RIP Tom Petty

That photo's angle disguises how crazy tall Ron Blair is.

kinda blows my mind that "Don't Do Me Like That" reached #10 and "Refugee" only got to #15 in the US.

both songs are great, obv.

"Don't Do Me Like That" actually dates back to Mudcrutch. Iovine heard it on an old tape and demanded Petty re-record it.

cool, thanks, did not know that but it makes sense

down the wiki rabbit hole and found this great quote from Kim Basinger about the "Mary Jane's Last Dance" video, where she played a dead woman:

Now that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. It was classic, wasn’t it? He was a doll, and he was so sweet and asked me to do it, and both of us are extremely shy so we just said three words to each other the whole time. I’ll never forget how heavy that dress was! And I had to be dead the whole time. You know, it’s really one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, because I had to be completely weightless to be in his arms the way I was. It won all those awards, and the kids love it—even today!
— Kim Basinger[14]

Petty only scored two top tens solo and as Heartbreakers *: "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Free Fallin." Heavy MTV play created the impression that "Don't Come Around Here No More," "You Got Lucky," "Jammin' Me," and especially "Into the Great Wide Open" rode the Billboard top ten for months.

* "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Stevie Nicks is his highest charting hit (#3, fall '81).

Stan Lynch had a different take on the situation.
That may be. My take on that record is that I like bands that count to four and play loud. Jeff [Lynne] is a constructionist from the Brian Wilson school. It's a gorgeous school, but it's very different. I prefer the way we play the Full Moon Fever songs live to the way they sound on the record, but the 7 million people that bought Full Moon Fever might disagree.

iirc, in the Bogdonavich doc, Stan talks about how difficult recording with Lynne was. And it makes sense: you spend x years playing together, developing and honing and perfecting this unique band dynamic, and then the producer comes in and asks everyone to record separately.

"oh and also add 10 acoustic guitar overdubs"

what does Petty say in the doc about ITGWO? Something like "A noble experiment, but a difficult one," po-faced.

of course Tom I would LOVE to come over & listen to records with you <3 <3

https://sonicmoremusic.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/musiciansvinyl6.jpg

http://tompetty.rocks/images/George/tumblr_n9sghuEDqU1qalx0to1_500.png

this is the only one of these dumb “words on a fence paling” crafty things that i have seen that i would ever buy and that may just be grief talking

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/52/17/89/521789ca58b09cb6d2e37e9804b4ef0e--tom-petty-lyrics-tom-petty-quotes.jpg

man: hearing "it's good to be king" for the first time since the mid 90s on the Flanagan/Fricke/Griffin wake. This is where the Lynne approach really works like a muhfuh… piano weaving into the string arrangement on the outro is sooo nice…

what's the most atypical but well known TP tune?

probably "don't come around here no more" —he never really pursued that sound afterwards, right?

iirc, in the Bogdonavich doc, Stan talks about how difficult recording with Lynne was

I gotta say, in the Zanes book, Lynch comes off like someone for whom everything was difficult—and if it wasn't, he'd make it that way. He ends up seeming like such an asshole, you can't believe he lasted as long in the band as he did. It goes beyond musical differences to won't-someone-punch-this-guy-in-the-throat-already?

Naturally, Lynch found a partisan in Don Henley.

aturally, Lynch found a partisan copy editor in Don Henley.

I still end up liking Lynch a little in the doc. He's forthright. Re the FMF songs: "I thought they sucked. I didn't wanna play on'em."

re placing Petty in a Dylan / Byrds 60s tradition or a hardworking hardrocking ZZ Top / AC/DC lineage, I'm no expert but isn't a big part of his appeal that he does awesome power pop anthems?

I guess power pop is not the clearest defined genre but all the same feels like Petty was king of it

Re: Damn the Torpedoes, you can easily make the case it's not your favorite, but there's no denying Refugee.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 7:57 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can and will make the case "Even the Losers" is better than "Refugee" which is why it's my favorite on account of my excellent and refined taste in rock music.

Anyway, my obit.

Even the Losers is awesome, and you won't get any argument from me if you think it is better than Refugee. My point is that Refugee is such a clear stand out in anybody's catalog that I won't begrudge anybody pointing to it as their own favorite. Now, if you said Jammin Me was better than Refugee we might have argument.

I feel like we have gone over this a lot elsewhere, but in the Zanes book Stan comes across a total dick, sort of like a more erratic Stewart Copeland, and Tom gives him second chance after chance after chance after chance. Scans that it caused Tom lots of stress. Keep in mind, this all began as early as the Damn the Torpedoes sessions, with Tom having to come to Stan's rescue, and he kept Stan around all the way up to the greatest hits sessions.

I think Stan is the kind of drummer who never does the same take twice, but Tom was drawn to session guys who could do the same thing over and over again. Though in Stan's defense, there is not a single Steve drum part as memorable as many of Stan's best.

Alfred - you're combining two album titles there, Echo and The Last DJ.

Walked by Potbelly Sandwich Shop in the Skyway at lunch and the guitar player/singer was playing "Free Fallin'"

Ican and will make the case "Even the Losers" is better than "Refugee" which is why it's my favorite on account of my excellent and refined taste in rock music.

Well yeah. "Even the Losers" is the pettiest petty that petty ever pettied. That and "Insider" were 1-2 on my ballot and would be today and will be in 20 years if I'm still around and we do it again.

i read the poll thread & idk why i didnt vote, lame me!! weird seeing so much later-petty ranked so high

Alfred - you're combining two album titles there, Echo and The Last DJ.

― grawlix (unperson),

good catch -- thanks

The Last Echo sounds like a missing Neil Young album.

Refugee, Stop Draggin', and Don't Come Around Here are each megaclassics in their own way.

I played "American Girl" for student-entry music today. My first choice would have been "Listen to Her Heart," but there's that line about cocaine, and we've got a new principal. Sorry, Tom Petty, just wasn't ready to put that to the test.

Intro to American Girl is just so incredibly exciting to me

^^^ whole song exciting to me: intro, verses, chorus, outro. Only thing I'm not 100% excited by is the little disco/funk breakdown, but it works. Amazing song.

It's a testament to Mike Campbell's skill that one of the definitely jangly 12-string songs doesn't even have an actual 12-string on it.

I liked that anecdote by Roger McGuinn about his manager playing him "American Girl" and asking "When did I record this?"

Big AOR hit in 1990:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr_LtVkCe18

^^Also makes clear how much of McGuinn's vocal style Petty adopted.

In an interview with Campbell I just saw he dismisses Byrds comparisons and actually almost abandoned the track because he thought it sounded too much like Skynyrd. Which is, you know, crazy.

I read somewhere that Petty said they were aiming for Bo Diddley (most identifiable in the beat).

other than petty's mcguinn-y vocal, "american girl" really doesn't sound like the byrds

well, lack of 12 string or not, anything that sounds like 12 strings makes people bring up the byrds.

RIP. Really wishing I hadn't sold my vinyl copy of Echo now.

^^Was just noticing on Amazon that the run from She's The One through The Last DJ is OOP on CD (with copies of the latter going for over $30!).

Though in Stan's defense, there is not a single Steve drum part as memorable as many of Stan's best.

Le bomb de truth

XP...and of course a couple weeks ago you could probably get copies of TLDJ stating at $1 or less.

Beautiful piece, Al, and this

the thin hard pungency of Petty’s own underrated rhythm guitar could do what it pleased – appreciate as he pushes against the beat in “Listen to Your Heart,” as relentless as a neurotic on the cocaine that has wooed the singer’s lover/girlfriend away from him.

is otmfm.

And I've long struggled to adequately convey what was unique about Stan's feel. As much as Bonham, he has an instantly identifiable overall sound on the kit, and one developed as an overall kit sound. And while I initially thought of his approach as top-heavy (snare far louder than bass drum), he's really using the bass drum as a felt presence. It's the straight man setting up the punchlines the snare delivers.

1978 old grey whistle test appearance - full episode here: https://youtu.be/xKl8tSQFlJg

Tom in prime hottness, do not adjust yr set

agh
i love the way he says "don't" in the 2nd line of "Breakdown"

Though in Stan's defense, there is not a single Steve drum part as memorable as many of Stan's best.

Le bomb de truth

― Monster fatberg (Phil D.), Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Listen to the intro of "Nightwatchman."

Beautiful piece, Al

thank you!

Stan's fill after the bridge in "Don't Do Me Like That" is better than a lot of drummers' entire careers.

Stan's big, dead drum sound was apparently pretty influential on other producers, though I think a lot of credit goes to Iovine and Yakus.

I've seen that Old Grey Whistle Test and I agree it is key.