License to Chill
Country music's infatuation with the puka-shell rock of Jimmy Buffett has been one of the genre's less fortunate indulgences. Most of Nashville's hat acts do little more than dip their toe in the water and do nothing to build upon Buffett's signature sounds. That's whyLicense to Chill, which features a plethora of Music City guests (Alan Jackson,Kenny Chesney,Clint Black,George Strait,Martina McBride,Toby Keith) along withBill WithersandNanci Griffith, seems like a bad idea. But the album, on which the Key West hedonist performs his favorite "bar gig" songs, as he calls them, often delights. As someone who began his songwriting career in Nashville (and who's also recorded more than half his albums there), Buffett isn't just slumming, as his choice of covers (from such writers asGuy Clark,John Hiatt,Hank Williams, andJerry Garcia) proves. What could have been little more than a lark, then, ends up being a showcase for Buffett the serious songwriter and song finder. Although he does indulge in the occasional beach-minded thong-writing,Chillis a surprisingly satisfying album aimed less at the Parrothead crowd and more toward an audience who remembers the Buffett of 30 years ago, a man who struggled to make his mark among Nashville's most revered tunesmiths.--Alanna Nash