I quit the University of Virginia for two years and moved to Key West in 1978. I can’t say that Jimmy’s music was the primary reason, but the lifestyle sure was.
I ended up going back to college, met my wife, and after graduation, she and I loaded up my beat-up 1966 Volkswagen bus and spent our first year of marriage there in 1982-83.
Never ran into Jimmy, not once. But his spirit was everywhere. It was a fun time.
Interestingly, Jimmy met his wife while she was in Key West on spring break in 1977.
Whenever I hear a tune from Living and Dying in 3/4 Time, it transports me back to those carefree days. No phone, a car that barely ran, working the graveyard shift at Perkins Cake and Steak, a bottle of wine at Fausto’s Food Palace for $1.99.
I performed music for the first time there, just one of many who thought it would be easy to do what Jimmy had done. Turns out, it’s not!