Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

[aimeeandbeatles]

Okay, I'm bookmarking this thread so I can find it here. So I don't keep making new ones. Okay?

Honestly, I can't credit the entire thing to Tom Petty. If it wasn't for the other Heartbreakers, lotsa things wouldn't have happened, even on his solo albums. I mean, what would "Runnin' Down A Dream" be without Mike Campbell's solo at the end? And only Stan Lynch could do the drums on "The Waiting" (well, according to Tom). And some drum machines have trouble doing what Steve Ferrone (he used to play with Eric Clapton) can do. Those are only a couple of examples. Even the Rolling Stone magazine said,

Though Petty is alone on the cover, the album [Damn the Torpedoes] is a band project in the truest sense. Keyboard player Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell, the kind of players who can make a good song great, emerge as genuine rock & roll stylists. Drummer Stan Lynch, if not technically in Tench and Campbell's class, plays with a lazy feel that works as the instrumental analog of Petty's drawl. Produced by Petty and Jimmy Iovine, the album sounds like a live band playing -- no small feat.

Actually, even on Petty's solo albums, there's always another Heartbreaker there -- Mike Campbell is like Tom's right-hand man.

 

[sourboy]

I was gonna say, this is like deja vu of a previous deja vu.

What's your obsession with Tom Petty? I like the music, but geez...

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

When I get obsessed, I get really obsessed.

 

[emzie]

Tom Petty was my first concert ever

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Cool! What d'you remember? I was watching some clips of the Pack Up The Plantation DVD, and random girls were running on stage and hugging Tom. It was so sweet, but amusing.

I have a friend who has a crush on Benmont Tench, the pianist. She doesn't like to admit it, though. Today I was making animations of Benmont for her, just to tease her.

Spoiler :

Anybody who says heroin isn't that bad hasn't seen Howie (one of the bass players -- the other one was Ron Blair). He was addicted to it. The band tried putting him in rehab, but he always went back. It was so sad, because he had such a big heart and was always looking out for others. He had a German Shepherd named Dingo, Howie took him everywhere. Sometimes even on stage. And the dog died, back in 2003. And then Howie died.
In fact, he physically changed. If you compare some of his last pictures to his earlier ones, you can't tell he's the same person. I'll go grab some pics and post 'em up here in a few minutes.

 

[emzie]

Cool! What d'you remember?

It was the day before school started, maybe 3 days after my... 8th birthday. I remember Doritos was handing out free samples and my family got like 53275207 snack-size bags.

The concert was great, but was running late and I had to leave early due to school

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Okay. This is rather shocking.

Spoiler :

In this pic, Howie is on the far left.

In this pic, Howie is to the right of Tom.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

The concert was great, but was running late and I had to leave early due to school

Darn. I woulda just skipped.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

DAMN THE TORPEDOES (1979)
Refugee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-8qyoVssNQ

Here Comes My Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=800KU4VtJws

HARD PROMISES (1981)
The Waiting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCJEYLIBQY

LONG AFTER DARK (1982)
You Got Lucky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m7EkhhX8vE

SOUTHERN ACCENTS (1985)
Don't Come Around Here No More
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5H0wUo37RY

Make It Better (Forget About Me) (Rare video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjYqAAEAEVA

LET ME UP (I'VE HAD ENOUGH) (1987)
Jammin' Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCxegqMU17A

FULL MOON FEVER (Tom Petty solo) (1989)
I Won't Back Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHJMp5bz9u8

Yer So Bad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLOMYY1FLkM

Runnin' Down A Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eW91-5TC78

INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN (1991)
Into The Great Wide Open
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-gVVGD7j3E

Learning To Fly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mX9-2xuyP8

TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS GREATEST HITS (1993)
Mary Jane's Last Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdTYcnUBADw

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Why was Full Moon Fever a solo album?

From "Conversations with Tom Petty":

[NOTE: They had recorded Free Fallin' with Phil Jones on drums.]
It was Christmas, so we didn't know where the band was. I think Stanley was in Florida. And that was a real kind of a weird thing for me, because it was a big deal for The Heartbreakers.
I remember calling Howie because I thought we had better get as many of [The Heartbreakers] as we can....And I guess they had already talked among themselves, and were pissed about it. This is pure conjecture on my part, but I think they had probably talked among themselves, Stanley and Ben and Howie. There was a vibe.
So I got to Mike's, and Howie was sitting outside the door of the bedroom. And he seemed kind of preoccupied, like he could be in those days. He was waiting, almost like a doctor waiting in the waiting room. And he said, "You don't really need me for this, do you?" And he said, "I don't like it."
I said, "Well, if you don't like it, I don't need you."
And he said, "Okay, I'm gonna go," and he left.
Right then I went, well, this is going to be a Tom Petty solo record, because I like it.

 

[Whomp]

Aimee please don't double post in this thread to bump it. Thanks.

In the meantime here's my favorite Petty stories. I've seen them at least 6 times now. The two most interesting of which I was not involved in...
One was when Mike Campbell let some of my high school buddies hang out with the band in their limo in the late 70's. The other was a few years ago when we went to Pearl Jam/TP & Hearbreakers and one of my friends didn't have a ticket with us so he got a solo. Ended up sitting next to Kyle Orton and his buddies pounding beer waterfalls.

Good times.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Oops.

Okay, never ever try playing "Refugee" on ukulele. The results are hilarious.

I know this fella used to play with Tom Petty in Mudcrutch (also had Mike and Benmont -- they've stuck together since the early days). His name is Danny Roberts. He had tons of funny stories, I think he's writing an autobiography.

My personal favourite is when Mike Campbell took some mind-altering drug, went out naked in the middle of town. Some people they knew wrapped him in a sheet and brought him inside. "Nature Boy Campbell"?

 

[Red Door]

He's good, but he's not that great. Really, Bruce is better. The Stones are better. Hendrix is better. Even U2 is better.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Even U2 is better.

But Benmont Tench did some session work with them. In Conversations with Tom Petty:

Yeah, Benmont was doing all kinds of session work. I know he wrote a little bit with Don [Henley] and he played on a whole bunch of albums during that period [late 1980s]. He played with U2.

 

[Red Door]

But Benmont Tench did some session work with them. In Conversations with Tom Petty:

I don't care who Benmont Tench did work with. I do know U2 sounds better than Tom Petty.

 

[bhsup]

I don't care who Benmont Tench did work with. I do know U2 sounds better than Tom Petty.

This, kiddies, is your brain on drugs!