AMG Review of Down to Earth

Cub Koda
All Music Guide

Yes, that smiling youth with a non-receding hairline pictured on the back cover is actually Jimmy Buffett, back in 1970 when this was a new album on a label that's long since stopped making phonograph records for the masses. In 1998 Down to Earth finally came out on compact disc in its original form, with only "Richard Frost" as a bonus track to flesh it out. Instead, the focus stays right on Buffett's strong early writing and his almost organic empathy with his backing band, making tracks like "Truckstop Salvation," "Ellis Dee (He Ain't Free)," "The Christian?," and "Captain America" some of the best of his early recordings.