The second side of A1A (I wore out a couple of vinyl albums playing this side back in the day when music came on large black "CDs") is my favorite side of all JB albums. This album hardly left my tape player back in college. Migration and Trying to Reason with Hurrican Season are my favs.

It was quite late in my life before I too had been "west of New Orleans or east of Pensacola" (I'm from Alabama and now live in China)and I'll always be a Jimmy fan, even if his lawyers sued a little ol' bar in the Philippines for using the name "Margaritaville".
A themematic album Buffett takes you on a ride through the sights and sounds of south Florida in the early 70's just on the edge of the burgeoning tourist seasons to come. My short review of this album is that the disc starts out a little unfocused and loose but by song 6 Buffett is in fine form producing one of the best albums of his long career. The roots of the album are deeply country and honky tonk surely influenced by Buffetts early performaces in bars throughout the deep south.

"Makin' music for money" a great opener to the album, a honky tonk flavored song...an early proclamation to one of Jimmy Buffetts musical style. That despite whats "popular" and "commercial" he is going to make music that appeals to him and that he enjoys. Unfortnately this song is followed up by what this reviewer considers the weakest cut of the album. The country ballad/novelty song "Door Number 3". In comparison to other songs on the album it easily could have been excluded only to the benefit the album. Thankfully it is followed by a cover of Barletts "Dallas" where in the smooth hand of Doyle Grishams steel guitar almost floats and flows along the accompaniment of the Coral Reefer Band. Buffet follows it with "Presents to send you" a mid tempo folksy trip that really puts the the weakness of "Door Number 3" behind. The song rides a real rhythm of mid tempo and a fast tempo song. In an age of looking for any chance to break out and showcase Buffett shows that song writers talent for staying in control. And instead of a cliched self indulgent jam session that many of the southern rock/country artists of that time would inevitably go into. He writes a well structured song and he and his musicians are able to flourish with in the boundries of the song. Buffett pulls aside to rest with in the shelter of of a nother cover song of "The stories we could tell" (it begs to wonder if there is any southern band that doesn't do this song?). While nothing wrong with the song when compared to the preceding songs its a a bit disappointing. Its just kind of "there". Tempo change to "Life is just a tire swing" a bit of a novelty a bit ballad...the sweet reminisce of the ealry days of growing up in the song saves the song from becoming "Door Number 3". the last 2 songs seem almost a stumble to the pace that had been established. The album turns a definite corner with the Jimmy Buffett standard "A pirate looks at 40" the escapst anthem of the middle aged man. Highlights of the song being the harmonica accompainment of Fingers Taylor and soft background vocals that texture the bittersweet lyrics. "Migration" an up tempo folk song...the playful lyrics and wander steel make this song a forgotten gem on this album and states another Buffet music axiom "Got a Carribean soul I can barely control and some texas hidden here in my heart." Switching back to his ballads "Tryin' to reason with the hurricane season." makes for a sweet transition...understated guitars and vivid lyrics put you one the beach looking for the impending storms with a calm, subtle resignation. "Tryin' to reason" almost seems to melt into "Nautical Wheelers" changing from one ballad to the next from folk to country. Its rare that and album that an album so heavy in it s ballad can be so strong but Jimmy Buffett pulls it off...very well. The trip of A-1-A winds up in Mallory Square in Key West with the sunset. "Tin Cup Chalice" puts the salt on the margarita glass. A slow tempo but uplifting conclusion to the album. If making a collection of classic albums or an introductory fan to Jimmy Buffett this CD is a must have.

complete with all the trimmings!
I first got this album from my fathers old record collection. I had heard the Jack Johnson cover of A pirate looks at 40, and had wanted to hear the original. Once i got listening to the record i coundnt stop. personally i think side B of the original vinyl is the greatest side ever cut. surprisingly i seem to be one of the few ppl who actually likes the song "Trying to reason with hurricane season" its probably the greatest hangover/quiet reflective song of all time. This is a great album from a truley great artist.
Jimmy Buffett's albums are almost always happily hedonistic, but every now and then even he admits that there's hell to pay for all the high jinks. On A1A, an album named for the coastal highway that ends just blocks from the singer's onetime home in Key West, Florida, that realization comes in the form of "A Pirate Looks at Forty" and "Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season," which acknowledge the onset of a king-size hangover. Buffett offers some hair of the dog on "Presents to Send You" and "Life Is Just a Tire Swing," however, and there's a nice selection of other tracks as well, including the lovely waltz "Nautical Wheelers" and "Door Number Three," a hilarious if somewhat dated song about the long-lost game show Let's Make a Deal. --Daniel Durchholz