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| Jimmy, Deb & Wip Wop Band |
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| One night when I was doing a solo gig at Aunt Charlie's in Atlanta, Jimmy Buffett and his road manager came to the gig after their concert at The Fox Theater. Jimmy and I knew each other from back in the Silverman days when he had actually done a "guest set" with us at The Bistro (I swear he said he had hitch-hiked up from Florida). That night at Aunt Charlie's, during the glow of his Margarittaville hit status, he asked if I'd like to sing on his next album that he was recording in Miami. Of course I did, and recording the album Son of a Sailor led to more recording and touring for the next four years. My friend Penny Nichols recorded the first album with me and joined us for the first tour, and later Katy Moffet did a stint as a Reeferette. There were years when I was the only female in the band - but I was used to that. We were drug-and-alcohol-crazed maniacs, of course. Hey, it was 1979 - back before cocaine was addictive. We had one roadie whose only job was to mix our drinks and push them around to us while we were on stage. We're all pretty sure we had a great time but the details are a little blurry.
The highlight for me was recording at George Martin's studio in Montserrat, West Indies. Besides the island just being paradise itself, I got to hang out and sing with James Taylor. I had to stand on an orange crate in the studio in order to share a mic with him (he must be 6'4"). And then there was the Wip Wop Band, the local group that played down at the only bar in town. One guy made the most amazing sounds by blowing into a piece of plumbing pipe. Jamming with them was the best (see top photo).
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| With Hugh, Alex, and James Taylor in Montserrat |
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