“Mozambique” & “University of Bourbon Street” are available now
For over five decades, Jimmy Buffett has transported listeners to easy living paradises through his music. His passion for travel and good-time escapism continues in a pair of new singles from his upcoming album Equal Strain On All Parts via Mailboat Records, distributed by Sun Records on November 3rd. The two new tracks include a balmy version of the most Jimmy Buffett-esque song Bob Dylan ever wrote, “Mozambique,” and the rollicking original, “University of Bourbon Street,” destined to become a New Orleans Parrot Head party anthem.
On “Mozambique” Buffett treats listeners to a getaway on the eastern coast of southern Africa with his effervescent take on Dylan’s 1976 classic. Thirteen-time Grammy Award winner and Country Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris sang with Dylan on the original track, and she comes along for the ride again with Buffett as he effortlessly transforms the tune into one of his signature easy-living songs. Dylan and Buffett shared an admiration for each other’s work; in a 2009 interview with rock critic and MTV producer Bill Flanagan that was published in HuffPost, Dylan listed Buffett as one of his favorite songwriters of all time.
In “University of Bourbon Street,” Buffett is joined by the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the festivities get delightfully out of control like they only can in New Orleans. In the autobiographical track, Buffett recounts how he “danced out of Mississippi to the University of Bourbon Street,” where he received his education through streetcars and smiles, the backbeat and brass bands, the music of The Neville Brothers, and building Mardis Gras floats. This NOLA-style education was to greatly influence his music and joyous outlook on life.
As the music world remembers Jimmy Buffett—beloved singer-songwriter, performer, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and Mayor of Margaritaville—it celebrates his musical legacy with the upcoming album, Equal Strain On All Parts. Buffett worked diligently on the record over the past year, bringing together a list of well-known friends, including Paul McCartney, Lennie Gallant, Angelique Kidjo, as well as Harris and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Buffett died in September from a four-year battle with the rare Merkel Cell skin cancer. Buffett was 76 when he passed away, surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs at his Sag Harbor, Long Island home. The “Margaritaville” singer had been receiving hospice.
Despite his cancer battle, Buffett continued to perform during treatment, playing his last show, a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July.
