Rolling Stones: Classic or Dud

I've written about this elsewhere but the awesome/sad thing about George is how the Wilburys nurtured and encouraged his genuine talents in ways that the Beatles didn't. I can't imagine what a drag it must have been to sit around a studio with Paul a few years later and feel the old tension (which is why he insisted Jeff Lynne act as mediator).

yeah its just cool to read TP's accounts of the wilburys cuz you get this really excited george who is REALLY having fun and into the whole thing. instead of the usual george stuff. the boring mystical rich guy george. but he was having a confident moment. he had a number one solo song and a huge album and all that. he was ready for action.

and the other four Wilburys in awe of Roy Orbison and actively working for a commercial comeback for him

shit and i need the she's the one soundtrack too. i heard that in a record store years ago and really liked it. luckily the cover doesn't have assface mcmullan on it. that's like an entire tom petty album and most people have never heard it.

good Beck cover too!

...and Lucinda Williams!

YES

Wildflowers was the last time he held Gen X commercial cred, but it was so cool to have him selling records into 1995 instead of Steve Winwood.

Wasn't Dave Grohl his drummer on the Wildflowers tour?

One cool fact I remember reading about the recording of "You Don't know How it Feels" was that the band was having a hard time finding a drummer after having Stan Lynch quit/fire and went through a dozen drummers trying to cut that tune. Steve Ferrone comes in and the first take, not hearing the song ever before, nails the take that got released. I guess Petty & Co. were surprised that Ferrone being such a big studio drummer was actually interested in joining the band, as alot of those type guys don't really want to commit to a band that tours that much.

i like his whole approach. they never rehearsed before going into the studio. and would just live there and play everything live for the first time. that's how they got a lot of first take ad-lib stuff that made it onto record. he would ad-lib entire songs! and then put them out. 100% creative control. i like the element of chance + endless money to fuck around + access to the best of everything! kind of an enviable position to be in if you are a musician. and you know what to do with all that. that's key.

they made that mudcrutch album in 2 weeks and it sounds great! i admire how good those guys are at what they do. the main three. tom, benmont, mike.

scott, watch the documentary: swiftest four-hour Bogdanovich documentary ever

xxxpost re Let Me Up I've Had Enough when we do the petty poll in 2015 [SPOILER ALERT] "runaway trains" is going to be high on my ballot.

love that this thread has become the secret petty tree fort.

Was it the stones in partic caused the furore in the ilx canon poll a while back

I believe you want The Rolling Stones' "Too Much Blood" - is this the best thing they ever did?

This thread is for talking about Tom Petty

Benmont was on a ton of records in the late 80s/early 90s...I mostly remember him playing a significant role on the "Replacements" (because it's really a Westerberg solo record) All Shook Down. But dude was in demand.

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Sunday, February 10, 2013 7:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He did great work on the first Lone Justice album, with the Petty-written lead single. As did Mike Campbell and Little Steven.

Dunno why we're talking Campbell here, but ... dude wrote the bulk of "Boys of Summer," so he gets a pass for life (in addition to about six Petty songs that earn him the same). Ironically, by "End of the Innocence," Henley was co-writing with Stan Lynch!

Y'all want to see something awesome, track down the interview-doc featuring Campbell talking at length about each of his guitars.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/exclusive-chapter-7-of-mike-campbells-the-guitars-documentary-20120702

jimmy iovine grabbed that petty song from the archives and gave it to lone justice. petty wrote another one for them but they didn't use it. which is kinda dumb of lone justice.

Mike Campbell's dreadlocks break my heart

i love this. its like an alternate history or something. after mudcrutch dissolved tom was gonna make a solo album for shelter and he got with studio dudes like al kooper and jim gordon and you can really hear the path not taken!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKMAqFQJEeg

like they could have totally set him up as sensitive singer/songwriter guy if fate hadn't intervened and the heartbreakers hadn't happened.

love the song Petty-Tench wrote for Rosanne Cash: "Never Be You."

fast-forward to 1:08 and you get a great live stevie/tom duet of "insider".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRnqpI4QKRg

okay i promise no more petty youtubes on the stones thread...

Nice story about Petty writing "Insider" for Stevie Nicks but deciding it was too good to surrender.

He's fond of Hard Promises.

it's clear Mick Taylor wrote the music to "Moonlight Mile." Mick is singing along to Taylor's riff and Keef ain't credited with anything
keith doesn't play on it, but apparently it's keith's riff that taylor is working with (at least that opening thing) on that song.

i didn't know until i read Life that Keith is the only Rolling Stone who plays on "Happy"

More info on Wilbury serendipity: http://books.google.com/books?id=gnohXYuTDwoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=conversations+with+tom+petty&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Oh8ZUcDbComi8gSsrYFI&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

i didn't know until i read Life that Keith is the only Rolling Stone who plays on "Happy"

wait what you can totally hear Mick singing on that (granted Keith sings lead)

Mick may have overdubbed vox later, but the track was done with keith on guitar, miller on drums, keys & someone else on horns, then keith went back and overdubbed bass after

charlie watts has to be the most mellow classic rock band drummer -- he was always like, "oh whatever, jimmy can do it better, i'm going home."

I think there are few songs on "Exile" that feature all the Stones at once.

Ha I think it may have been more like ”keith said he had to go to the bathroom six hours ago and and now it's 3am I'm going home”

Nice story about Petty writing "Insider" for Stevie Nicks but deciding it was too good to surrender.

Good call on TP's part. Stone classic imo.

scott, you should buy Wildflowers. Petty's right to feel proud: one of his best collections of songs. "Crawling Back to You" would be top five Petty for me.

It can probably be obtained very cheaply too.
My favorite wildflowers moment is probably the piano solo in "it's hard to find a friend".

was listening to Long After Dark yesterday. not really a favorite overall. a little too much Iovine generic feel but it is of course almost singlehandedly worth owning for "one story town" and "you got lucky". i like "straight into darkness" too. plus, one weird closing track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-2s-zYmTA

plus, coming right after one of my favorite albums, Hard Promises, it really kinda suffers in comparison.

least essential petty album? if you had to choose. i really do think those first two songs make the album and everything else on it is just okay.

He's not fond of it either.

This seems as good a thread as any to make fun of the band for pricing its tickets so high that apparently sales are lagging (relatively speaking). A lot of spin going on, so hard to get the full story, but it seems sort of a fiasco all around, though I'm sure the band is still getting paid.

My understanding is that a lot of it can be put down to Watts. He despises touring, so he ups his price ridiculously every time they're about to go out, thinking no way will management be able to swing that. Problem is, the management/promoters keep meeting his price, necessitating higher ticket prices.

I just read the Stanley Booth book for the first time. An out and masterpiece. Seeing these ticket stories reminds me of Jagger telling Booth that he wanted to do the whole '69 tour for free, but logistics ruled it out. "You think you're rich, but then you try to buy a table or something, and yer accountants all 'oh no!'".

lol

i want them to make an electronic dance album where mick plays up his creepy old man schtick, whispering unspeakable things over a minimalist groove. it's the only way forward. this is my favorite band, probably, and they are too good for this retro "play the classics" touring shit they've been doing for the past 95 years or whatever

i think the reason they are still alive is because the universe wants them to make one more great album. i think this will happen, but i don't think it will sound like anything they've done before.

I think the reason they are still alive is because they collectively have a 10% share in the universe.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/what_a_drag_it_is_getting_old_the_rolling_stones_then_and_now

This time, before there could be any serious preparations for a 50th anniversary tour – something Richards wanted to see happen – Jagger made it plain that there would have to be some sort of reckoning. The details of whatever transpired between the two men remain private, but as Wood commented, things were “tense and awkward.” There was even a rumor that Richards’ position as the Rolling Stones’ rhythm guitarist might be in peril. Some thought he was having trouble playing – that perhaps his hands were growing afflicted with arthritis or that his steady intake of alcohol affected his musical agility

was talking to a friend of mine last weekend who was taken along to their show in Oakland - he got in for free, tix were $600 and they weren't even on ground level/floor. insane.