Tom Corcoran used to run a little side business selling mix tapes in ports throughout the Caribbean. His office, if he had one, was the Euphoria and then the Euphoria II, Jimmy Buffett’s boats. Tom, you’ll recall, was the bartender at the Chart Room when Buffett first rolled into Key West with Jerry Jeff Walker. Tom became an accomplished writer of mystery novels, adding to a resume that included accomplished sailor, accomplished photographer, and all around accomplished human. 

Oh, and accomplished DJ. He had a radio show in Key West, which is probably what led to making mix tapes that people in ports all over wanted to get their hands on. One in particular became famous because it stayed on Buffett’s boats, and Buffett would eventually record or perform many of its songs, as well as make mention of it from time to time in books and stories.

The mix was known as The Greatest Hits of the Lesser Antilles.

When I was working on Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, I was lucky to spend a lot of time with Tom, who died in January. As I was leaving his house in Lakeland, Florida one day, about to drive to Gainesville to spend some time with UF’s Jimmy Buffett collection, Tom handed me a CD. On its wrapper he wrote: The Greatest Hits of the Lesser Antilles. 

I gather that it grew a bit over the years, expanding well beyond the tape or two on the boats. But it remains a fantastic listen, and on the occasion of Jimmy’s death, it felt like a good time to share the tracklist. 

The Greatest Hits of the Lesser Antilles

1. Voila, An American Dream — Rodney Crowell
2. Lighthouse — James Taylor
3. On and On — Stephen Bishop
4. Back to the Island — Leon Russell
5. Jamaica — Michael Dinner
6. Captain Jim’s Drunken Dream — James Taylor
7. Nothing But a Breeze — Jesse Winchester
8. Shiver Me Timbers — Tom Waits
9. Hey Papa — Terence Boylan
10. Mexico — James Taylor
11. Bermuda Triangle — Fleetwood Mac
12. Carolina Caroline — Jonathan Edwards
13. Sitting in Limbo — Jimmy Cliff
14. Southern Cross — Crosby, Stills and Nash
15. Everybody’s Talkin’ — Fred Neil
16. Banana Republics — Steve Goodman
17. Single Handed Sailor — Dire Straits
18. Barbados — Jesse Colin Young
19. Havana Daydreamin’ — Jimmy Buffett
20. Ship of Fools — Bob Seger