''Riddles in the Sand'' is the thirteenth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

. It was released in September 1984 as MCA 5512 and was produced by noted

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

producer

Jimmy Bowen James Albert Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former rockabilly singer. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, ''Mel & Nancy.'' Early life ...

and represented a concerted shift toward a more country sound by Buffett. He appeared on the album's cover in typical country singer garb and promoted the album at Fan Fair country music festival in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The album was originally to have been titled ''Gulf and Western Music'' reflecting the fusion of musical styles seen in much of Buffett's music often called Gulf and Western music. In the album's liner notes, Jim Harrison says, "This album has a musical range expanding in an arc from

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

with the Gulf somehow always there."Riddles in the Sand
liner notes at BuffettRemasters.com

Songs

The album is the first of Buffett's not to contain a song written solely by him; he co-wrote all of the songs with

Will Jennings Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won s ...

and

Michael Utley Michael Edward Utley is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. He is the musical director of the band. Born in Blytheville in Mississippi County, Arkansas, he graduated from the Univer ...

(one also with

Josh Leo Josh Leo (born 1953 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer active in Nashville, Tennessee. Leo was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1976, he moved to Chicago, Illinois ...

) except for a song by

Mac McAnally Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr. (; born July 15, 1957), known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American country music singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. ...

and one by

Rhonda Coullet Rhonda Lee Oglesby Coullet (born September 23, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer-songwriter, theatre composer and playwright. Life and career Oglesby was born in 1945 in Magnolia, Arkansas, the daughter of Horace and Cecil Oglesby. ...

. The album's final song, "La Vie Dansante," was later remade by

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

for his 1991 album ''Warm Your Heart''. That version contained an added background chorus in French. Buffett recorded a new version of "Knees of My Heart" for his 2003

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

collection '' Meet Me in Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection''.

Chart performance

''Riddles in the Sand'' reached No. 95 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart and No. 18 on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart. The song "When the Wildlife Betrays Me" hit No. 42 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, "Who's the Blonde Stranger?" hit No. 37 Country, and "Bigger Than the Both of Us" hit No. 58 Country.

Track listing

Side 1: #"Who's the Blonde Stranger?" (Jimmy Buffett,

) – 3:44 #"When the Wildlife Betrays Me" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 2:51 #"Ragtop Day" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 3:03 #"She's Going Out of My Mind" (

) – 3:26 #"Bigger than the Both of Us" (

) – 3:57 Side 2: #"Knees of My Heart" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 2:41 #"Come to the Moon" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 3:47 #"Love in Decline" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 2:42 #"Burn that Bridge" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 3:12 #"La Vie Dansante" (Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Will Jennings) – 4:02

Personnel

The Coral Reefer Band: *Jimmy Buffett – guitar, vocals *Matt Betton – drums, saxophone *

Sam Clayton Sam Clayton (born March 30, 1952) is an American singer and percussionist, primarily focusing on drums, conga and djembe, throughout his musical career. He is best known as a supporting vocalist and percussionist with the American rock band Lit ...

– percussion *

Emory Gordy Jr. Emory Lee Gordy Jr. (born December 25, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter and music producer. A former member of Emmylou Harris' backing band The Hot Band, he is best known for his association with country singer Patty Loveless, to whom ...

– bass *

Robert Greenidge Robert Greenidge (born 28 April 1950 in Success Village, Laventille, Trinidad) is a steelpan player. He is a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini. Greenidge has also collaborated ...

– steel drums *

Greg "Fingers" Taylor Greg "Fingers" Taylor (born June 3, 1952) is an American harmonica player, best known for his work with Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. Career Greg Taylor was born in Wichita, Kansas, June 3, 1952 where he attended Wichita North High School. ...

– harmonica *

Mike Utley Michael Gerard Utley (born December 20, 1965) is a former American football player. He played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1989 through 1991, when he was paralyzed during a game. Early life and college career A gr ...

– keyboards *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

– guitar *

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mov ...

– synthesizer, keyboards *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including " I Wanna Dance with You", " That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and " ...

– guitar *Larry Lee,

Wendy Waldman Wendy Waldman (born November 29, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Early life Waldman (born Wendy Steiner) grew up in the Los Angeles area. She was raised in a musical environment: her father Fred Steiner w ...

, Thomas Flora,

– background vocals

Singles

*"When the Wild Life Betrays Me" b/w "Ragtop Day" (Released on MCA 52438 in August 1984) *"Bigger Than the Both of Us" b/w "Come to the Moon" (Released on MCA 52499 in November 1984) *"Who's The Blonde Stranger" b/w "She's Going Out Of My Mind" (Released on MCA 52550 in March 1985)

Notes

{{Authority control Jimmy Buffett albums 1984 albums Albums produced by Jimmy Bowen MCA Records albums