Parrothead Playlist: "Livin' and Dyin' ... " Quiz

Answer: Pencil Thin Mustache

When Jimmy Buffett put out "Pencil Thin Moustache" in 1974, people still knew about Boston Blackie (a slick and suave 1950s TV detective) and Andy Devine (John Wayne's sidekick in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"). But as time marched on, Buffett would stop, literally, mid-song during concerts just to explain his heroes. He would teach us about Penny from "Sky King", "Ramar of the Jungle", Errol Flynn and the "Sheik of Araby".

For the song's finale at live shows, he'd go full vaudeville, slowing things down to drop a thickly harmonized, slow-motion advertisement for a classic hair gel. He would slowly croon "Brylcreem" with the backup singers before breaking out "A... little dab'll do ya!" and finish the song with one final, big "Doo-wahhhhhhhh." This is one of the can't miss items on the live album "You Had to Be There."

Answer: Come Monday

When Jimmy Buffett wrote "Come Monday" in 1973, he was severely depressed, totally broke, and pining for his future wife, Jane Slagsvol. He was stuck at a Holiday Inn in Marin County, California when he finally got the news that "Come Monday" was a hit. During a late night tv interview, a decade later, he told David Letterman that finding out the song hit the charts absolutely saved his life. He closed out the story by jokingly admitting he could finally pay his back rent and get his dog out of the pound.

Answer: Ringling, Ringling

This is just another great story about Jimmy Buffett in the days before "Margaritaville".

Answer: Brahma Fear

Jimmy Buffett's 1974 song "Brahma Fear" is a bit of an artifact and seems to point the way to what Jimmy would eventually call 'Gulf and Western' music. He plainly admits to being no cowboy in the song's opening lyric. Later, in the first chorus, he clues us into this search with the line, "Find me and you've found my sound". Instead, he sings about his preference for flying aero-planes and sailing his whaler boat.

This was no song fiction. Jimmy famously moved from Nashville to Key West because the 'Nashville Sound' wasn't working for him. Buffett bought a 13-foot whaler, which he named "Vessel", with his first big royalty check from his previous album "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean."

Answer: Brand New Country Star

Jimmy Buffett's 1974 track "Brand New Country Star" was written with co-writer Austin Church as a "shot across the bow". Jimmy was taking shots at what he saw as the rhinestone-studded, style-over-substance mainstream Nashville. For those of you old enough to remember, think Porter Wagoner. Jimmy had a lot of experience in Nashville not being taken seriously and wrote the song out of genuine frustration.

The track ended up getting a massive audience anyway. ABC/Dunhill Records released it as the B-side to "Pencil Thin Mustache" right after "Come Monday" became his first legitimate radio hit.

Answer: Livingston's Gone to Texas

Jimmy Buffett's early ballad "Livingston's Gone to Texas" was originally written about his musician friend Lanny Fiel, who abandoned Nashville to become a real-life cowboy. Buffett penned the song as a comforting message to Lanny's heartbroken girlfriend, Holly, who stayed behind in Tennessee. Because the name "Lanny" didn't fit the musical rhythm, Buffett borrowed the surname of fellow musician Bob Livingston purely because it flowed better with the melody.

Answer: The Wino and I Know

As many people were at the time, Jimmy was a huge fan of folk icon Gordon Lightfoot. For the song "The Wino and I Know", Buffett spent hours locked in a marathon listening session, dissecting how Lightfoot turned unique subject matter into great stories.

He then chose to write his own tale of New Orleans street life, name-dropping Bourbon Street and the Cafe du Monde. Released as the B-side to "Come Monday," the song eventually led to a memorable backstage meeting between the two artists in Toronto.

When Buffett thanked Lightfoot for the immense musical inspiration, Lightfoot famously replied, "You seem to be doing pretty well, Jimmy, just pass that on."

Answer: West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown

Jimmy Buffett's 1974 song "West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown" is the punchline to the album's title. it is literally the only track on the entire record actually written in 3/4 waltz time. The lyrics follow a wealthy Southern debutante who ditches her family's money to become a free-spirited hitchhiker.

Jimmy didn't pull any punches telling her story, using language not even ready for today's prime time. Taking another swipe at the idea of having a song be 'radio ready' the song's heroine concludes her letter home with the line, "So (a word not used here) all those West Nashville grand ballroom gowns." The track is such a songwriting classic that folk-troubadour Todd Snider covered it decades later on his album "Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables".

Answer: Saxophones

Jimmy Buffett basically wrote "Saxophones" in 1974 to poke fun at the radio suits who kept demanding big, shiny pop production. The joke is that the original album track didn't have a single real horn on it. Jimmy told the story this way, "The original version had NO saxophones on it because I couldn't afford them, or the producer wouldn't let me have them, I can't remember which." He had to fake the instrumental break with a bass guitar solo until the label slapped a horn section onto the single anyway just to make it "radio ready." Sadly and ironically there wasn't a baritone sax to be found.

Buffett finally got his revenge on the 2003 compilation "Meet Me in Margaritaville," re-recording the track with a greasy New Orleans groove and happily declaring in the liner notes, "But I finally got my saxophones."

Answer: Ballad of Spider John

Jimmy Buffett covered "Ballad of Spider John" on "Living and Dying in 3/4 Time" out of sheer respect for Texas troubadour Willis Alan Ramsey. Jimmy actually discovered Ramsey's legendary 1972 debut album by accident in a record shop, buying it completely on a whim.

After listening to the album's style, he was hooked. Jimmy told "Texas Monthly" that Ramsey's 1972 debut was the blueprint that all the early "cosmic cowboy" musicians were chasing. In what is to me a bizarre side note, that particular Texas album also contained "Muskrat Candlelight"-the quirky tune Captain & Tennille later turned into the mega-hit "Muskrat Love."

Answer: God's Own Drunk

The story behind Jimmy Buffett's "God's Own Drunk" involves a massive legal battle. In 1983, the son of the comedian who originally performed the bit, the 1950s beat poet Lord Richard Buckley, filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Buffett for ripping off the track.

A court banned Jimmy from playing it live for a while. He responded, in true Parrothead fashion, by replacing the song on tour with a hilarious track called "The Lawyer and the [bad word]." After settling the case out of court, Buffett brought his version right back to his live shows, famously telling the crowds, "Y'all want to hear it; I want to sing it. Let 'em sue!"