Pat Dailey is sometimes referred to as the Jimmy Buffett of the Great Lakes, and tonight he'll get a chance to prove it when he teams up with harmonica player Greg “Fingers” Taylor, one of the original members of Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, at the Bait Shop in Toledo.

After more than 25 years and 30 albums with Buffett, Taylor said he left the band two years ago in a huff over finances and Buffett's “dictatorship” style of handling musicians. Taylor has settled down in Oxford, Mich., where, when he's not touring or recording out of town, he and his wife, Amanda, keep busy rearing their two children.

“In the early days, I was into the British invasion of the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five,” he said in a phone interview the other day. “I loved all that stuff, and a lot of those guys, like Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds, kept talking about blues players like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson. So I went right to the source and I liked it even better.”

A native of Wichita, Kan., Taylor met Buffett in 1971 when the future star was playing a solo gig in a coffee shop in Hattiesburg, Miss. Taylor was enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi there and Buffett had graduated with a degree in journalism.

“I knew Buffett was going to be a star from the first time I saw him,” Taylor said. “He had that charisma onstage that you don't see that often. And his songs were so great back then. But no, I had no earthly idea what it would turn into. I don't think anybody did. I thought he'd be sort of a quirky folk star. But it went way beyond that.”

The two musicians parted ways for a while until Buffett formed the Coral Reefer Band in 1975 with Taylor, guitarist Roger Bartlett, bassist Harry Dailey, and drummer Phillip Fajardo.

“There was a lot of camaraderie in the early days. Once we cut `Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes' [in 1977] it took off with `Margaritaville.' The '70s were great years, but a lot of people died and a lot of people flamed out. I flamed out. I left the band [temporarily] in 1983. We were a real crazy band. We had a bigger liquor rider [contract clause] than the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. That's a documented fact.”

Taylor is proud of the musical achievements of Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, particularly the first three albums, but he feels that somewhere along the line their leader became more interested in making money and using gimmicks onstage than in making quality music.

“We had a lot of fun, but we were always negotiating for more money and of course he's never been one to let go of that stuff,” Taylor said. “I had some issues with him over money and a retirement fund, which we never had, although he did put a little something together for us eventually.”

The concerts began to lose their appeal for Taylor.

“It had all gotten to be a rote deal. The same old crap, the same show biz stuff, dancing girls and exploding props, this that and the other. I was tired of that. He's a big-time businessman now and I think that's what he really enjoys the most. Music is secondary. And music has always been the most important thing to me.”

In the early years, Buffett's lyrics were inspired by hanging out with “winos and weirdos,” according to Taylor, “and when you're doing that you write about crazy [stuff]. When you hang out with Ted Turner and live in Coconut Grove and the Hamptons, what are you going to write about - the lawn man's late? Gotta take the Porsche into the shop? I'm checking the NASDAQ?”

He said he hopes to perform again with Buffett someday but, if not, “We've spoken our piece. We have a pretty cool legacy. I'm proud to have been along for the ride and for him to have believed in me enough to include me on all those records.”

Greg “Fingers” Taylor will be in concert tonight at the Bait Shop Bar & Grill, 2543 South Reynolds Rd., starting at 8 p.m. with a blues set with Toledo band Johnny Reed and the Houserockers. He will perform a set of pop and rock ballads, including Buffett material, with Great Lakes troubador Pat Dailey. Tickets are $20. Information: 380-2248.

First Published August 31, 2001, 4:25 p.m.