Jimmy Buffett

A Good Life All the Way

By: Ryan White

Narrated by: Gibson Frazier

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

In Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, acclaimed music critic Ryan White has crafted the first definitive account of Buffett's rise from singing songs for beer to his emergence as a tropical icon and CEO behind the Margaritaville industrial complex, a vast network of merchandise, chain restaurants, resorts, and lifestyle products all inspired by his sunny but disillusioned hit "Margaritaville".

Filled with interviews from friends, musicians, Coral Reefer Band members past and present, and business partners who were there, this book is a top-down joyride with plenty of side trips and meanderings from Mobile and Pascagoula to New Orleans, Key West, down into the islands aboard the Euphoria and the Euphoria II, and into the studios and onto the stages where the foundation of Buffett's reputation was laid.

Buffett wasn't always the pied piper of beaches, bars, and laid-back living. Born on the Gulf Coast, the son of a son of a sailing ship captain, Buffett scuffed around New Orleans in the late '60s, flunked out of Nashville (and a marriage) in 1971, and found refuge among the artists, dopers, shrimpers, and genuine characters who'd collected at the end of the road in Key West. And it was there, in those waning outlaw days at the last American exit, where Buffett, like Hemingway before him, found his voice and eventually brought to life the song that would launch Parrot Head nation.

And just where is Margaritaville? It's wherever it's five o'clock; it's wherever there's a breeze and salt in the air; and it's wherever Buffett sets his bare feet, smiles, and sings his songs.

©2017 Ryan White (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Aging Parrothead

This is a great read for anyone interested in learning more about Mr.Buffett.
It does get a little wordy in some spots but overall I enjoyed the book.

All of it

This has been one of my favorite books written about one of my favorite songwriters

Well done. Buckets of parrot head info

How to put this much info coherently into a book is masterfully done. I liked the narrator and learned a lot.

Ok Book on the legend.

im not much of a music history buff, I just enjoy hearing peoples stories and how they developed their businesses.

this book makes ongoing references to specific music industry people over and over that didnt really play into the story.

More than I expected!

He does an amazing job of breaking down an amazing life! Highly recommended for even the mildest parrot head!

Great Historical Book about Jimmy Buffett

Wow, I now know so much more about one of my favorite singer/songwriters and how he came to be the man that we all loved. One thing about this book is that it clears up a lot of questions and rumors about Jimmy's life and how he got to some of the songs that he sang. I have to say that I was surprised with some of the stories that are told here. I really enjoyed the book, although at some points it was a little difficult to follow because of the rather confusing jumping around from one person to someone else. I mean I understand that Jimmy started out working in Nashville,Tennessee as a music reporter and most people don't know that. All in all, this book is an excellent history anthology of the life and times of Jimmy Buffett and how he became so famous.

Biography or Discography?

1st, I enjoyed this listen. It gave a chronological order of his music career and intertwined stories of his youth and non-music success. It does however read like a discography at times and there is no direct interviews with Jimmy Buffett. Still worth your time if you to learn more about the artist.

Good Story...Terrible Narrator

Really enjoyed the story, as I've been a long-time Buffett fan. The history, from his grandfather through his career to present day, was entertaining and interesting.

The narrator obviously did not put forth any effort to research the book or it's geographical base before recording. As a Gulf Coast native, it was incredibly frustrating to hear him mis-pronounce so many place names and phrases, all of which are highly pertinent to the story and the area where much of it takes place. Conch (Conch Republic, Conch Train, etc.) is pronounced "conk", not "con-CH"...Gautier, Mississippi is pronounced "Gau-shay", not "Gaw-tee-air"...Mobile, Alabama is pronounced "Mob-eel", not "mobul", like a mobile home...and the list goes painfully on. For his lame attempt to recreate a Cajun accent, he should be permanently banned from travel south of I-20. To paraphrase one of Jimmy's songs..."Don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it (or heard it)!"

Overall, I'd recommend the book, but it would probably be better as a traditional book, or as an e-book, than to endure the narrator.

Answered a bunch of questions

This one was entertaining start to finish. Been a parrothead since the early 70's ( about the first time I heard Come Monday) and learned a bunch of stuff I didn't know.

Learn how to pronounce local terms

Love the book but the narrater mispronounced so many Florida terms wrong. You can't do a Keys story using a soft ch in Conch!