Peter Mayer should be the top pop star of our time. His voice is nothing short of spectacular, his guitar playing is as good as it gets, and he's a song writer par excellence. He's also a born performer.
Peter has been Jimmy Buffett's lead guitarist for a long time, and will continue to be. Peter's CD's have some of the best players anywhere, mostly Jimmy's other band members, plus folks like Mac McAnnally. Like quite a few others, it just took too long for the right people to hear him. He's not 20 anymore.
Peter began as a single, giving us "Three Legged Dog" and "Blue Guitar", which is one of my favorite Peter Mayer songs. Peter's dynamic guitar playing made it sound not just like the recording, but maybe even better. His vocal tone quality is thrilling, his range nealy unlimited. For the third song Peter was joined on stage by another Key West favorite, Scott Kirby. They did "Blue River", still another great tune that begs "Mississippi River, keep on rolling, rolling to the sea". Scott's fine guitar work and excellent vocal harmony sounds wonderful.
Scott sings "I Want To Sail Away With You". Peter plays exquisite lead. A medley of the songs that drew Peter to the music business followed, tunes like the Beatles' "Yesterday", Elton's "Your Song", and "Carolina In My Mind", songs that turned us all on. Peter and Scott traded lead and harmony vocals, and they blend. Scott is also a fine vocalist. He also played wailing harp on "Phoebe's Got the Blues". Peter adds some down and dirty blues lead. My only complaint is that the spring breakers filled the room with crowd noise, like we used to hear at rock concerts. It was really distracting to the front of the room where those of us who came to hear some great music sat. I've never understood why this happens. Oh well.
Peter Mayer is a great showman, jumping off the stage to serenade a dancing couple. Scott sings his excellent "If Once You've Slept On An Island", co-written with Bobby Donaldson. Peter plays octaves.
Next Scott sings "If You're Lucky Enough To Live On An Island, You're Lucky Enough By Me". Then Peter does one of the great songs from his CD "Green Eyed Radio", "I Am the Onion", which has a definite Beatles quality. Peter and Scott play an instrumental tribute to the guitar they co-wrote, Rosewood and Cedar". Scott and Russ Kunkel wrote "The Smallest Of Islands". Peter plays awesome lead.
We hear the familiar sounds (to us fans) of "Chain Of Love", and "Hair Of the Dog". Scott plays one from his newest CD, `when you're "Walking On Thin Ice" you might as well dance'. "Romeo's Garage" from Peter's latest is great. Once again all the production values are there.
I can't say enough about Peter Mayer. If you don't believe me (you'd question moi?) go to Margaritaville and buy yourself a copy of "Green Eyed Radio. You'll be convinced. Stay cool.