Livingston Saturday Night

Album: Rancho Deluxe Soundtrack (1975)
Charted: 52
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Songfacts®:

  • Rancho Deluxe is a 1975 comedy starring Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston as cattle rustlers in Livingston, Montana. Jimmy Buffett contributed several songs to the soundtrack, including "Livingston Saturday Night," an upbeat country tune about gearing up for a night out on the town. Buffett performs it in the movie at a country and western bar with actor Warren Oates and Thomas McGuane, the film's screenwriter, as members of his band. Oates mimes a harmonica part played by Greg "Fingers" Taylor of Buffett's real-life Coral Reefer Band, while McGuane plays mandolin.
  • McGuane and Buffett were already good friends when the singer agreed to do the music for the film. In 1977, they became family when McGuane married Buffett's sister Laurie.
  • This references Tony Lama ("You got your Tony Lama's on your jeans pressed tight"), a company that makes western-style boots.
  • Buffett released this as a single in 1978 when he included it on his album Son of a Son of a Sailor.
  • Buffett sang this in the 1978 movie FM, a comedy-drama about a rock radio station, which also featured appearances by Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and REO Speedwagon.
  • Buffett wasn't the only one itching to cut loose on the weekend. Several other musicians notched Saturday-themed hits on the Hot 100. A few others from the '70s - minus Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Saturday Night Special," which is about a handgun - include:

    "Saturday In The Park" by Chicago (#3 - 1972)
    "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" by Elton John (#12 - 1973)
    "Another Saturday Night" by Cat Stevens (#6 - 1974)
    "Almost Saturday Night" by John Fogerty (#78 - 1975)
    "Saturday Night" by Bay City Rollers (#1 - 1976)
    "Saturday Nite" by Earth, Wind & Fire (#21 - 1977)

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