Day #16 – The Captain And The Kid

Day #16 – The Captain And The Kid

Captain James Delaney Buffett Sr was born in Nova Scotia in 1887 and died in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 1970. He was certainly a huge influence on Jimmy, and I imagine the rest of the Buffett family. The Captain And The Kid isn’t the only song that Jimmy writes about him in, but I believe it is the first. It is a beautiful tribute!

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Original post from 9/17/2023

Day #16 – The Captain And The Kid

This was one of Jimmy’s earliest songs and it was on his very first album, 1970’s Down To Earth. The album was made in Nashville, and it had a country/folk/rock vibe, but this song is all James William Buffett and was touched by the sea.

Jimmy wrote this song in honor of grandfather about a month after he passed away. Jimmy was very close to his grandfather, a retired sea captain, and spent a lot of time with him growing up. He was incredibly saddened by the loss of his hero and wanted to honor him. And he wrote the truth of how he felt.

Soon after, a Nashville record executive told Jimmy that he liked the song but it was “too sad”. Maybe Jimmy could rewrite the ending so the old man lived? They could have a beer at the end? Jimmy said no, he died and that’s the truth and I can’t change that and I’m not hiding that.

So, he didn’t sell that song that day, but later that same year, JB had a record contract and was able to put his song down on vinyl, sad and true, just as it was intended. Jimmy would actually record this song four times and place it on four separate albums, honoring his beloved grandfather each and every time.

The recording is from the Havana Daydreamin’ album but the cover is from Down To Earth, the record that started a beautiful recording career. And yes, it’s a picture of Jimmy sitting in a junk car in junk yard. He was always quirky like that!

Please enjoy The Captain And The Kid! It’s a touching and emotional song about Jimmy’s grandfather and hero! I’ve included the link in the comments below.

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Looking through one’s own family history is sometimes like piecing together a puzzle, and looking at another person’s family is no different. Of course, I had learned sometime in the past 31 years that Jimmy’s grandfather was born in Nova Scotia, was a sailor and had at some point settled along the Mississippi coast.

What I didn’t put together until just recently, was that at some point, he must have become an American citizen, because he had joined the American Navy, specifically the Merchant Marines, after the start of WW!!. The man had already been retired from a previous military career and still joined up. That is incredibly brave. No wonder Jimmy was so very proud of the man his grandfather was.

Stacy

Please enjoy The Captain And The Kid. I have included the link below. Enjoy!

The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.