You Had to Be There is a live double album by the American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was originally released in October 1978 as ABC AK-1008/2 and later re-released on ABC's successor label MCA. It is the first of Buffett's many live albums and his tenth album overall. The original vinyl print album included a fold-out poster showing many photos taken during the 1978 Cheeseburger in Paradise Tour. The album's material was taken from several concerts in August 1978 at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and Maurice Gusman Cultural Center in Miami, Florida, and was mixed by Elliot Scheiner at AIR Studios in London. "Come Monday" is the only song on the album that features a vocal overdub recorded in a studio. Buffett has mentioned in past interviews that the album was recorded during a very "painful" time. This was because he had broken his leg at one point during the tour, and was performing in a cast (as referenced several times on the record and even pictured in the inner jacket). He would usually be immobile and would take painkillers to continue on during the frenzied performances.

Chart performance

You Had to Be There reached No. 72 on the Billboard 200 album chart and No. 29 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album was also certified "Gold" by the RIAA.

Songs

The album included many of Buffett's concert favorites as well as three new songs that had not appeared on any previous Buffett album: "Perrier Blues", "Morris' Nightmare", and the instrumental "Dixie Diner" (a cover originally by Larry Raspberry & the Highsteppers). The album was heavily edited between shows and the playlist is not in the same order as the actual shows. Songs known to have been played but deleted from the final cut are: The omission of "Cheeseburger in Paradise" is noteworthy because the song was at its peak in popularity at the time, and was even used to name the tour. The reason the song was scrapped from the album is unknown, although one theory is that since it was a current charting single, producer Norbert Putnam wanted not to have two competing versions of the same song in circulation at the same time.

Track listings

Original phonograph record release

Side One: Side Two: Side Three: Side Four:

Compact disc release

Disc One: Disc Two:

Personnel

The Coral Reefer Band:

Tour

Despite the recording being captured during 1978's Cheeseburger in Paradise Tour, Buffett set out on a You Had to Be There Tour from February through April 1979. The remainder of the year was dedicated to promoting his 1979 album Volcano.

1979 Coral Reefer Band

Set list

The only set list from the tour that has been confirmed is that of the opening night at Florida Gym in Gainesville, Florida. While the structure of Buffett's set lists generally remains the same in a given tour, the song selection varies from night to night, so it is more than likely that there were many changes to the set list as the tour progressed. Florida Gym Saturday, February 17, 1979 Set: Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles June 3rd 1978 Set: