Early in the 2000s, Jimmy Buffett experienced one of his periodic revivals thanks to the legions of contemporary country singers indebted to his sunny, relaxed party music. His influence had been bubbling under during the latter half of the '90s, but in 2003 he suddenly was front and center, performing a duet with Alan Jackson on the "Margaritaville"-styled smash "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," while echoes of his music were clearly heard in country's first superstar of the new millennium, Kenny Chesney. Never one to miss an opportunity -- or, as he puts it in the liner notes, "not being one to let a cultural phenomenon pass me by like a misguided comet" -- Buffett decided to go the whole hog and record his own country album, License to Chill, for the summer of 2004. He calls in a lot of favors here, drafting Jackson, Chesney, Toby Keith, Clint Black, George Strait, Martina McBride, Nanci Griffith, and, for a change of pace, Bill Withers, for duets on this generous 16-track album. Usually, such a surplus of guest stars overwhelms the main artist, but that isn't the case here, since everybody bends to fit Buffett's style instead of the reverse. These guests not only give Buffett a straight man for his jokes, but also help focus his musical direction and song selection, since it all feeds into the album's sun-kissed contemporary country direction. Musically, this isn't all that far removed from either his early-'70s work or "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," which is hardly a surprise, but what is surprising is that it's one of the most enjoyable latter-day albums from this notoriously inconsistent artist. There are still some overly silly, even embarrassing moments, such as the frequent tossed-off puns and the cringe-inducing "Simply Complicated," but these are the exceptions on this cheery collection of laid-back country-rockers and beach ballads. Again, the difference on License to Chill isn't the music, but the consistency of the songwriting and the performances, resulting not only in Buffett's strongest record in years, but an album that sits comfortably next to that new Kenny Chesney album, and that means he accomplished exactly what he set out to do. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Stan Kellam (Vocals), Rodney Gnoinsky (Technician), Michael Utley (Keyboards), Kenny Chesney (Vocals), Mac McAnally (Vocals), Rodney Gnoinsky (Computer Editing), Roger Guth (Drums), Buster Somar (Harmonica), Buddy Fox (Production Assistant), Mike Klvana (Technician), Nanci Griffith (Vocals), Chris Stone (Mixing), Jarrett Przybyszewski (Production Assistant), J.L. Jamison (Assistant), Stan Kellam (Video Director), Stuart Duncan (Fiddle), Tony Brown (Keyboards), Rick Humes (Production Assistant), Sam Farrar (Engineer), Robert Greenidge (Drums (Steel)), J.L. Jamison (Studio Manager), Will Kimbrough (Guitar), Michael Utley (Producer), Stuart Duncan (Guest Appearance), Jim DeMain (Mastering), Alan Schulman (Mixing), Toby Keith (Vocals), J.L. Jamison (Drum Technician), Marc Chevalier (Assistant), Michael Utley (Audio Production), Sunshine Smith (Archivist), Bekka Bramlett (Vocals (Background)), Alan Schulman (Engineer), Rodney Gnoinsky (Engineer), Mike Klvana (Synthesizer Programming), Jason Fenstermaker (Assistant), Tim Bender (Vocals), Chris Stone (Engineer), John Farrar (Engineer), Michael Ramos (Vocals), Robert Greenidge (Timbales), Michael Ramos (Production Coordination), Nina Avramides-Berducat (Project Coordinator), Tim Bender (Production Assistant), Jimmy Buffett (Vocals), Tony Brown (Keyboards), Harry Stinson (Vocals (Background)), J.L. Jamison (Percussion), Mac McAnally (Guitar), Clint Black (Vocals), Charlie Hood (Representation), Bill Withers (Vocals), J.L. Jamison (Vocals), Bill Payne (Keyboards), Doug Breidenbach (Guitar), J.L. Jamison (Drums), Mac McAnally (Compilation Producer), Chris Stone (Audio Engineer), George Strait (Vocals), Buddy Owen (Vocals), Doyle Grisham (Pedal Steel), Mac McAnally (Producer), Jimmy Buffett (Guitar), Al Anderson (Guitar), Sonny Landreth (Guitar), Eric Darken (Guest Appearance), Alan Schulman (Audio Engineer), Ralph MacDonald (Percussion), Wes Hightower (Vocals (Background)), Nadirah Shakoor (Vocals (Background)), Eric Darken (Percussion), Buster Somar (Guest Appearance), Mike Utley (Vocals), Doug Breidenbach (Technician), Glenn Worf (Guitar (Bass)), Vance Powell (Assistant), Rachel Wilson (Vocals (Background)), Mac McAnally (Mandolin), Alan Jackson (Vocals), Mac McAnally (Vocals (Background)), Chris Walsh (Vocals), Jim Photoglo (Vocals (Background))
License to Chill is the 26th studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and was released in 2004. It is his only[update] album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. License to Chill, released on 13 July 2004, sold 238,600 copies in its first week of release according to Nielsen SoundScan.
On this album, Buffett has many duets with noted country music artists, on country songs including "Hey Good Lookin’" by Hank Williams. This rendition reached #8 on the Billboard country singles charts; another single, "Trip Around the Sun" (a duet with Martina McBride) reached #20.
This is also the name of his 2004 concert tour, which included two shows at Boston's Fenway Park. In November 2005, Mailboat Records released Live at Fenway Park, a live recording of the two shows. Included was a 55 minute DVD of the show.
