Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band: Jimmy Buffett (guitar, vocals); Melanie Prestidge, Claudia Cummings, Tina Gullickson, Nadirah Shakoor (vocals); Peter Mayer (guitar, ukulele, vocals); Mac McAnally (guitar, vocals); Greg "Fingers" Taylor (harmonica); Amy Lee, Tom Mitchell (saxophone); John Lovell (trumpet); Michael Utley (keyboards); Jim Mayer (acoustic bass, bass); Roger Guth (drums); Robert Greenidge (steel drums, percussion); Ralph MacDonald (percussion).
Recorded at Javelina "The Big Pig" Studio, Nashville, Tennessee.
Jimmy Buffett is home for the holidays, occupying his usual laid-back, Caribbean-influenced, folky territory, this time with a Christmas twist. Parrotheads and regular folks alike will enjoy these mellow, witty versions of old favorites (Buffett's "Jingle Bells" includes the line, "A day or two ago/I thought I'd make a run/To Port Antonio/I be cruisin' in the sun") as well as Buffett originals such as "A Sailor's Christmas" and "Ho Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Rhum."
Most of CHRISTMAS ISLAND is lighthearted fun, but the final track, "Merry Christmas, Alabama," provides a touch of nostalgia. Buffett was born on Christmas day 1946, and the song includes thanks to "my saints and guardian angels/Who protect me as I roam."
