#90 – Stories We Could Tell

by Stacy Loves Buffett · March 25, 2024

#90 – Stories We Could Tell

-by Stacy Garwood-

There are many songs that Jimmy Buffett has recorded over the years that seem to touch some deep chord in the listener’s soul. And Stores We Could Tell is one of those songs. And it goes way back to the early years of Jimmy’s music, when he was still struggling in Key West, but everything was starting to fall into place. His music from that time shows his ever-evolving development as an artist, but also seems to touch on things that were important in his life. Storytelling was an integral part of Jimmy’s life, both as an artist and as a human who was spending a lot of time touring to make his dreams come true. Therefore, he was spending a lot of time in hotels between travel and shows, and this song manages to poignantly embrace both the performer and the soul of who Jimmy was.

“But all the stories we could tell, If it all blows up and goes to hell, I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some motel, Listen to the stories we could tell…”

Stories We Could Tell was a part of JB’s iconic and much acclaimed 1974’s A1A. This album is one of the “Key West phase” Don Gant produced albums, this one being the third of four that the two men worked on together. This is an album that is full of great Jimmy songs, with this one being no exception. Something that does stand out about Stories We Could Tell is that it is one of two covers on the album, the other being I’m Not Making Music For Money. Jimmy was a consummate and gifted songwriter, but he also had the ability to feel out a great song, and not be afraid to record it, whether he had written it or not.

This is one of those Jimmy songs that has always been very personal to me. I love the connections to storytelling and hanging out and sharing memories, and Jimmy did a beautiful job recording this song.

“Talkin to myself again wonderin’ if this traveling is good, Is they’re something else a’ doin’ we’d be doin’ if we could…”

Stories We Could Tell was written by John Sebastian and was first recorded in 1972 by two solo artists, BJ Thomas and The Everly Brothers. The same year Jimmy recorded it, John Sebastian also put it on a solo album, but probably besides Jimmy’s version, the most well-known cover of this song was in 1980 by Tom Petty. As you can imagine, it sounds just like you would imagine a Tom Petty recorded song would sound, with his unique pacing and vocalizations. The song was most recently recorded by John Sebastian and Maria Muldaur in 2021. If Maria Muldaur sounds familiar to anyone, it is probably from her 1973 hit Midnight At The Oasis, a song which I have always enjoyed, but had a friend who forbid me to ever play again as long as music existed. To each their own, I guess!

Now, since we have name dropped John Sebestian a couple times, it seems like time to discuss him in greater detail. John Sebastian was one of the founding members of The Lovin’ Spoonful, with a few of their noted hits being Do You Believe In Magic, Summer In The City, and Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind, but his music story started long before that.

John Sebastian was born and raised in “Little Italy” New York. His father John Sebastian Sr. was a classically trained harmonica player and his mother, Jane, was an actress and radio script writer. She was a very good friend to Vivian Vance, who might sound more familiar when I mention that she played the part of I Love Lucy’s Ethel Mertz, and Vivian also happened to be young John’s godmother. Music and entertainment were a huge part of John Sebastian’s life, with early musical influences being Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie. He later became influenced by both folk and blues music that was part of the growing Greenwich Village scene. While working on his own music, he spent time in the studio for other musicians, a noted example was that he played bass guitar on Bob Dylan’s studio album, Bringing It All Back Home.

To keep his new band financed, John Sebastian was doing his own solo work as well as performing as a studio musician, hence the work with Bob Dylan in 1965, a year after he formed The Lovin’ Spoonful. Even after leaving his iconic 1960’s band and pursuing a solo career, he worked as a studio musician into the seventies and eighties, which seems to define to me that he is a person who loves music and is drawn to making it, regardless of the form or if he as at center stage or not.

Prior to The Lovin’ Spoonful years, while hanging out in Greenwich Village in the early sixties, stepping in for studio work and performing live spots, John was pursuing his own musical career and became a member of a band called The Mugwumps, which consisted of Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, when Cass Elliot invited John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky to replace an exiting member of the band. If Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty sound quite familiar to people, it is probably because of a little sixty’s music group called The Mama’s & The Papa’s. The Mugwumps mutually and agreeably parted ways in 1964, with John and Zal deciding to found their own band, which became known as The Lovin’ Spoonful, while Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty joined forces with John Phillips and his then wife Michelle Phillips, forming The Mamas & The Papas.

The dissolving of The Mugwumps and the forming of the two new bands was friendly and supportive. John Sebastian gives credit to Cass Elliot for introducing him to Zal Yanovsky at all and encouraging them to work together long before she invited them to join her group The Mugwumps. One thing I found interesting in my research was that an early The Mamas & The Papas song, Creeque Alley, which was penned by John and Michelle Phillips, was all about the break-up of the Mugwumps and the creation of two new bands. I relistened to it, and so many things suddenly made sense.

“So if you’re on the road trackin’ down your every night, Playin’ for a livin’ beneath brightly colored lights, If you ever wonder why you ride the carousel, You do it for the stories you can tell…”

During his time with The Lovin’ Spoonful, John Sebastian wrote many songs for this band, and many songs they never recorded, such as Stories We Could Tell. The Loving Spoonful first had great success in the United States, and eventually in Europe as well. During this time John Sebastian also gave an impromptu, unscheduled solo performance at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. He was not slated to perform and had gone as a fan and spectator, and he was enjoying the festivities, when the deluge of rain that the Woodstock festival has become known for caused problems with the stage. It has been reported that the stage was so wet with standing water that organizers were unable to set up any electric equipment on stage, specifically for Carlos Santana to perform, so John Sebastian was solicited from the crowd to play an acoustic set while they were pushing water off the stage.

At some point he took the stage, although details about who he performed before and after are hazy, and there has even been some confusion about what day of the festival he performed at. I guess we can just assume that some of those details are sketchy due to the haze of weed and the tripping of the acid at Woodstock, but everyone seems clear that he performed five songs acoustically, just he and his guitar.

After his time with The Lovin’ Spoonful, John Sebastian had a solo career, releasing nine solo studio albums and continues to tour and perform live, as a solo act as well as with friends or in small groups. Another hit that emerged for him in the seventies, and that might be familiar to many, is Welcome Back, which was written and performed by John Sebastian and become the theme song for Welcome Back, Kotter, a popular sit-com that graced American television sets in the late nineteen seventies. The Lovin’ Spoonful was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

“Stared at that guitar in that museum in Tennessee, Nameplate on the glass brought back twenty melodies, Scars upon the face told about all the times he fell, Singin’ all the stories he could tell…”

I have seen some debate over the years about who, and what guitar, this verse is referring to, with some people claiming Elvis Presley while others are thinking Hank Williams Sr. John Sebastian has reported in fan messages that the line about the guitar was really about an amalgamation of artists, but mentions both Chet Adkins and Fred Neil by name. However, on his Live In Hawaii album from 2005, Jimmy singes the lyrics, “all the times Hank fell…”, so he must have also been thinking the reference was to Hank Sr. Maybe it doesn’t really matter, but I always wondered about that guitar at a museum in Tennessee as well.

And having an answer, to the artist and the guitar, ties to the next version of chorus as well…

“All the stores he could tell, And I’ll bet you it still rings like a bell, I wish I could sit upon the bed in some motel, And listen to the stories it could tell…”

I am not sure at what point Jimmy first heard the song, but he put a heartwarming and touching version of it on his own 1974 album. The song itself is beautifully composed, but Jimmy brought a soft lyrical quality that seems to touch on gentle reminiscing with old friends. Jimmy was a storyteller at heart, not just in his music or in the books he wrote, but a storyteller in all aspects of his life, so I imagine this song really connected to him. Because sometimes the best stories that we tell are when we are just sitting around with friends or family; sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, but always connecting in important ways. Ways that feel like they are slipping away a little bit in the advent of our digital world and its social media craze. Although to be fair, those same outlets help us share stories as well.

I love listening to people tell stories, I love to tell stories, which is probably why I am so happy and honored to share these stories about Jimmy, his music, his career, his life. And trust me, I will do it in person for days, but I am also grateful for the technology that allows us to share these stories in this form, on-line, and for a much broader group of people than can fit in my living room.

Over the years, Jimmy has performed Stories We Could Tell live in concert multiple times, and he has even placed it on a live album as well. Most often, he used it near the end of his setlist, as an encore song, with usually just him performing. Him, his guitar, this song and a crowd, and as most of the time when Jimmy was onstage and performing, his eyes twinkle, his smile lights the stage and you can tell he is in his element.

Ah, the stories he could tell. And he did tell many stories, and sometimes different versions of the same story, which I always really enjoyed. And I am sure as many stories as we heard over the years, I am sure there are some stories that he held very near and dear to his heart, that are only his and not meant to be ours.

One of my favorite recordings of this song was no doubt impromptu, with Jimmy and Mac McAnally performing it acoustic, probably before they took the stage to entertain a screaming, parrothead and fin wearing crowd, with feathers and pirate flags flying. Jimmy solo is a treat, but the gentle, poignant version that was performed by these longtime friends and consummate musicians really cannot be topped, which again makes me thankful for technology and social media resources that does help connect us and share stories in many important ways. And that can share videos that keep the stories and songs and memories alive.

“All the stories we could tell, And if it all blows up and goes to hell, I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some motel, Listen to the stories we could tell, Yes, I wish that we could sit upon the bed in some motel, And listen to the stories it could tell…”

Again, thank you for the music, Jimmy!

Stacy

Please enjoy Stories We Could Tell. I have included the link below. Enjoy!