“I can tell you he was the same fellow in person that you saw and heard.” (Jimmy’s Coral Reefer guitarist) Mac McAnally

“I can tell you he was the same fellow in person that you saw and heard.”

(Jimmy’s Coral Reefer guitarist) Mac McAnally

By Fran Thompson
Jimmy Buffett’s right hand man in the Coral Reefers, Mac McAnally, has won a record setting 10 CMA musician of the Year awards, and has co-produced and co-written numerous cuts on Buffett albums since the two Mississippi natives connected in 1976.
Mac titled the following social media message about the passing of Jimmy Buffett “Loss and Gain.”
“I am without words for about three weeks now,” Mac wrote. “I usually have too many. The closest thing I ever had to a big brother left this world on Sept. 1. I’ve been comforted by so many beautiful tributes and am grateful for them. It is my intent to offer comfort and tribute in words and music for the rest of my life. I’m just slow getting up to speed. Jimmy would be laughing at me (or IS laughing) for dragging my feet.
“What I can say in lieu of the right words that continue to evade is what an honor it is and has been to ride shotgun with a one man fountain of positive energy that saw fit to take me under his wing forty some odd years ago,” McAnally added. “And to the folks who only knew him from the stage or through the speakers I can tell you he was the same fellow in person that you saw and heard. Trying to help everyone he crossed paths with have the best day possible. Rich folks, poor folks, strangers and friends. Blue and white collars, all religions and political camps. He saw life as a gift to enjoy and his calling was to spread that joy. I’ve never seen anybody do it better.”
Six days after Buffett passed, Mac dedicated one of his songs Buffett recorded, “It’s My Job,’’ to his friend during a show in Indiana.
“One week ago tonight, I had the privilege to go say goodbye to my buddy. And we got to say the things that we already knew but still wanted to say. There’s no conveyin’ what it means, and I ran out of words and I was about to just bawl like a three-year-old. So I picked up the guitar and I played him this,” Mac said before playing the song. Mac followed that up by playing “A Pirate Looks at 40” for the audience.
Buffett and Mac connected when both were with the same record label back in 1976. “Jimmy wrote me a little note and said, we’re going to be friends. We’re both storytellers from Mississippi. I’m going to sing some of your songs, we’re going to write songs together,’’ Mac said.
“You never know in show business who means what they say, I don’t think, but he does. And all those things happened, plus a lot more,’’ he added. “And we’re still running around together. He’s like family and the whole coral reefer entourage is second family to me. So it’s turned out great for me and I hope him as well.’’
A musical prodigy, Mac was playing professionally in night clubs in Tennessee, just across from his Belmont, Mississippi home, by the time he was 13. He quit school in 11th grade, as he was already an in demand session player in Muscle Shoals’ famed studios. He scored a Top 40 pop hit, “It’s a Crazy World,’’ at age 20, but even though he released 11 more albums, stardom eluded him, and that was OK by him.
“I was born without the ambition to be the guy in the middle of the stage,” he said.
In addition to JB, he has worked with Ricky Skaggs, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Amy Grant, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Sawyer Brown.
He has written top hits for other artists, including “Old Flame” by Alabama and “Down the Road” by Kenny Chesney. His songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, Ricky Van Shelton, Charley Pride, Randy Travis and others.
He said, like his friend JB, he looks at every day as an opportunity.
“Whatever our life is today is the best thing we have. And I look at it as personally, not just an opportunity, but it’s a responsibility to figure out some way to enjoy it and try to make things better, and I look forward to waking up every day and taking another shot at it,’’ he said.
Pictured: Mac McAnally and JB in 2020; Mac, JB and Chris Stapleton backstage at the Willie Nelson tribute concert in January of 2019 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.