November 24, 2023 —– Chart #221
Hello Music Friends,
Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Every year, like it or not, we all face another birthday. This smile filled duet with Jimmy Buffet and Martina McBride always makes my birthday go down a little easier. “Trip Around the Sun” is a song recorded by American country music artists Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride in August 2004 as the second single from Buffett’s album License to Chill. The song was written by Stephen Bruton, Al Anderson, and Sharon Vaughn and it was originally recorded by Bruton in 1998 on his album Nothing But the Truth. I included that recording below, just to show you how it started, then what it became when The Coral reefer Band got hold of it.
The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy and premiered in November 2004. It was filmed near Charleston, South Carolina. The song debuted at number 45 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of September 4, 2004.
License to Chill is the twenty-fifth studio album by Jimmy Buffett and was released on July 13, 2004, by Mailboat and RCA Nashville. On this album, Buffett has many duets with noted contemporary country music artists, on country songs including “Hey, Good Lookin'” by Hank Williams. This rendition reached No. 8 on the Billboard country singles charts while “Trip Around the Sun” (a duet with Martina McBride) reached No. 20. A third single, a solo version of “Piece of Work”, was released in early 2005. The album features the most covers he’s recorded for an album – 11 of the 16 songs are covers. It sold 238,600 copies in its first week of release according to Nielsen SoundScan and became his only album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
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.
Now check this out. The original recording by Stephen Bruton:
Friends, whenever your next birthday is, try this song out to start your day. I am sure it will get things off to a good start.
Keep Rockin’,
Stan Bradshaw