Echo was the last album that really pushed Petty as more than a nostalgia act, but they did score their first #1 record with Hypnotic Eye.
― DavidLeeRoth, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:52 (six years ago) link
guy's music videos were usually pretty great
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:53 (six years ago) link
i love the "swingin'" video but that's prob bc it prominently stars a cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4vJM4L2D2U
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:54 (six years ago) link
good early radio broadcast here: http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=2865and more live action here: http://www.ousterhout.net/mp3/tp.htmlHeartbreakers really were an amazing band, so effortlessly tight, no showboating, but so many hooks.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:54 (six years ago) link
i love watching the mudcrutch studio videos. very soothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlYeq5f9lqM
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:55 (six years ago) link
if anyone can find that thread where a bunch of us went on and on about petty a few years back lemme know. i can't find it. it's not the redeemable qualities thread. sheesh, maybe it was five years ago. i can't remember now. maybe its on some non-petty thread.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:57 (six years ago) link
really dig that he played bass in mudcrutch….
― veronica moser, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:58 (six years ago) link
this one scott? YOU RANK ME BABY, YEAH YOU RATE ME 1-2 - ILM Artist Poll #71 - Tom Petty (results)
just came across this ad, must've been confusing for CBGB regularshttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OWj8uqAVMNs/TjBY6FGUSFI/AAAAAAAANSY/PHryzUvre1M/s1600/122076cb3.jpg
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:58 (six years ago) link
I know what you mean, scott. I'll try looking.
Meanwhile, from the 2015 poll thread
i keep tripping on how much Tom Petty and Elvis Costello's careers parallel. obviously both started out around the same time and their commercial fortunes rose and fell in roughly the same years, but also, like, they both started hanging out with a Beatle in the late '80s, they both permanently fell out with a longtime sideman in the mid-'90s.
― Shkreli, Martin & Wu (some dude), Wednesday, December 16, 2015 4:22 PM (
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 14:59 (six years ago) link
I wanna say the petty talk was on a dylan thread or something...
― brimstead, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:07 (six years ago) link
so many poll threads i never saw since i hid polls for so many years. i'll check those out too. i like reading about petty.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:08 (six years ago) link
i just remember being high on that interview book and petty was it for me when that thread happened. maybe that live set had come out too. live through the years thing. double or triple disc. that was awesome. wish i still had a copy of that.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:10 (six years ago) link
Dunno how many times they shared a bill, but this was likely one of the first:
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Chicago_Tribune,_December_5,_1977
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:21 (six years ago) link
fun version of nick lowe's crackin up from early onhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOxdkY0i-GE
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:22 (six years ago) link
I didn't really "love" Tom Petty but I liked a lot of his songs and I admired his work. I can't really think of another artist who did a better job of combining the singer-songwriter aesthetic and ethos of the 60s and 70s with just non-stop earworm hitmaking. Generally I found something about his songs a little bit less personal and his characters a bit more archetypal than those of some of his songwriter cousins, but maybe that's the tradeoff for the ability to have such a ridiculous number of hits.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:28 (six years ago) link
One of the songs he insanely left off Southern Accents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM9kljsR358
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:31 (six years ago) link
it's kind of weird but i can't say i really know much about petty, despite classic rock being a huge chunk of what i've always listened to. i know a few of the hits obv but what are some of his classic albums? what's a good place to start?
― marcos, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:32 (six years ago) link
xxp i dunno, i found him more relatable than Springsteen more often than not. Petty could be funny and weird in a way that Bruce never really could.
agree about "trailer." what a chorus! the version on the last mudcrutch album is fantastic too.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:32 (six years ago) link
― marcos, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 1
Damn the TorpedoesWildflowersHard Promises
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:37 (six years ago) link
and Full Moon Fever imo
― sleeve, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:39 (six years ago) link
i think the playback set does a great job of showing of the depth of his catalog (at least through the early 90s)
― tylerw, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:40 (six years ago) link
cool thank you all!
― marcos, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:41 (six years ago) link
Side A of Hard Promises is especially strong. I'm pretty sure 4 of the 5 songs placed in the TP poll.
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:42 (six years ago) link
I listened to HP this morning, and, damn, "The Waiting," "A Woman in Love," "The Nightwatchman," and "Something Big" boom boom boom on the first si de.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:44 (six years ago) link
Sure. I mean honestly neither of them are in my wheelhouse, but different strengths. What I was referring to is that Petty couldn't have written something like Thunder Road, for example, which (although I actually enjoy it less musically than most Petty songs) really puts me in a specific setting watching two specific characters interact. Into the Great Wide Open, by contrast, is very sketch-like and cursory, although that's part of the song's concept I think, that Eddie is just one of thousands of similarly un-self-aware dudes coming to LA to make it. It's a bit of a sneering song, but it has some empathy too.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:45 (six years ago) link
Good tweet thread:
Further Petty thought: Although his songs were often big, "transcendent"--cf. "Free Fallin'"--he was bombast-averse. Songs are tidy/compact.— Jody Rosen (@jodyrosen) October 3, 2017
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:47 (six years ago) link
I owned the "Don't Come Around Here No More" 45 (with "Trailer" as the B-side) as a kid (I liked the video so I bought the single), but never flipped it over, so I never heard "Trailer" until Playback.
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 15:56 (six years ago) link
Sometimes I think if he'd stopped at Damn the Torpedoes he'd still be pretty fucking classic.
Glad he didn't, but still.
― cornballio (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:04 (six years ago) link
My Stereogum piece.
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:07 (six years ago) link
The closest Petty came to any sort of Springsteen-y big picture ambition was Southern Accents, and of course that was a mixed bag. But beyond that, Petty was not a big picture sort of guy. Springsteen really took Dylan's protest stuff to heart; Petty was more a "Rainy Day Woman" kind of guy. Springsteen was about the mythic side of pop; to him, seeing the Beatles (or, actually, Elvis) was a means to an end, a path to escape. Petty saw the Beatles and thought, huh, this is pretty cool! He recognized that pop, in and of itself, was a worthy enough goal. And he was partly right, which is why he has so many great singles and Springsteen, as much as I prefer him, really does not. Songs, yes, but pop singles? It took forever for Springsteen to crack that nut, but Petty had it down from the start. That's what he wanted.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:12 (six years ago) link
That said, I could imagine an alternate world with either of them humping it out their entire lives playing regional clubs, but being pretty happy about it.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:14 (six years ago) link
re: Springsteen & Petty, I'm reminded of Petty talking about playing the No Nukes benefit. Before he went onstage, someone told him, "Now, if it sounds like people are booing, don't worry, they're saying 'Bruuuuce!'" Petty said, "Well...what's the difference?"
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:17 (six years ago) link
Springsteen's gotta be doing some Petty covers on Broadway over the next couple months. trying to imagine the best one, I can imagine a furious Bruce cover of "Refugee."
― nomar, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:23 (six years ago) link
i think i speak on the behalf of more than myself (could be wrong but i doubt it) when i say that tom petty was also a style icon, lanky and fair like bowie but scuzzier/more gnarly <3 <3 <3obvs his music was great and so was his look, pre-beardpost beard he looked like tom petty in a beard which has its own charm but isn't a look i identify with
i feel like i hung out with tom petty during some of my most alienated moments and unlike a lot of his peers, listening to his music never made me feel worse than i already did. usually better. love him.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:25 (six years ago) link
or "Listen to Your Heart"'!
xpost
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:25 (six years ago) link
is Steve Ferrone an official paid Heartbreaker or is he like Darryl Jones kept on retainer?
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:29 (six years ago) link
Steve is considered part of the band, but not sure what his salary looks like compared to Mike or Benmont.
― DavidLeeRoth, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:36 (six years ago) link
Ferrone is a full-fledged Heartbreaker.
Springsteen would do a great Listen to Your Heart. He'd also have the balls to do Free Fallin'. I want to say the only Petty song I've ever read him complement was "Straight Into Darkness," but if Bruce could do "Take it Easy" the day Frey died, he could do "Free Fallin'." Or pretty much any Petty song. Won't Back Down, etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:38 (six years ago) link
Mike is a frequent co-writer, so I imagine he gets more than just a salary. He is a partner, to the extent that Petty has first dibs on his songs.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:39 (six years ago) link
hope some of the tribute pieces mention the importance of mike campbell as far as the songs go. a lot of the music was his. he wrote the bulk of "refugee", no?
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:39 (six years ago) link
not to take anything away from petty. but a lot of the songs were the work of two people.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:40 (six years ago) link
i think that was the eagles thread, scott. with the petty discussion.
Quit defending the Eagles! They’re simply terrible
― Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:41 (six years ago) link
Mike Campbell would be set for life if all he'd co-written was "Boys of Summer."
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:41 (six years ago) link
Quality zings in that thread:
I saw some of your joke posts on the other thread, and that's the version of those two guys I was expecting. But again, I found them to be surprisingly thoughtful.
― clemenza, Thursday, December 26, 2013 9:07 AM (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
They're especially good at thinking about themselves.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, December 26, 2013 9:10 AM
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:46 (six years ago) link
Don't know if anyone else has ever noticed this, but Tom seemed like he was really struggling to play guitar recently? Maybe from his injury when he punched the studio wall back in the 80s? I always wondered if the Mojo album was just an opportunity to let Mike Campbell go nuts with Tom just adding lyrics and melody.
― DavidLeeRoth, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 16:53 (six years ago) link
"i think that was the eagles thread, scott. with the petty discussion."
i think that's the one! no wonder i couldn't find it. was i the one who turned it into a petty thread? sounds like something i might do.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:07 (six years ago) link
when did Petty clean up? Was that before or after Mojo?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:10 (six years ago) link
Damn the Torpedoes came out while I was in high school in the south. It was like we had our own classic rock god rather than some old gods borrowed from another era. For a while, TP pushed aside Zeppelin, the Stones, Skynard, Pink Floyd, etc. As I said on some other thread, back then I couldn't fathom why all the girls were hot for TP. Must have been the star power. RIP.
― that's not my post, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:28 (six years ago) link
I'll go you two albums prior, since I'm lolold. I was working at a radio station when the debut album came out. It was so underproduced, like a demo almost, compared to Boston or Fleetwood Mac records huge in 1976. That record, and the two Modern Lovers albums that came out that year, gave me the inkling something in music was changing, predating my discovery of Graham Parker, the release of My Aim Is True, etc.
― "Celebration" encourages the listener to celebrate good times. (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link
I was just having a quick look at Tom Petty's UK chart history both solo and with The Heartbreakers and was surprised to find he had no Top 20 hits. Only four singles made the Top 40, the highest of which was 'I Won't Back Down' which peaked at #28.
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link