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Jimmy Buffett: Son of a Sailor in Pirates cove
Thursday, June 23, 2005

Jimmy Buffett, a baseball fan who's not above popping in for the occasional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," plays center field at a sold-out PNC Park Sunday night.

After 15 years of sellouts at the Post-Gazette Pavilion, this is a new position for the chilled-out leader of the Parrot Heads. His first time as a stadium headliner in Pittsburgh comes in the wake of his first No. 1 record, the country cross-over, "License to Chill."

Like with the Grateful Dead, there's a lot more to a Buffett show than the music, only in this case, the potion of choice is likely to have an umbrella in it.

This whole tequila and cheeseburger business has been going on since the late '70s when Buffett hit the charts with "Margaritaville," either a cautionary tale or an ode to the easy life, depending on how you look at it.

Clearly, Buffett himself doesn't spend a lot of time wasting away. As his party has grown to stadium proportions, the 59-year-old's been making records, forming a label, launching an Internet radio station, opening restaurants and writing best sellers, such as his latest novel, "A Salty Piece of Land."

In concert, his set lists have expanded beyond his own material to showcase the Coral Reefers as the Great American Cover Band. A recent show in Connecticut included such crowd-pleasing covers as "Brown Eyed Girl," "Scarlet Begonias," "Helpless," "Southern Cross" and recent hit "Hey Good Lookin'."

Buffett and company are scheduled to take the stage Sunday sometime after 6 p.m. (parking lots open at noon and gates at 4 p.m.). It's almost guaranteed to be a good time, even if he doesn't hit one out of the park.

While you wait, here's a look at some of his statistics:

One: Number of his records that hit No. 1 on the album chart -- last year's "License to Chill."

Two: Number of universities he attended: Auburn and Southern Mississippi. Major: journalism.

Three: Number of country music awards he's won (2 ACM's; 1 CMA, both in 2003).

Four: Number of books he's placed on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Five: Number of authors who have had No. 1's on nonfiction and fiction list (Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, William Styron, Irving Wallace and Dr. Seuss).

Six: Number of things he likes with his cheeseburger: "Lettuce and tomato/Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes/big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer."

Seven: Number of locations of his Margaritaville Cafes: Key West, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Cancun and Jamaica (2).

Eight: Highest chart position of 1977 hit "Margaritaville."

Nine: Approximate number of years he and second wife Jane were separated before having their second child, Sarah. They also have Savannah Jane Buffett and Cameron Marley Buffett.

Ten: Percentage of his songs that is not autobiographical. Buffett has said that 90 percent is.

First published on June 23, 2005 at 12:00 am
Scott Mervis can be reached at smervis@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2576.
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