Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Last night at Madison Square Garden in New York, the opening night of their farewell tour, the Eagles took a sobering break in their usual string of hits. Don Henley hushed the crowd and began talking about his longtime bandmate Jimmy Buffett, who had died of skin cancer six days earlier at age 76. After half-joking that Buffett was obviously enjoying a cheeseburger somewhere, Henley added, “We always laughed and said, ‘We got through the ’70s together.’ Jimmy was one of the hardest working men I’ve ever seen, but he made work look like fun. He brought joy to everything he did.”
To further honor Buffett, the band then played two of his songs, “Come Monday” and “Fins,” for the first time ever. (At another point in the show, Henley dedicated “Take It to the Limit” to the band’s original bassist, Randy Meisner, who also died that summer.)
The band’s connection to Buffett dated back at least to 1977, when Buffett opened a few shows on their original Hotel California tour (including one at the Garden). Buffett appeared on “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” on The Long Run, and during the band’s extended hiatus, bassist Timothy B. Schmit was briefly a touring member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. Schmit spoke to Rolling Stone about that backstory and the decision to cover Buffett’s songs — just for one night, as it turned out.
What are your earlier memories of Jimmy?
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When I was in Poco and we were at ABC Records, I had a friend there who eventually became a road manager, and he introduced me to Jimmy’s music – the “A White Sports Coat” album and “Pink Crustacean”. He always had a relationship with the common man. He just spoke their language. People were like, “God, I can empathize with this guy singing about me and what I would like to do.” I even read an article recently about how even though the fashion world never said or spoke anything about him, actually created a fashion style that consisted of flip-flops, shorts, and floral shirts.
I’m not exactly sure how Don, Glenn [Frey] and Joe [Walsh] I got to know him, but we mainly started hanging out together after I joined the Eagles. We recorded the Long Run album in Miami [1979]. He came over because he had just finished an album. We had just finished a year of recording this album and I said, “Oh, you just finished an album? How long did it take?” He said, “19 days.” And I thought, “Oh my God, this isn’t like that.”
How did he get involved with The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks?
The was probably the evening he visited. The memories are hazy for obvious reasons. We were pretty much partying, there were lots of drugs and alcohol going around and we were just having fun. This was obviously a silly song. It’s tongue in cheek, and we treated the whole record that way. When it came time to create the party atmosphere in the background, it wasn’t a problem. He just went along with it.
You toured with Buffett for a few summers in the ’80s. How did that happen?
Well, the Eagles had disbanded. And after confirming this with Glenn, it seemed painfully final and I had to figure out what to do. I had already sung on a number of other people’s records, but I still needed to do something. Out of the blue we were at an afternoon party at Chateau Marmont. I don’t remember the occasion. Jimmy was there and said to me, “What are you doing this summer?” We’re missing a bass player and we could use another singer. Do you want to go out in the summer?” And I said I would think about whether the conditions were right. And the conditions were right. [Laughs] And so I said, “Sure, why not?” I got together with one of the other musicians, Vince Melamed, and put the songs together. As I started learning them, I began to understand what he was about. He was a good writer. He knew how to turn a sentence around.
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We had a lot of fun on this tour. It was pretty much party mode. I marveled at the audience he drew. For me personally it was very different because I was an equal member of a band and was definitely in the background at this show. But Jimmy made me sing a song [the Eagles’] “I can’t tell you why.” He just walked off stage and handed it to me. I didn’t ask him to. But I think it was right that he complimented me and, I think, showed people where I came from. It was generous. He didn’t have to do that.
How did you find out about his death?
I had heard for a while that he wasn’t feeling too well, but then I heard that he was back home. And as I often do, I wanted to call him to see how he was doing. And other parts of my life kept getting in my way. I didn’t realize how critical it was. Then about a week ago I got on a plane to come to New York to rehearse for the shows and Don said, “Buffett is in really, really bad shape. He could have a day or a week. I thought, “Shit.” And within a day I heard that he had passed away. I’m really sorry I couldn’t see him. That made me sad.
It must have been a tough summer in Eagles camp leading up to the death of Randy Meisner.
Randy was an important part of my story. I was part of the private memorial service for him at the Troubadour in LA, just a small crowd of invited people. When it was my turn to speak, I talked about the incredible professional karmic bond we had. I replaced him with Poco. And then I replaced him with the Eagles. I never worked closely with Randy, but we were always very friendly. When we saw each other again, we were really happy.
What prompted the band to do a two-song tribute to Buffett last night?
Well, Irving [Azoff, Eagles manager] and Don had a powwow about it and decided. They wanted me to sing because I had a musical connection with Jimmy. I wrote a song with him and sang on two or three of his records and on tour. So they thought it would be appropriate for me to do one of the more serious ones. Actually, it was between “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Come Monday,” and we all decided that “Come Monday” might be more of a sing-along. So I just started studying it. I don’t feel like I did a great job. But I’m glad I did it. You know, people seemed to enjoy it.
Then we had Joe do “Fins” because it’s one of the crazier, funnier songs Jimmy has written. And that is the definition of Joe. Part of his overall personality is fun and crazy.
These songs showed me that there are many fans of Jimmy in our audience. They sang along to “Come Monday” and I saw some people really moved. During “Fins” they did this little fin dance. So it was a good reaction.
Given that Buffett passed away less than a week before the show, how much time did you have to rehearse?
Two or three days because we also had to rehearse other things.
Will these songs now be a regular part of the set on tour?
Our The homage is now done. We believe this is appropriate, honorable and respectful. And we’ll just be Eagles again. It was a one-time thing. We don’t feel like we have to smash that to the ground. But it was a heartfelt tribute.
His death reminded people that you invented the term “parrot heads.” How did that happen?
On one of these summer trips we were on our way to one of these sheds [in the Eighties]. I can’t remember where it was, but I was riding in his car. which I often did. The only way to get into the venue was to go through a crowd of people who were also going to the venue and walking because they had to park far away.
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People noticed the car, which was probably a stretch limousine or something, and all tried to take a look inside, mostly from a distance. They didn’t crawl over the car or anything. And I said to Jimmy, “You should get up through the sunroof and give the papal signal.”
We laughed, but more and more people noticed the car driving by and I said, “Wow, you have your own deadheads.” But they’re parrot heads. You have your own parrot heads.” I don’t remember his reaction. I’m sure he had that grin he always had. But he took it and ran away with it [laughs]. That’s kind of a cool thing. I didn’t think about that at all. At that moment it seemed obvious to me.