A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean is the third studio album by American singer-songwriterJimmy Buffett and the first major-label album in Buffett's Don Gant-produced "Key West phase", although Buffett himself frequently refers to A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean as his first album. It was initially released on June 4, 1973, as Dunhill DS-50150 and October 26, 1987, as MCA. It was the first album of his career to feature Buffett's trademark mustache, which would remain in use until Hot Water. The title of the album is a play on the country song "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" by Marty Robbins, and it contains several of what later became Buffett's most popular songs. The album was recorded at outlaw country singer Tompall Glaser's studio in Nashville, Tennessee. It marks the first reference to Buffett's backup band as "The Coral Reefer Band" and is the first album on which long-time Reefers Michael Utley and Greg "Fingers" Taylor play.
Chart performance
The album reached number 43 on the BillboardTop Country Albums chart, but did not make the Billboard 200 album chart, his last major release not to make that chart. The single of "The Great Filling Station Holdup" reached number 58 on the BillboardHot Country Singles chart and "Grapefruit Juicy Fruit" was number 23 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.
Songs
All of the songs on A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean were written or co-written by Buffett. The most well-known song of the album, the novelty "Why Don't We Get Drunk ", was originally released as a B-side, backing the single "The Great Filling Station Holdup" and inspired some controversy at the time due to its lyrics. Buffett wrote "Why Don't We Get Drunk" and is credited with playing maracas and beer cans on the album under the pseudonym Marvin Gardens, derived from a property on the original Atlantic City version of the Monopoly game board. "He Went to Paris" is a perennial fan favorite ballad, appearing on most of Buffett's greatest hits collections. It was remade by Waylon Jennings in 1980, Doug Supernaw in 1994 and by Buffett himself for his 2003 . Both Buffett and Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Railroad Lady". Walker recorded the song a year earlier than Buffett and it was later further popularized by Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson.
Critical reception
Although it was not very successful commercially at the time of its release, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean is generally considered one of Buffett's better albums and the beginning of his success. Johnny Loftus of AllMusic argues, "while it still lies much closer to Nashville than Key West," the album "does begin to delineate the blowsy, good-timin' Key West persona that would lead him to summer tour stardom" and is "highly recommended for Buffett completists and those interested in his more introspective side."
