot of connections between Elvis and Jimmy Buffett. They were both born in Mississippi. Jimmy, I think it was in Pascagoula. Tupelo, for Elvis. They both kind of started out the same kind of way. Just a guy on the guitar had a dream. Elvis moved to Memphis when he was a kid. For a while, Jimmy Buffett lived in Nashville. They have a similar past.
There’s something else that people may not think about. When Elvis came out they didn’t know how to classify his music. They just didn’t. Back then it was: black music, white music. You were one or the other. They didn’t know what he was. He dressed in a way that white people didn’t dress like, but he did his hair like a trucker with the pomade and stuff.
And you know, Jimmy Buffett’s kind of the same kind of way. Was he folk? Was he country? Was he rock? Was he island music? They just did not know what to call him. Really the way Jimmy Buffett does it is original to Jimmy Buffett. Just like, it’s the same with Elvis. It was original to Elvis. He had his own thing.”
Plus there are some Jimmy Buffett songs that reference Elvis. There are quite a lot of them. Even “Elvis Imitators,” which is one that he did.
Buffett recorded “Elvis Imitators”
It was a matter of time before someone brought up “Elvis Imitators,” written by Steve Goodman and Michael Smith. Two great songwriters now gone, but not forgotten. Jimmy Buffett released “Elvis Imitators” before Goodman had a chance but under the pseudonym Freddie & the Fishsticks.
I’m a great fan of Goodman and was fortunate to welcome the benevolent Clay Eals on my show last year. Clay is the author of Steve Goodman: Facing the Music an in-depth biography of Steve Goodman. He’s a real authority on the man and interviewed many people Goodman knew, including Jimmy Buffett.
So, here it is folks. Jimmy Buffett sharing his story about the song “Elvis Imitators” with Clay Eals.
CLAY EALS: I gotta ask you about “Elvis Imitators.”
(Laughter)
JIMMY BUFFETT: You recorded it before Steve did.
Yeah.
And Steve and Michael Smith put it together, but how did you come to, I know Steve performed it on stage about the same time, but you put it out on this limited-edition single.
Yeah.
And it’s Freddie and the Fishsticks.
Freddie and the Fishsticks, yeah, because people didn’t, they were so, the engineers didn’t want their names on it, they were so ashamed of what we did to it. But the thing of it was, the Jordanaires sang on it. That’s the original Jordanaires that I got to sing in “Elvis Imitators.”
The appeal of the song is obvious, but did Goodman come to you and say—
No, I loved it, he played it for me, and I went, “I love that song.” I thought of it as a great stage song when I first heard it. And we went in just as a joke, we did it in the studio, the Freddie and the Fishsticks thing, and then everybody got such a hoot out of it, and we said, “Let’s just call the Jordanaires,” and hell, they came over. So we put the Jordanaires on it. I’m an Elvis fan of all the Elvises.
This is down in Nashville?
Yeah, we did it in Nashville.
Was Goodman involved in the recording of that?
No. I don’t think so.
There’s an album that came out that same time, “Somewhere Over China,” and you have a reference to a “Reeferette” named Freddy Fishstick. That’s just another one of your mythical —
Just another mythical character, who appeared later in the book, too.
You put that out as a single but not on an album. Did it go anywhere?
Hell, no. (Laughter) I did it in Las Vegas, y’know. I did it in Las Vegas a couple years. It’s kind of a fun song. It pops up every now and then.
Was it a limited pressing of a single?
I can’t remember.
Just kind of a joke to get it out there?
I don’t know why. I can’t remember.
Ray Walker of the Jordanaires Weighs in About “Elvis Imitators”
It’s interesting to me how excited Jimmy seemed by the idea that the Jordanaires joined him on “Elvis Imitators.”
One of those very special people I’ve gotten to know a little bit is Ray Walker, bass singer for the Jordanaires from 1958 until their dissolution. The Jordanaires are famous for singing background for Elvis Presley on records and live.
Because of the many session recordings, Ray Walker has done throughout his life, more than a few have claimed that he’s the most recorded voice in history. Among the countless singers, he did background vocals for, Jimmy Buffett is on that list.
Walker shared some details: “The session was an over-dub in Franklin, Tennessee at the Bennett House on September 30, 1981. I don’t remember whether Jimmy was there, but I think so. I know we thought more than well of him, so he had to be there.”
The Norbert Putnam connection
September and October 1981 was the period that Jimmy Buffett was recording his 1982 album “Somewhere Over China.” This was the last Buffett album that would be produced by Norbert Putnam, also the producer of this “Elvis Imitators” single.
The name “Norbert Putnam” is where we find one of the most significant connections between Jimmy Buffett and Elvis Presley. The Alabama-born Putnam produced five albums of Buffett’s from 1977 to 1982. A session bassist, Norbert Putnam played on around 120 Elvis Presley tracks. You can read all about this in his book Music Lessons: A Musical Memoir. Putnam once said to Neil Kelly of Pop Matters: “I’ll just go ahead and tell you I became a musician because of Elvis Presley.”
That’s what takes us to what started this exploration in the first place. Maybe it was all Norbert Putnam’s fault?
Did Elvis Presley intend to sing “Margaritaville”?
Hmmm. If it’s true, it’s a compliment to a songwriter when someone like Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra wants to record your song. If it’s false? What a cool myth. Jimmy Buffett, as much as any recording artist understands the importance of myths.
I like to think I’ve earned my nickname, “the niche of the niche.” If you’re listening to this, apparently you understand what it is to know “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say.
So, as fate would have it, I was in Franklin, Tennessee for the taping of the television show “CMT Crossroads.” This episode featured Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band. The taping began at 8 PM on December 9, 2009. The stage was Liberty Hall at the Factory at Franklin. I was there thanks to Laurie Gorman who invited me.
As far as I can tell, that was the origin of the Elvis Presley wanting to sing Margaritaville fable. Buffett told the story and I’ll confess that he had me going for a moment. Who knew? Then it felt abundantly clear that it was all a joke when John Driskell Hopkins, the bass player for the Zac Brown Band put on Elvis aviator shades and did his best Elvis vocal.
Buffett once remarked to Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes about his fans taking the stories seriously. He said: “On some days, I want to go to them and, ‘Get a life,’ you know? It’s just made up, you know?” Point taken.
So, maybe it was made up? There’s a certain value in keeping people wondering.
I’m pretty sure it was said in jest, but that’s when doubt enters the picture. What do you think about this? I spoke with author Joseph A. Tunzi, “one of the foremost authorities on Elvis Presley.”
I asked him if there was any truth to the tale. He said:
“It’s interesting. Jimmy recorded it in November 1976 in Nashville. Elvis booked a session in Nashville in January of 1977 that was canceled. I believe Jimmy’s version was released in February of 1977.
The timeline works. It’s possible that Elvis Producer Felton Jarvis may have heard it or heard about it thought it could be a fit for Elvis and was going to approach him in January with it. A key question would be, was there any demo of the song that may have been out to some song pluggers? I wouldn’t rule it out.”
A theory about Elvis Presley hearing “Margaritaville”
August 16, 1977, was the day Elvis Presley, “The King of Rock and Roll” passed away. Certainly a sad day. That particular day is mentioned at the beginning of the evocative song “Elvis Presley Blues,” interpreted by Buffett in 2006. It was originally by Gillian Welch from her “Time (The Revelator)” album. (Side note: it’s also worth listening to the version by Sir Tom Jones.)
Could it be that Elvis heard “Margaritaville,” but simply ran out of time? As Joseph A. Tuzi remarked, there is a possibility of some truth to this story.
This is all a theory, but it’s worth stating. Norbert Putnam was playing bass guitar in the studio with Elvis Presley and at the same time was Buffett’s record producer.
Keep in mind, Norbert Putnam told me about his reaction upon hearing “Margaritaville,”: “Now, I just sat there and thought: This is one of the best formed songs I’ve ever heard. And I think history’s proven that to be true.”
Is it possible that Norbert Putnam somehow passed along a demo tape of “Margaritaville” to Elvis Presley or producer Felton Jarvis? I’m not saying that’s what happened, but what if?
Here’s the thing, though: Let’s Say you’re Jimmy Buffett. If you knew that Elvis Presley had planned on recording your song, why would you keep it a secret for so long? Seems unlikely.
As it stands, perhaps only Jimmy Buffett knows whether Elvis Presley had intended to record “Margaritaville.”
Well, maybe some things are better kept a mystery.
