Living and Dying in 3/4 Time
Living and Dying in ¾ Time is the fourth studio album by American popular-music singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett and the second major-label album in Buffett's Don Gant-produced "Key West phase". It was initially released in February 1974 as Dunhill DS-50132 and later rereleased on Dunhill's successor labels ABC and MCA. It contains the song "Come Monday", his first top-40 hit single. Despite the title, not all the songs on the album are in time signature. The lyrics of "Nautical Wheelers" on Buffett's subsequent album, "A1A", refer to  living and dying in ¾ time and the song is also in time signature. Chart performance. The album was Buffett's first to chart on the "Billboard" 200 album chart, but it only reached number 176. Unlike "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean" before it, it failed to make the "Billboard" Top Country Albums chart. The single of "Come Monday" reached number 30 on the Hot 100 and number three Easy Listening and number 58 Country. In addition, "Pencil Thin Mustache" hit number 44 Easy Listening and "Saxophones" "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at number 105. Songs. In  addition to "Come Monday," the album contains "Pencil Thin Mustache", another Buffett concert favorite. The two songs appear on most of his live albums and greatest hits compilations. The album contains two cover songs: "Ballad of Spider John" written and originally performed by Willis Alan Ramsey and "God's Own Drunk" by Lord Buckley. Buffett's version of "Ballad of Spider John" is missing some of the lyrics of the original, although he has included these in concert renditions. "Livingston's Gone to Texas" is a remake of Buffett's own song that was originally recorded for "High Cumberland Jubilee  (recorded 1971, released 1976). The version on Living and Dying in ¾ Time" is a slower tempo, more country-sounding presentation, and is missing the penultimate verse of the original. Track listing. Side A: Side B: Performers. The Second Coral Reefer Band: Singles. The single release of "Saxophones" was different from the album version, with an added horn section and background vocal section.