#82 – Johnny’s Rhum

by Stacy Loves Buffett · January 29, 2024

#82 – Johnny’s Rhum

by Stacy Garwood

“I had a dream I was down at Jojo’s, Havin’ a burger ‘neath the setting sun, Johnny was sitting in the corner, Sippin’ on a glass of Depaz Rhum…”

Of all the songs on Jimmy’s posthumous album, this one took me completely unaware, and captivated a bit of my soul when I first heard it. And each and every time I hear it, I still feel the same way. Cataloging favorites is hard, so all I am going to say is that this song is special.

Johnny’s Rhum was released on JB’s 2023 album Equal Strain On All Parts. It turned out to be a posthumous album release, although I do not necessarily believe it was intended to be. Whatever its intent, this is an album full of wonderful songs and each is special in its own way.

Johnny’s Rhum was written by Jimmy along with long time friend and cowriting partner Mac McAnally, and Lennie Gallant, who wrote with Jimmy for the first time on this album. He has cowriting credits on this song and Portugal or PEI, another gorgeous tune.

Lennie Gallant is a Canadian singer songwriter from Prince Edward Island, and his music is a bit country, a bit folk, a bit rock, a bit Celtic, and a bit of the Acadian French flavor of the people of Prince Edward Island. He has released twelve albums, two of which are entirely French language music. After this song was written, Jimmy encouraged Lennie to write a French language version of the song, which Gallant says he has done, and is releasing with Patricia Richard.

Prince Edward Island, often referred to as PEI, is geographically the smallest of the Canadian provinces while being the most densely populated. The culture of the region is tied to Scottish, English, Irish, Celtic and French peoples. Culture is interesting and the same French Acadian’s that populate Prince Edward Island also populate rural Louisianna and have become know as Cajun, and we know that the Cajun and Creole flair of New Orleans was a huge influence on Jimmy.

Jimmy had covered one of Gallant’s songs back on 2002’s Far Side Of The World, called Mademoiselle (Voulez-Vous Danser). While Jimmy and Lennie Gallant had met in the past (according to Gallant they met at an Oyster shucking party), and even performed together live on stage and visited together early in the millennium, they had never written together. But in 2022, Lennie received a phone call from Jimmy discussing the possibility of them cowriting together. Lennie says that because of background noise and poor reception, the call was scratchy and at first, he did not know who had called, but he soon realized who he was talking to and said absolutely to the song writing opportunity.

For this album, it seems like Jimmy had quite a few ideas for songs and lyrics and had strong ideas on who he wanted to write certain songs with. He would text ideas and send notes to people pertaining to each song. Perhaps because of Lennie’s French language connection, Jimmy picked him to take a part in the song Johnny’s Rhum.

Johnny’s Rhum is a song honoring Johnny Hallyday, an exceptional French rock and roll artist, known as the French Elvis. Jimmy personally knew Johnny from them both having kicked off their shoes on the island of St Barts and both calling it home for years. Much like Jimmy, it seemed like Johnny felt like St Bart’s was a place he could be himself and not be recognized. Johnny was rarely recognized outside of his home nation of France and Jimmy once said that he was the opposite of Johnny, as no one is France recognized Jimmy, but in his own United States, he could rarely go without being recognized. For whatever reason, Johnny Hallyday made an impression on Jimmy Buffett, and Jimmy honored him with a song.

I will admit that before I heard this song, I don’t believe I had ever heard of Johnny Hallyday, or if I had heard the name, it didn’t leave any kind of impression that I can recall. But when I heard this song, I absolutely did a deep dive into learning who Johnny Hallyday was.

“All the blood and the sweat and the long shot bets, And the things that the people say, You were more than just the French Elvis, You was Johnny Hallyday…”

What I found out that Johnny Hallyday was a huge, and I mean huge, artist in his native France, which trickled out to several French speaking territories. His music career lasted almost sixty years, he released 79 albums, sold 110 million records worldwide. Bigger than Elvis in France, bigger than the Beatles in France, this was a man who turned the music world of France onto rock and roll. In his early years, the was known as the “corrupter of youth” in France (sounds just like Elvis Presley) but became a cultural icon to the entire nation (again, much like Elvis Presley), where people of all ages and generations knew his music and filled arenas to see him perform.

“And the sound spread through all nations, But the source only played in one, So Johnny made a plan, and he started a band, And then made himself a hell of a run…”

He was a handsome youth, wore tight pants, had good hair and flashy clothes, and he could sing. His birth name was Jean-Philippe Leo Smet, but he went the stage name of Johnny Hallyday. Interestingly, Hallyday was borrowed from a cousin-by-marriage in Oklahoma called Lee Halliday, who was a singer and dancer and acrobat. I do not know if the two men ever met, but the name became synonymous with the French rock and roll performer.

“There was a sound come across the ocean, From Memphis to the heart of France, It made Johnny dream and made the young girls scream, And everybody sing and dance…”

Johnny Hallyday, born in 1943, was strongly influenced by Elvis Presley, like many of his generation, and the rock revolution that was happening across the world. Hallyday became known for singing his brand of rock and roll in French. He had a huge career, enough that he was invited to perform on the Ed Sullivan show, which was filmed in Paris at the Moulin Rouge nightclub but aired in America. In 1966, an American rock band known as The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened shows for him, and around this same time, Hallyday was in the studio cutting records with a young guitarist named Jimmy Page, who many people will recognize from the epic rock band Led Zeppelin. Hallyday lived like a rock artist, and socialized with other rockers of his time, such as Keith Richards and Bob Dylan.

Later in is career, he lived in Europe but outside of France because of “tax law” issues, then later lived in California, and on the island of Saint Barthelemy, also know as St Barts, in the Virgin Islands. This was a favorite hangout and a second home to Jimmy Buffett, and the two men knew each other from their time on the island paradise. In California, where he was not commonly recognized, Johnny Hallyday liked to ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle along the coast and into the deserts and was chill enough to stay at roadside motels along his journeys. USA Today once referred to Hallyday as “the greatest rock star you never heard of”, and I fell easily into that category until this song opened my eyes.

“The Champs-Elysees was crowded, Almost a million strong, There to raise a glass and to watch him pass, Maybe hoping for just one more song…”

Hallyday died of lung cancer in 2017 and had the most epic of rock and roll funerals. His procession traveled through Paris to a crowd of nearly one million people, with another fifteen million watching on television, accompanied with all the fanfare of a state funeral, along with over 700 motorcycles in the funeral procession. And then his remains were flown out of France and to the Caribbean and was laid to rest in the very sought after parish cemetery in the Lorient region of Saint Barthelemy, in which the unadorned white headstones look out over the crashing sea.

“He was checking out all the tombstones, ‘Cross the cemetery in Lorient, The state was hung, the soundcheck done, He was ready for everyone…”

Johnny and Jimmy probably both enjoyed the anonymity of life on St Barts, the laid-back lifestyle, the warm sun, the smell of the sea, the good food and the good rum, or rhum, as it’s known in the Caribbean. St Barts stars in this song, just as much as Johnny does, with nods to the burgers at a restaurant called Jojo’s and Depaz Rhum, which is distilled on the nearby island of Martinique. And there are nods to other artists of the time, including Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Carl Perkins, and as well as mentions to Elvis and his infamous manager Colonel Parker. It’s a dream song, so anything goes, right?

The great Mac McAnally was also part of this songwriting process, and Mac and Jimmy always seem to produce magic together when songwriting, and this song is no exception. On RadioMargaritaville, Mac and Michael Utley, who produced Equal Strain On All Parts, did a radio show that introduced each song on this album, which included stories about Jimmy, the songs, and the writing and recording process, even Mac admits he was unaware of Johnny Hallyday’s career or his impact, but once he started looking, he was quite impressed. And was happy to join Jimmy in this songwriting journey.

With Jimmy Buffett and Mac McAnally in the songwriting room, and with the addition of Lennie Gallant, this trio produced this gorgeous song that honors the epic career of Johnny Hallyday, who was more than “just” the French Elvis, song lovingly by a man who was more than just the Man from Margaritaville. When I first heard this song, part of me wondered if some of Jimmy’s hidden message was about himself, as well.

You don’t have to convince me, Jimmy, I know that you were so much, so very much more, than “just” the man from Margaritaville. Thank you for another beautiful song and story!

Stacy

Please enjoy Johnny’s Rhum. I have included the link below. Enjoy!