You Had to Be There
| Professional ratings |
| Review scores |
| Source |
Rating |
| Allmusic |
[1] |
You Had to Be There: Recorded Live is a live double album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was initially released in October 1978[2] as ABC AK-1008/2 and later re-released on ABC's successor label MCA. It is the first of Buffett's many live albums and his tenth album overall.
The album's material was culled from several concerts at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia and Maurice Gusman Cultural Center in Miami, Florida in August 1978 and was remixed by Elliot Scheiner at AIR Studios in London.
Chart performance
You Had to Be There reached #72 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #29 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album was also certified "Gold" by the RIAA.
Songs
The album featured many of Buffett's concert favorites as well as three new songs that have not appeared on any other Buffett album: "Perrier Blues," "Morris' Nightmare," and the instrumental "Dixie Diner" (a cover originally by Larry Raspberry & the Highsteppers)
The album was heavily edited between shows, making the playlist out of order of the actual show. Songs known to have been played but deleted from the final cut are:
- Banana Republics
- Cheeseburger in Paradise
- Coast of Marseilles
- The Last Line
- Livingston Saturday Night
- Mañana
"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is the only popular song deleted from the album, which is very strange because the song was at its peak in popularity at the time of its release. The reason the song was scrapped from the album is unknown, although one theory is that since it was a current charting single, producer Norbert Putnam did not want to have two competing versions of the same song newly in circulation at the same time.
Track listings
Original phonograph record release
Side One:
- "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:00
- Dialogue :30
- Pencil Thin Mustache" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:19
- Dialogue 1:03
- Wonder Why We Ever Go Home" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:13
- Landfall" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:08
- Dialogue :45
- Miss You So Badly" (Jimmy Buffett/Greg Taylor) 3:57
Side Two:
-
- Dialogue 1:00
- Havaña Daydreamin'" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:26
- Dialogue 1:28
- Margaritaville" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:53( premiere of "The Lost Verse")
- Dialogue :20
- Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:09
- Dialogue :17
- Come Monday" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:28
- Dialogue :36
- Perrier Blues" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:26
Side Three:
-
- Dialogue 4:50
- Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:00
- Dialogue 2:04
- God's Own Drunk" (Lord Buckley) 10:45
- Dialogue 2:09
- He Went To Paris" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:13
- Dialogue :30
- The Captain and the Kid" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:44
Side Four:
-
- Dialogue 3:19
- Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw)" (Marvin Gardens) 2:38
- Dialogue 1:20
- A Pirate Looks at Forty" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:31
- Dialogue :24
- Tampico Trauma" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:50
- Dialogue 1:17
- Morris' Nightmare" (Tim Krekel/Jimmy Buffett) 2:58
- Dixie Diner" (L. Raspberry/G. Taylor/C. Ferrante/R. Berretta/B. Marshall) 5:30
- Applause :49
- Applause [in run-out groove] :02 (repeats)
Compact disc release
Disc One:
- Son of a Son of a Sailor" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:21
- Pencil Thin Mustache" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:37
- Wonder Why We Ever Go Home" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:13
- Landfall" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:32
- Miss You So Badly" (Jimmy Buffett/Greg Taylor) 4:19
- Havaña Daydreamin'" (Jimmy Buffett) 6:34
- Margaritaville" (Jimmy Buffett) 5:30
- Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:28
- Come Monday" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:41
- Perrier Blues" (Jimmy Buffett) 3:52
Disc Two:
- Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" (Jimmy Buffett) 8:06
- God's Own Drunk" (Lord Buckley) 12:40
- He Went to Paris" (Jimmy Buffett) 6:13
- The Captain and The Kid" (Jimmy Buffett) 4:15
- Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw)" (Marvin Gardens) 6:23
- A Pirate Looks at Forty" (Jimmy Buffett) 5:47
- Tampico Trauma" (Jimmy Buffett) 5:47
- Morris' Nightmare" (Tim Krekel/Jimmy Buffett) 3:27
- Dixie Diner" (L. Raspberry/G. Taylor/C. Ferrante/R. Berretta/B. Marshall) 6:22
Personnel
The Coral Reefer Band:
- Jimmy Buffett: Vocals, acoustic and Electric guitar
- Barry Chance: Guitar
- Harry Dailey: Bass
- Jay Spell: Piano
- Mike Utley: Organ
- Kenneth Buttrey: Drums and percussion
- Greg "Fingers" Taylor: Harmonica
- Deborah McColl: Background Vocals
Tour
Despite the recording being captured during 1978's Cheeseburger in Paradise Tour, Buffett set out on a You Had to Be There Tour from February through April 1979. The remainder of the year was dedicated to promoting his 1979 album Volcano.[3]
1979 Coral Reefer Band
- Jimmy Buffett: Vocals and guitar
- Barry Chance: Guitar
- Harry Dailey: Bass and background Vocals
- Deborah McColl: Background Vocals
- Greg “Fingers” Taylor: Harmonica and background Vocals
- Michael Utley: Keyboards
- Andy McMahon: Organ
- Sammy Creason: Drums
Set list
The only set list from the tour that's been confirmed is that of the opening night at Florida Gym in Gainesville, FL. While the structure of Buffett's set lists generally remain the same in a given tour, the song selection varies from night to night; so it's more than likely that there were many changes to the set list as the tour progressed.[4]
Florida Gym
Saturday, February 17, 1979
Set:
- "Son of a Son of a Sailor"
- "Pencil Thin Mustache"
- "Wonder Why We Ever Go Home"
- "Landfall"
- "Miss You So Badly"
- "Boat Drinks"
- "Margaritaville"
- "He Went to Paris" (acoustic)
- "Dreamsicle" (acoustic)
- "God's Own Drunk" (Richard Buckley cover) (acoustic)
- "Why Don't We Get Drunk"
- "Coast of Marseilles" (Keith Sykes cover)
- "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
- "Stranded on a Sandbar"
- "Shiver Me Timbers" (Tom Waits cover) (with Deborah McCall)
- "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes"
- "A Pirate Looks at Forty"
- "Come Monday"
- "Tampico Trauma"
Encore:
- "Let the Good Times Roll" (B.B. King cover)
- "Dixie Diner" (Larry Raspberry And The Highsteppers cover)
Encore 2:
- "Tin Cup Chalice" (acoustic)
Notes