Personnel: Jimmy Buffett (vocals, guitar); Peter Mayer, Mac McAnally (vocals, guitar); Nicky Yarling (vocals, violin); Jim Mayer (vocals, bass); Mary Harris, Claudia Cummings, Nicolette Larson (vocals); G.E. Smith (guitar); Greg "Fingers" Taylor (harmonica); Amy Lee, Johnny Padilla (saxophone); John Lovell (trumpet); Michael Tschudin (keyboards, mallet Kat); Michael Utley (keyboards); Roger Guth (drums); Robert Greenidge (steel drums, percussion); Angel Quinones (congas, percussion).
Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas. Includes liner notes by Jimmy Buffett.
The line "My garden is filled with papayas and mangos/My life is a mixture of reggaes and tangos" deftly sums up the atmosphere of the Parrot King's entire career, the attitude central to his success. The quip opens the serenely pretty "Lone Palm" on FRUITCAKES, Jimmy Buffett's 1993 return to recording after cementing his peculiar position as one of the premier touring sensations. Also telling is the manner in which he alters Peter Finch's classic primal scream from the 1974 film NETWORK in the spoken rap/rant of the title track. Buffett's "mad as hell and doesn't want to take any more," but he would never break his laid-back stride to demand he's not going to take any more.
This relaxed demeanor, along with his ability to turn his over-the-top lyrics and subject matter to his own advantage, hold constant on the lightweight yet enjoyable FRUITCAKES. The tone is set from the opening calypso, "Everybody's Got a Cousin in Miami," an obvious, silly, yet infectious number. Despite his levity, Buffett has constantly displayed a knack for solemn ballads, and here he balances the hedonism with the wistfully charming "Frenchman for the Night," which he follows with a nifty cover of the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon."
