Jimmy Buffett is dead at 76: 'Margaritaville' singer smuggled dope before building a business empire around his beach-bum lifestyle

Daily Mail UK ^ | September 2, 2023 | Victoria Bischoff

[skr]

Thank you for the link. I haven’t heard that one much, if at all. I know I’ve heard the album with the American flag design on his thumb. He certainly is gifted in lyricism, just as his reportedly good friend, Weird Al Yankovic, is gifted as a wordsmith. Al did a Stars Wars parody of American Pie, The Saga Begins. In case you haven’t heard it yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcjgJSqSRU

[Hildy]

Here is something I bet you did not know:

Killing me Softly with his Song was written about Don McLean.

“Musician Lori Lieberman was 19 years old in 1971 when she was introduced to veteran songwriter Norman Gimbel and composer Charles Fox; the two men signed her to a management contract in which they would write her songs and manage her career, and take 20% of her income.[1] The three shared a common Jewish heritage and Scorpio astrological signs, and they began to pool songwriting ideas.[2] Gimbel also began an affair with Lieberman, even though he was 24 years older and married. They kept the affair a secret for years.[1]

In November 1971, Lieberman, then 20, went out with her friend Michele Willens (daughter of millionaire Harold Willens) to see Don McLean perform at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles.[1] McLean’s hit song “American Pie” was rising in the charts, but Lieberman was strongly affected by McLean singing another song: “Empty Chairs”.[7][8] This song spurred her to write poetic notes on a paper napkin while he was performing the song.[9] Willens confirms that Lieberman was “scribbling notes” on a napkin as soon as McLean began singing the song. After the concert, Lieberman phoned Gimbel to read him her napkin notes and share her experience of a singer reaching deep inside her world with his song.[1] Lieberman’s description reminded Gimbel of a song title that was already in his idea notebook, the title “killing us softly with some blues”.[10] Gimbel expanded on Lieberman’s notes, fleshing them out into song lyrics. Gimbel said in 1973 that “Her conversation fed me, inspired me, gave me some language and a choice of words.”[1] Gimbel passed these lyrics to Fox, who set them to music.[2]”

I saw Lieberman sing Killing me Softly at My Father’s Place on Long Island in around 1974.