A Key West Treasure
Shrimpboat Sound Studio “A Key West treasure”
Studio Manager and Jimmy Buffett favorite “Roadie”, JL Jamison warmed yp the Neve board.
At the end of a tour in Hawaii, Jimmy Buffett announced he was planning to open a club in Key West. In 1986, Buffett brought his favorite “roadie”, John Lynch (aka JL) Jamison to Key West to help open Margaritaville. He stayed at Buffett’s house and Buffett showed him around a bit. Since Buffett was on his way out of town for two weeks, he introduced JL to Bobby Mongelli, his landscaper at the time (the now famous owner of Hogfish and Roostica). Mongelli took Jamison under his wing and took him around town. Jamison helped open Margaritaville, booking bands, running the sound system, and most everything else.
A repica of the Hemisphere Dancer use to hang in the studio.
Also, in 1986, Buffett leased an old ice house near the shrimp docks from Singleton Enterprises, owner of one of the largest shrimping fleets in Key West. It became the Shrimpboat Sound Studio and Jameson quickly transitioned from the Margaritaville operation to managing the studio. Today, it’s a non-descript white building covered with stickers on the waterfront side.
Originally, the property that currently has the city monument was considered part of the studio property. It was covered with trees and old shrimp nets that hid the studio from view. Jamison and the studio made use of an old satellite dish for a goldfish pond and had a barbecue pit, a horseshoe pit, and a couple of mascots — a peacock and a goat. There were always good times making music at Shrimpboat Sound.
When you walk in you see many of the awards that Jimmy Buffett received.
The small alley behind the studio, currently called Lazy Way, housed Lazy Jake’s Hammocks, a series of small cabana rental structures which was run by Lazy Jake Fisher. He was also the security guard and caretaker for the new Shrimpboat Sound Studio. Jake was actually the opposite of lazy and became one of Jamison’s best friends. He even attended Jamison’s wedding in Cincinnati. It was the first-time Lazy Jake had worn a suit and dress shoes in years.
After working hard in the studio to complete one of Jimmy’s 32 albums recorded at Shrimpboat, Buffett and crew would usually get permission from good friend and former Pier House owner, David Wolkowsky to have a party at Ballast Key, his private hideaway ten miles west of Key West. A flotilla of boats took everyone to the island to celebrate. Mr. Wolkowsky has since passed on and his island home was donated to the National Wildlife Refuge.
JL Jamison managed the studio for every album Jimmy had recorded since opening Shrimpboat Sound Studio. One of the special features of the studio was the vintage 1969 English-made Neve mixing console. The Neve was famous for its warm and amazing sound qualities (a 1970 model was recently listed on Reverb for $356K plus $5k shipping). Buffett purchased the Neve console from Gordon Lightfoot in the late 1990’s and it was the heartbeat of Shrimpboat Sound studio but was sold, along with everything else in the studio, this past summer.
A old poster from the 2006 Texas Gubernatorial canddate the late Kinky Friedman was displayed in the studio.
This studio was a Key West treasure and an inspiration to those that use it such as George Strait, Alan Jackson, James Slater, Zack Brown, Kenny Chesney, Old Dominion, and, of course, Mac McAnally. When you walk into the studio, there was a great vibe from the famous Jimmy Buffett recording awards (3 Platinum, 1 Gold) hanging at entrance. The vibe continued throughout the studio with the large hanging replica of the Hemisphere Dancer, the old campaign poster from Kinky Friedman’s run for Texas Governor, and the row of portraits of Marylin Monroe behind the mixing board, and Jimmy’s the high school graduation photo.
It’s difficult to imagine everything is gone and the place where so much music was recorded is now hollow and soundless. The building is almost back to the Singleton ice house days. I’m unsure of the exact circumstances but the studio management could not find anyone to buyout the long-term Key West City lease and continue recording music. The estate of the Late James William Buffett liquidated everything to a single buyer this past June.
Portraits of Marilyn Monroe hung behind the Neve mixing board.
Key West is now faced with two competing bids for the facility. In either case, major structural renovations will be required to the 75-year-old building. This Key West treasure is slated for a complete rebuild. There was a November 12th meeting, with lots of public comments, discussion of the two proposals, and a postponement to hopefully allow the two parties to find a common agreement. The Key West Bight Management District Board will decide which way to go at a December 10th meeting.
We all thought Jimmy Buffett was immortal. Many thought Shrimpboat Sound Studio would continue producing those magic albums. His music will be around forever and, as long as it still brings joy and happiness, Jimmy Buffett is still with us. Thanks in part to all that wonderful music recorded inside Shrimpboat Sound.
Jimmy never sat for an interview but check out the story of Jimmy Buffett’s favorite “roadie” JL Jameson, in The Soul of Key West, Volume II at: https://soul-of-keywest.com/volume-2 while your their order a copy they’re full of great stories.
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