Early Years of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band Arrive on Rental Platforms
A documentary about the early days of Jimmy Buffett's band can now be rented at home. Billboard reports that Occupational Hazard: The First Coral Reefers became available on 30 October through Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and Fandango. Renting means paying a one-off fee to watch a film online for a set period.
The film looks at the years before fame, when Buffett's Coral Reefer Band was still finding its shape. Buffett put the first lineup together in Key West, Florida, in the mid-1970s. The Coral Reefers were the group that backed him on stage and on record as his songs travelled beyond the island bars where they started.
John H. Cunningham directed and produced the film. Actor Jeff Bridges narrates it. Roger Bartlett, one of the original Coral Reefers, composed the score, so the music in the film comes from someone who was in the room at the start.
The documentary did not go straight to living rooms. According to Billboard, it spent close to nine months in film festivals and cinemas before its on-demand release. It won audience awards at the Dallas International Film Festival and the Sarasota Film Festival. Audience awards are voted on by people who watch a film at a festival, rather than by a jury of critics.
The production company credited on the project is Evan Saxon Productions, according to Deadline. The film's official website, occupationalhazardfilm.com, describes it as a feature documentary tracing the origins and evolution of the original Coral Reefer Band during the 1970s, and it hosts the trailer.
For anyone who grew up with Buffett's songs, the film offers a look at the people who made that sound with him long before it was a brand. For anyone who has never heard of him, it is a short, self-contained story about a small band that built a following one gig at a time. Either way, the film is now one click away on the platforms listed above.
