Jimmy Buffet Woos Gulf Tourists

Hometown hero Jimmy Buffet will headline a benefit concert for the battered beach town of Gulf Shores, Alabama. “Live from the Gulf Coast” will be broadcast nationally at 7 p.m. on CMT Sunday, featuring Buffet crooning from a 30,000-person outdoor setting just 100 feet from the shoreline. Businesses along the coast have been badly hurt by the oil spill as tourists cancel reservations on the now-befouled beaches there. The point is to project hope and optimism, the mayor says, and that “we’re crippled, but we’re not dead.” Still, local businesses have been forced to slash prices and offer super deals. Concert organizers have given away 12,500 free tickets to the owners of condos and beach houses to offer as perks to renters. Though the concert is non-political, Buffet has tweaked the lyrics to his signature song, “Margaritaville,” making the end line of the chorus, “I think it’s all BP’s fault.”