Volcano (Jimmy Buffett album)


Volcano is the ninth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and is his 11th overall. It was released on August 1, 1979 as MCA 5102 on LP and October 10, 1988 as MCAD-1657 on CD. It was his first release on that label after its absorption of ABC Dunhill.
The album and its title song are named for the then dormant Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat in the British West Indies where Buffett recorded the album in May 1979 at AIR Studios. Additional recording was done at Quadrafonic Studios in Nashville Tennessee and Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California in the United States. The album is dedicated to Buffett's wife and his daughter, Savannah Jane Buffett, who was born just before its release.

Songs

All of the songs are written or co-written by Buffett. Buffett performed "Volcano" with Don Henley at a 1993 Walden Woods Project benefit concert that is available on Henley's 2002 One of These Nights.

Chart performance

Volcano reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number 13 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Three singles from the album charted including "Fins", "Volcano", and "Survive".
In the United Kingdom, "Chanson pour les petits enfants" was released as a single for Christmas 1979. It did not chart officially, but peaked at number 86 in the Record Business magazine chart in Christmas week and became an enduringly popular song on BBC Radio 2 in a country where Buffett has had very little success.

Critical reception

Although the album generated two songs, "Fins" and "Volcano," that have become Buffett concert standards, part of 'The Big 8" that he has played at almost all of his concerts, critical reception was less positive. Allmusic reviewer Vik Iyengar posits that "this album marks a low point for Jimmy Buffett in a decade in which he delivered one solid album after another."

Track listing

Side 1:
  1. "Fins" – 3:27
  2. "Volcano" – 3:37
  3. "Treat Her Like a Lady" – 4:18
  4. "Stranded on a Sandbar" – 3:08
  5. "Chanson Pour Les Petits Enfants" – 4:01
Side 2:
  1. "Survive" – 4:50
  2. "Lady I Can't Explain" – 2:42
  3. "Boat Drinks" – 2:37
  4. "Dreamsicle" – 2:18
  5. "Sending the Old Man Home" – 3:23
Cassette pressings of the album have "Volcano" and "Dreamsicle" swapped in track order.
The running times listed for "Treat Her Like a Lady" and "Survive" on LP and CD pressings are incorrect. They are listed at 3:55 and 4:29, respectively.

Personnel

The Coral Reefer Band:
Buffett set out on a You Had to Be There Tour from February through April 1979, stopping in May to record Volcano. The remainder of the year Buffet toured in support of the album. One of these concerts was Buffet's first trip to Hawaii, opening for the Eagles in Aloha Stadium in September.