The legendary Jimmy Buffett passed away on September 1st at the age of 76, but he already completed his next album.
Despite battling Merkel cell carcinoma, which is a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, for the last four years of his life, Jimmy Buffett continued to tour and even record new music. The music he was working on was for an album titled Equal Strain On All Parts, which was released on Friday, November 3rd.
Jimmy was promoting the album before his passing
Buffett was promoting his new album back in July and August. According to his Facebook page, his Sirius XM station, Radio Margaritaville, played a song off this album every Friday at 5:15pm in a segment they called “5 O’Clock Fridays.”
Track Listing
The 14-track album includes collaborations with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Angelique Kidjo, Lennie Gallant, Will Kimbrough, and Emmylou Harris. Every song – except two covers – were co-written by Buffett. The songs he wrote prove that despite going through everything he was going through, he could still see humor, light, and life in all things.
Buffett’s duet with Harris is a cover of the Bob Dylan song “Mozambique,” which Dylan first released in 1974 – coincidentally that is the year that the legendary Coral Reefer Band formed. The other cover is titled “Like My Dog,” written by Harley Allen and Scotty Emerick, and first released by Billy Currington.
The song “My Gummie Just Kicked In” was written after Buffett and his wife, Jan Slagsvol, spent and evening with Paul McCartney and his wife, Nancy Shevell.
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They were all at a dinner party, and Buffett asked Shevell if she was alright. Her response was, “My gummie just kicked in.” The quartet had a great laugh and Buffett turned it into a song. McCartney ended up playing bass guitar on the song for the album. The beatles legend spoke fondly of their memories in his tribute on X after Buffett’s passing.
See the full track listing:
“University of Bourbon Street” (featuring Preservation Hall Jazz Band)
“Bubbles Up”
“Audience of One”
“My Gummie Just Kicked In”
“Close Calls”
“Equal Strain On All Parts”
“Like My Dog”
“Ti Punch Cafe” (featuring Angelique Kidjo
“Portugal or PEI” (featuring Lennie Gallant and Will Kimbrough)
“Nobody Works On Friday”
“Fish Porn”
“Johnny’s Rhum”
“Columbus”
“Mozambique” (featuring Emmylou Harris)
“Bubbles Up”
“Bubbles Up” was the album’s first single, released on September 8, just one week after his death.
The term “Bubbles Up” is a scuba diving phrase and Buffett turned it into a “metaphor for life when you’re confused and don’t know where you are just follow the bubbles – they’ll take you up to the surface and straighten you out right away.”
The music video for “Bubbles Up” was released on October 31st and features footage from Buffett’s life and shows him doing all the things he loved to do. Make sure to listen to the full album and watch the “Bubbles Up” video below.