Phil Clarke: A Pirate Looks At 40

 

Phil Clark: A Pirate Looks At 40

The infamous Phil Clark

Jimmy Buffett 's song, "A Pirate Looks At Forty" has been a long-time anthem for those who dream of quitting the rat race and sailing off to some exotic island and living the life of a beach bum. While most people believe this song to be autobiographical, Buffett actually wrote the song about a Key West resident named Phil Clark.

In the early seventies, when Buffett was an unknown hippie folk singer trying to scrape a living together playing Key West watering holes, he met a sometime bartender, sometime marijuana smuggler named Phil Clark. Probably a good ten years older than Jimmy, the mysterious Clark regaled Buffett with stories of his adventures sailing around the Caribbean, drinking, drugging and romancing beautiful women.

Buffett during his hippie days

Not much is known about Clark before he showed up in Key West (some say he was an insurance man from up north somewhere) but around the keys he was thought of as a modern day twentieth century pirate. His hedonistic lifestyle was a big influence on Buffett and you have to wonder, would there be a Parrotthead Nation if Jimmy had never met Phil Clark?

Eventually, Clark got into trouble with the law and fled Key West. (After he went on the run, locals started referring to Buffett 's song as, "A Pirate Looks At Five To Ten". He reportedly drowned near Sausalito, California a few years later.

Here is a video of Jimmy Buffett and Jerry Jeff Walker (who also lived in Key West in the early seventies) reminiscing about Phil Clark.

For more information on Phil Clark check out these books:
"Jimmy Buffett:  The Key West Years" by Tom Corcoran
"Mile Marker Zero" by William Mckeen
Both are

Casey’s Jimmy Buffett Mix

 Before he was a middle age multi millionaire, Jimmy Buffett was a longhaired, dope smokin’ beer drinking beach bum. His first five albums reflect that lifestyle. Here is a mix I put together featuring tunes from his early years. A perfect soundtrack for a hot summer afternoon. Manana…Click on the link & checkout the mix

Casey’s Jimmy Buffett Mix

Daddy Stovepipe :

Daddy Stovepipe was born in Mobile, Alabama back in 1867. He recorded solo sides and as a duet partner with his wife, Mississippi Sarah. He began performing around 1900 in Mexico with various mariachi bands. In addition to performing in Mexico, he also played in traveling minstrel shows and was active all over the southern U.S, Arizona and was a busker for many years on Maxwell Street in Chicago. He was performing there well into his nineties. In fact, his final recordings were made on the street in 1963. Here he is performing his song, "Sundown Blues"

Rock N Roll Casey

August 22, 2024

More on Daddy Stovepipe::

All Music Guide

Wikipedia

Ray Collins (1936-2012)

An original member of The Mothers Of Invention. In later years lived in his van on the streets of Claremont, California. A colorful character to say the least. Check out the articles below.
 

Articles:

Village Greeter

A Gifted Artist & Wayward Soul

My Old New Friend

Casey’s Incredible Mix Tape #3

 

Casey’s Incredible Mix Tape #3

 

Very pleasant day  today, Sunshine & 85. Time is growing short on the summertime. For kids & parents it ends when the bell rings. For the rest of us it (unofficially) ends the Monday after Labor Day. 

Have you been to a baseball game? Gone swimming? Chased lightning bugs? Drank a glass of lemonade on the porch? Time is growing short. It’s later than you think. Check out this old Country Time Lemonade commercial. It should help you get in the spirit of the season.

It’s August 8th today. On this day back in 1969  the Beatles shot the Abbey Road album cover The one where they’re walking across the street. Paul is barefoot and this is what started the whole “Paul is Dead” nonsense.

While you are drinking lemonade on your front porch and contemplating Paul McCartney’s mortality, take a listen to Casey’s Incredible Mix Tape #3. It features music by Lester Bowie, B-52s  The Shaggs, Rikki Lee Jones, Tangerine Dream, Elmore James, Three Dog Night & more. Take a listen -HERE

PLAYLIST

Alligator Shuffle (Lazy Lester)

Wipe Out.  (The Shaggs)

Chuck E’s In Love.  (Rikki Lee Jones)

Cry To Me (Solomon Burke)

Beat It Down The Line. (Grateful Dead)

Howdy Doody Time. (Lester Bowie)

Lester Bowie

Old Fashioned Love Song  (Three Dog Night)

Jazzbo’s Theory   (Al “Jazzbo” Collins)

Love Shack   (B-52s)

Loved By The Sun  (Tangerine Dream)

**Grover Washington Jr. Interview   (Ben Sidran)

Just The Two Of Us  (Grover Washington Jr.)

Done Somebody Wrong  (Elmore James)

Listen to the podcast HERE

Produced by Rock N Roll Casey

Casey's Websitr

Jimmy Webb Tribute

 Jimmy Webb was born on this day 78 years ago in Elk City, Oklahoma. He was one of the biggest songwriters of the late 60s & seventies writing hits for Glen Campbell, The 5th Dimension, Richard Harris, Art Garfunkel, The Brooklyn Bridge and The Highway Men. Here is my musical mix tape in honor of the great Jimmy Webb.

PLAYLIST

Witchita Lineman  (Glenn Campbell)

Up Up & Away  (5th Dimension)

P.F Sloan  (Jimmy Webb)

MacArthur Park  (Richard Harris)

The Worst That Could Happen  (Brooklyn Bridge)

By The Time I Get To Phoneix  (Glenn Campbell)

All I Know  (Art Garfunkel)

Galveston  (Glenn Campbell)

Highwayman  (The Highwaymen)

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress  (Joe Cocker)

Didn't We  (Richard Harris)

--Rock N Roll Casey

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The North Pole Chimney Shakers

The North Pole Chimney Shakers

The North Pole Chimney Shakers are the Artic Circle’s premiere (only?) rock n roll band. Consisting of  four former employees of Santa’s Workshop, they spend their days collecting unemployment checks and watching F-Troop reruns and their evenings mixing it up at various North Pole watering holes. Their beer fueled live sets consist of sloppy garage rock and blues covers with an occasional original thrown in for good measure. Their first record, the controversial “Mrs. Claus’s Blues”, not only got them fired from Santa’s Workshop, it also got them a brutal beat down from a nasty group of elves and the "Bowl Full Of Jelly" himself. Still, they persevere. Take a listen to Mrs. Claus's Blues Here

The North Pole Chimney Shakers are;

Rock N Roll Casey; Vocals, guitars, drums

Lars St. Nichols: Tambourine, beer runs

Herbie "The Dentist" Uszniewicz: Keyboards, bowling

Eddie "Jingle" Kringle: Musical saw, hygiene