Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Greatest Hits (1993)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised Tom Petty (lead singer, guitar), Mike Campbell (lead guitarist), Ron Blair (bass guitar), Stan Lynch (drums), and Benmont Tench (keyboards). In 1981, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, stayed with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist—mostly on rhythm guitar and second keyboards. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein’s death. The band had a long string of hit singles including “Breakdown”, “American Girl”, “Refugee”, “The Waiting”, “Learning to Fly”, and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.

The band in 1977:
from left: Mike Campbell, Ron Blair, Tom Petty, Stan Lynch, and Benmont Tench:

The band’s music was characterized as both Southern rock and heartland rock, cited alongside artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and John Mellencamp as progenitors of that genre that arose in the late 1970s and 1980s. While the heartland rock movement waned in the 1990s, the band remained active and popular, touring regularly until Petty’s death in 2017, after which the Heartbreakers disbanded. Their final studio album, Hypnotic Eye, was released in 2014.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, their first year of eligibility. Although most of their material was produced and performed under the name “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers”, Petty released three solo albums, the most successful of which was Full Moon Fever (1989). In these releases, some members of the band contributed as collaborators, producing and performing as studio musicians.

Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1993. It is Petty’s best-selling album to date and was certified 12× Platinum by the RIAA on April 28, 2015. The single “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” became one of Petty’s most popular songs, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The other new song on the album is a cover of the Thunderclap Newman hit “Something in the Air”. The album contains no songs from 1987’s Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough). However, three songs from Petty’s 1989 solo album Full Moon Fever were included.

On its original release in November 1993, the album debuted at No. 8 on Billboard 200, and first peaked at No. 5 on the chart in February 1994. It reached a new peak of No. 2 following Petty’s death in 2017.

The new tracks “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “Something in the Air” were the band’s last recordings with drummer Stan Lynch. (wikipedia)

Greatest Hits is a lean yet complete overview of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ biggest singles from their first prime. Sure, it’s possible to pinpoint a few great songs missing, but the group had a lot of great songs during the late ’70s and ’80s. This rounds up the biggest hits from that era, and in doing so, it turns into a succinct summary of the band at the top of its game. Everything from “American Girl” to “Free Fallin'” is included, with 18 tracks proving that Petty was one of the best rockers of his time. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Ron Blair (bass on 01. – 08.)
Mike Campbell (guitar, bass, keyboards, squeeze box)
Howie Epstein (bass, background vocals on 10. – 12, 15.-18.)
Stan Lynch (drums, percussion, background vocals on 01. – 11., 15. – 18.)
Tom Petty (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, percussion)
Benmont Tench (keyboards, background vocals on 01. – 11., 15. – 18.)
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Dean Garcia (bass on 11.)
George Harrison (guitar, background vocals on 12.)
Phil Jones (drums, percussion on 12. – 14.)
Jeff Jourard (guitar on 02.)
Jim Keltner (percussion on 05.)
Jeff Lynne (bass, guitar, guitar synthesizer, keyboards, background vocals on 12. – 16.)
Daniel Rothmuller (cello on 11.)
Phil Seymour (background vocals on 01. + 02.)
David A. Stewart (sitar, keyboards, background vocals on 11.)
Chris Trujillo (percussion on 17. + 18.)
Alan “Bugs” Weidel (piano on 11.)
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background vocals on 11.:
Sharon Celani – Marilyn Martin – Stephanie Sprull

Tracklist:
01. American Girl (Petty) (from: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976) 3.33
02. Breakdown (Petty) (from: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976) 2.43
03. Listen To Her Heart (Petty) (from: You’re Gonna Get It!, 1978) 3.03
04. I Need To Know (Petty) (from: You’re Gonna Get It!, 1978) 2.23
05. Refugee (Petty/Campbell) (from: Damn The Torpedoes, 1979) 3.22
06. Don’t Do Me Like That (Petty) (from: Damn The Torpedoes. 1979) 2.42
07. Even The Losers (Petty) (from: Damn The Torpedoes, 1979) 3.38
08. Here Comes My Girl (Petty/Campbell) (from: Damn The Torpedoes) 4.25
09. The Waiting (Petty) (from: Hard Promises, 1981) 3.59
10. You Got Lucky (Petty/Campbell) (from: Long After Dark, 1982) 3.36
11. Don’t Come Around Here No More (Petty/Stewart) (from: Southern Accents, 1985) 5.04
12. I Won’t Back Down (Petty/Lynne) (from:  Full Moon Fever, 1989) 2.57
13. Runnin’ Down A Dream (Petty/Lynne/Campbell) (from: Full Moon Fever, 1989) 4.23
14. Free Fallin’ (Petty/Lynne) (from: Full Moon Fever, 1989) 4.15
15. Learning To Fly (Petty/Lynne) (from: Into the Great Wide Open, 1991) 4.02
16. Into The Great Wide Open (Petty/Lynne) (from: Into the Great Wide Open, 1991) 3.44
17. Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Petty) (new song) 4.33
18. Something In The Air (Keen) (new song) 3.18

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More from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – You´re Gonna Get It ! (1978)

You’re Gonna Get It! is the second album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1978. Originally, the album was to be titled Terminal Romance. It peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart in 1978.[1]

Many reviewers rated You’re Gonna Get It! a notch lower than the band’s moderately well-received debut album. Some reviews such as in Rolling Stone at the time noted the “impressive stylistic cohesiveness” between the two. It did chart higher, however, than its predecessor. (by wikipedia)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers didn’t really knock out their second album — it was released two years after their debut — but it sure sounds as if they did. There are some wonderful moments on this record, but it often feels like leftovers from a strong debut, or an album written on the road, especially since the music is simply an extension of the first album. That said, when You’re Gonna Get It! works, it devastates. That’s not saying that “When the Time Comes” is a masterpiece, even if it’s a fine opener, but it does mean that “I Need to Know” and the scathing “Listen to Her Heart” are testaments to how good this band could be when it was focused.

If the rest of the album doesn’t achieve this level of perfection, that’s a signal that they were still finding their footing, but overall it’s still a solid record, filled with good performances that are never quite as good as the songs. It’s pretty good as it spins, but once it finishes, you remember those two songs at the heart of the record, maybe the opener and closer, which are stronger than the rest of the competent, enjoyable, yet unremarkable roots-rockers that surround them. Not necessarily a transitional effort — after all, it pretty much mirrors its predecessor — but a holding pattern that may not suggest the peaks of what’s to come, but still delivers a good soundalike of the debut. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Ron Blair (bass, guitar, sound effects, background vocals)
Mike Campbell (guitar, accordion)
Stan Lynch (drums, background vocals)
Tom Petty (guitar, vocals, piano)
Benmont Tench (keyboards, background vocals)
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Phil Seymour (background vocals on 04.)
Noah Shark (percussion)

Promo Inlets

Tracklist:
01. When The Time Comes (Petty) 2.47
02. You’re Gonna Get It (Petty) 3:01
03. Hurt (Petty/Campbell) 3.18
04. Magnolia (Petty) 3.02
05. Too Much Ain’t Enough (Petty) 2.58
06. I Need To Know (Petty) 2.26
07. Listen To Her Heart (Petty) 3.04
08. No Second Thoughts (Petty) 2.42
09. Restless (Petty) 3.23
10. Baby’s A Rock ‘n’ Roller (Petty/Campbell 2.54

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More from Tom Petty:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – New Years Eve Concert Santa Monica (1978)

Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, and was also a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.

Petty recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. In his career, he sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty died at the age of 66, of an accidental overuse of prescription drugs, one week after the completion of the Heartbreakers’ 40th anniversary tour. (by wikipedia)

In 1978 Petty and the Heartbreakers were riding a huge wave of success brought on by their first two albums and were about to blow up the next year after the release of Damn The Torpedos. The band celebrated the end of 1978 and the beginning of 1979 with a three-show New Year’s run that culminated on the 31st at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, CA. Just one day earlier the Heartbreakers were the second-to-last band to headline the famous Winterland in San Francisco before the Grateful Dead closed out the historic venue on New Year’s Eve.

Petty’s performance in Santa Monica, which is real close to the group’s adopted hometown of Los Angeles, was stuffed with the best songs off the Heartbreakers’ first two albums and provides an incredible snapshot of just where the group was at that moment in time.

The show was filmed for a television broadcast, which never happened, and an hour’s worth of pro-shot footage was finally released a few years back. In addition to the many tunes from 1976’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and 1978’s You’re Gonna Get It! performed in Santa Monica are an early version of “Refugee” laid down before the band recorded the song in the studio and a celebratory cover of The Isley Brothers’ “Shout” just after the start of 1979. (by Scott Bernstein)

Personnel:
Ron Blair (bass)
Mike Campbell (guitar)
Tom Petty (vocals, guitar)
Stan Lynch (drums)
Benmont Tench (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. Intro + I Need To Know (Petty) 2.53
02. Surrender (Petty) 2.52
03. Fooled Again (I Don’t Like It) (Petty) 6.11
04. Casa Dega (Campbell/Petty) 5.34
05. Refugee (Campbell/Petty) 3.52
06. You’re Gonna Get It (Petty) 4.19
07. Mystery Man (Petty) 3.19
08. American Girl (Petty) 4.21
09. Breakdown (Petty) 6.56
10. Too Much Ain’t Enough (Petty) 4.43
11. Shout (D,Isley/Rudolph Isley/Ronald Isley) 8.47
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12. Uncut edition (including New Year’s announcement) 56.19

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and here´s the video of this show:

 

 

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Into The Great Wide Open (1991)

Into the Great Wide Open is the eighth studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, first released in 1991. The album was the band’s last with MCA Records. The album was the second Petty produced with Jeff Lynne after the success of Full Moon Fever.

The first single, “Learning to Fly”, became the band’s joint longest-running No. 1 single (along with “The Waiting” from 1981’s Hard Promises) on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, spending six weeks at the top spot. The second single, “Out in the Cold”, also made No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, albeit for two weeks.

The music video for the title song starred Johnny Depp, who had moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to seek rock stardom, along with Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, Matt LeBlanc, Terence Trent D’Arby and Chynna Phillips.

The first single “Learning to Fly” was released prior to the album in June 1991, and was a big hit for Tom Petty. The second single, the title track, was released shortly after the album’s release and is also one of the band’s biggest hits. They were both top 10 singles on various charts. The third single “Out in the Cold” was a minor hit, although it did not achieve the commercial success of the first two. Throughout 1992, four other singles were released; “Makin’ Some Noise”, “All Or Nothin'” “Too Good To Be True” and “King’s Highway”.(by wikipedia)

Though he’s a major American rock & roll star, Tom Petty has yet to produce the kind of classic album artists of his caliber are supposed to make at least once in their careers. And while Into the Great Wide Open may not be it, it’s the closest he and his band the Heartbreakers have come in nearly 15 years.

You can hear it yourself. Petty’s first two albums — 1976’s Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and 1978’s You’re Gonna Get It! — have both just been re-released on Petty’s own Gone Gator record label, and still stand as his best work, effortlessly combining catchy melodies and unpretentiously raucous rock & roll. The follow-up, 1979’s Damn The Torpedoes, went triple platinum and made Petty & the Heartbreakers an arena attraction, but it also signaled a dulling of Petty’s grasp of the pop hook that — success or no — has simply made his music not as interesting as it used to be.

Until now, that is. Into the Great Wide Open is a surprising return to form. In some ways, credit for Petty’s renewal must go to Jeff Lynne, guiding Light in the Electric Light Orchestra, and, along with Petty, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and the late Roy Orbison, a member of the Traveling Wilburys, the only so-called ”supergroup” in rock’s history to make decent records. Lynne, the Wilbury with the greatest ear for pop — he’s written more hit singles even than Harrison — produced Into The Great Wide Open, and his mark is all over it.

And while he also participated heavily in Tom Petty’s 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever — producing and cowriting seven of its songs — something’s different this time. First, and most obviously, the songs, eight of which Petty cowrote with Lynne, are better. ”All or Nothing,” with its stinging, Lennonesque vocal and arrangement, resonates with much the same intensity as Petty’s 1978 album-rock radio staple ”Breakdown.” Other tracks almost as good include ”Too Good to Be True,” ”Kings Highway” and ”Two Gunslingers.” They’re all delightfully hook-filled, which may not sound like a big deal, but for Petty — whose hits, like his 1985 ”Don’t Come Around Here No More,” can be more memorable for their videos than their music — it’s what he has direly needed for far too long. And Petty himself, who at his worst has tended to bray rather than sing, has never sounded fresher or more pleased with what he’s singing (though with lyrics like ”rebel without a clue”…sorry, Tom, even Meat Loaf’s lyricist used that cliché, in an overwrought piece of pop fluff he wrote for Bonnie Tyler five years ago). Petty may not be a Springsteen or a Dylan — he may not have a Born to Run or Blood on the Tracks in him — but who does? I always thought that guys like this start out hot, get famous, get lazy, and then disappear. They’re not supposed to actually get better. (by Kevin Canty)

And on this album is one of the most important songs for me … this song helped me to go through a very difficult phase in my life:

Well, I started out
Down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down
As I crossed the hill
And the town lit up
And the world got still

I’m learning to fly
But I ain’t got wings
Coming down
Is the hardest thing

Well the good ol’ days
May not return
And the rocks might melt
And the sea may burn

Now some say life
Will beat you down
Yeah, break your heart
Steal your crown

So I started out
For God knows where
I guess I’ll know
When I get there

I’m learning to fly
Around the clouds
But what goes up
Must come down

Heyy!

And the titeltrack of this album is of course one of the finest songs ever written by Tom Petty (watch the great video-clip featuring Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway as his manager, and featured cameos by Terence Trent D’Arby, Chynna Phillips, and Matt LeBlanc.

All in all: This album is a must have … without any doubts … And you should listen to the great slide guitar, played by Mike Campbell.

Personnel:
Mike Campbell (guitar, slide-guitar, keyboards)
Howie Epstein (bass, background vocals)
Stan Lynch (drums, percussion)
Tom Petty (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion)
Benmont Tench (piano, accordion)
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Jeff Lynne (guitar, bass, background vocals, piano, synthesizer, percussion, sound effects)
Roger McGuinn (background vocals  on 07.)
Richard Tandy (synthesizer on 04.)

Tracklist:
01. Learning to Fly (Petty/Lynne) 4.03
02. Kings Highway (Petty) 3.08
03. Into The Great Wide Open (Petty/Lynne)  3.43
04. Two Gunslingers (Petty) 3.09
05. The Dark Of The Sun (Petty/Lynne) 3.24
06. All Or Nothin’ (Petty/Campbell/Lynne) 4.07
07. All The Wrong Reasons (Petty/Lynne) 3.46
08. Too Good To Be True (Petty) 3.59
09. Out In The Cold (Petty/Lynne) 3.41
10. You And I Will Meet Again (Petty) 3.42
11. Makin Some Noise (Petty/Campbell/Lynne) 3.27
12. Built To Last (Petty/Lynne) 3.58

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And here´s one of the finest video clips in the history of Rock:

Eddie waited ’til he finished high school
He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo
He met a girl out there with a tattoo too
The future was wide open

They moved into a place they both could afford
He found a nightclub, he could work at the door
She had a guitar and she taught him some chords
The sky was the limit

Into the great wide open
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open
A rebel without a clue

The papers said Ed always played from the heart
He got an agent and a roadie named Bart
They made a record and it went in the charts
The sky was the limit

His leather jacket had chains that would jingle
They both met movie stars, partied and mingled
Their A&R man said “I don’t hear a single”
The future was wide open

Into the great wide open
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open
A rebel without a clue

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Pack Up The Plantation Live ! (VHS rip) (1985)

In 1979 the Heartbreakers released their third album Damn the Torpedoes through MCA’s Backstreet label. The album rapidly went platinum. It included “Don’t Do Me Like That” (#10 U.S., the group’s first Top Ten single) and “Refugee” (#15 U.S.), their U.S. breakthrough singles.

Though he was already extremely successful, Petty ran into record company trouble again when he and the Heartbreakers prepared to release Hard Promises (1981), the follow-up album to Damn the Torpedoes. MCA wanted to release the record at the list price of $9.98, which was considered a high price for a record album at the time. This so-called “superstar pricing” was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98. Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press, and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album or naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase. The album became a Top Ten hit, going platinum and spawning the hit single “The Waiting” (#19 U.S.). The album also included the duet “Insider”, with Stevie Nicks.

On their fifth album, Long After Dark (1982), bass player Ron Blair was replaced by Howie Epstein (formerly of Del Shannon’s backing band), giving the Heartbreakers their line-up until 1991. Long After Dark features the hits “You Got Lucky” (U.S. #20) and “Change of Heart” (U.S. #21), and was to feature a track called “Keeping Me Alive”, but producer Jimmy Iovine vetoed it from the album. Petty has expressed that he feels the album would have turned out better if the song had been included on the album.[citation needed]

On the next album, Southern Accents (1985), the Heartbreakers picked up where they had left off.[clarification needed] The recording was not without problems; Petty became frustrated during the mixing process and broke his left hand when punching a wall. The album includes the psychedelic-sounding hit single “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (#13 U.S.), which was produced by and co-written with Dave Stewart. The video for the single, which starred Stewart, featured Petty dressed as the Mad Hatter, mocking and chasing Alice from the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, then cutting and eating her as if she were a cake. This caused minor controversy after it was criticized by feminist groups,[citation needed] but the video did win an MTV Video Music Award.

A successful concert tour led to the live album Pack Up the Plantation: Live! (1985). (by wikipedia)

And here´s a official video from this tour. Watch and listen and you´ll know, why I think and feel, that Tom Petty was one of finest musicians …

Personnel:
Mike Campbell (guitar, lap steel, slide guitar)
Howie Epstein (bass, mandolin, background vocals)
Stan Lynch (drums, vocals)
Tom Petty (vocals, guitar)
Benmont Tench (keyboards, vocals)
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Soul Lips Horns:
Nick Lane (trombone, Euphonium
Lee Thornburg (trumpet, flugel horn)
Jimmy Zavala (saxophone, harmonica)
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The Rebeletts:
Caroll Sue Hill (background vocals, percussion)
Pat Peterson (background vocals, percussion)

Tracklist:
01. American Girl (Petty)
02. You Got Lucky (Petty/Campbell)
03. It Ain’t Nothin’ To Me (Petty/Stewart)
04. Don’t Do Me Like That (Petty)
05. The Waiting (Petty)
06. I Need To Know (Petty)
07. Don’t Come Around Here No More (Petty/Stewart)
08. Spike (Petty)
09. Southern Accents (Petty)
10. Rebels (Petty)
11. Breakdown (Petty)
12. Refugee (Petty/Campbell)
13. Little Bit O’ Soul (Carter/Lewis)
14. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (Hillman/McGuinn)
15. Make It Better (Forget About Me) (Petty/Stewart)
16. Route 66 (Troup)

Total time: 85 min

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The Traveling Wilburys – Vol. 01 (1988)

There never was a supergroup more super than the Traveling Wilburys. They had Jeff Lynne, the leader of ELO; they had Roy Orbison, the best pop singer of the ’60s; they had Tom Petty, the best roots rocker this side of Bruce Springsteen; they had a Beatle and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! It’s impossible to picture a supergroup with a stronger pedigree than that (all that’s missing is a Rolling Stone), but in another sense it’s hard to call the Wilburys a true supergroup, since they arrived nearly two decades after the all-star craze of the ’70s peaked, and they never had the self-important air of nearly all the other supergroups. That, of course, was the key to their charm: they were a group of friends that fell together easily, almost effortlessly, to record a B-side for a single for George Harrison, then had such a good time they stuck around to record a full album, which became a hit upon its 1988 release. The Traveling Wilburys was big enough to convince the group to record a second album, cheerfully and incongruously titled Vol. 3, two years later despite the death of Orbison. Like most sequels, the second didn’t live up to expectations, and by the time it and its predecessor drifted out of print in the mid-’90s, with the rights reverting to Harrison, nobody much noticed. A few years later, though, it soon became apparent that the Wilburys records — mainly, the debut, widely beloved thanks to its two hits, “Handle With Care” and “End of the Line” — were out of print, and they soon became valuable items as the Harrison estate dragged its heels on a reissue. Finally, the two albums were bundled up as a two-CD set simply called The Traveling Wilburys and reissued with a DVD containing a documentary and all the videos in the summer of 2007 (there is also a deluxe edition containing a longer, lavish booklet).

Looking back via The Traveling Wilburys, the group’s success seems all the more remarkable because the first album is surely, even proudly, not a major statement. Even under the direction of Lynne, who seems incapable of not polishing a record till it gleams, it’s loose and funny, even goofy. It’s clearly a lark, which makes the offhanded, casual virtuosity of some of the songs all the more affecting, particularly the two big hits, which are sunny and warm, partially because they wryly acknowledge the mileage on these rock & roll veterans. “Handle With Care” and “End of the Line” are the two masterworks here, although Roy’s showcase, “Not Alone Anymore” — more grand and moving than anything on the Lynne-produced Mystery Girl — comes close in the stature, but its stylized melodrama is a ringer here: it, along with Dylan’s offhand heartbreak tune “Congratulations,” is the only slow thing here, and the rest of the album just overspills with good vibes, whether it’s Tom Petty’s lite reggae of “Last Night,” Jeff Lynne’s excellent Jerry Lee Lewis update “Rattled,” or Dylan’s very funny “Dirty World,” which is only slightly overshadowed by his very, very funny Springsteen swipe “Tweeter and the Monkey Man.” These high times keep The Traveling Wilburys fresh and fun years later, after Lynne’s production becomes an emblem of the time instead of transcending it. (The album contains two bonus tracks in this reissue, the excellent Harrison song “Maxine” — a low-key waltz that should have made the cut — and “Like a Ship,” a folky dirge that builds into ELO-esque pop which is pretty good but doesn’t have the effervescence of the rest.)

The Traveling Wilburys built upon Harrison’s comeback with Cloud Nine and helped revitalize everybody else’s career, setting the stage for Dylan’s 1989 comeback with Oh Mercy, Petty’s first solo album, Full Moon Fever, produced by Lynne (sounding and feeling strikingly similar to this lark), and Orbison’s Mystery Girl, which was released posthumously. Given the success of this record and how it boosted the creativity of the rest of the five, it’s somewhat a shock that the second effort falls a little flat. In retrospect, Vol. 3 plays a little bit better than it did at the time — it’s the kind of thing to appreciate more in retrospect, since you’ll never get another album like it — but it still labors mightily to recapture what came so effortlessly the first time around, a problem that can’t merely be chalked up to the absence of Orbison (who after all, didn’t write much on the first and only took lead on one song).

Where the humor flowed naturally and absurdly throughout the debut, it feels strained on Vol. 3 — nowhere more so than on “Wilbury Twist,” where Petty implores you to put your underwear on your head and get up and dance, the epitome of forced hilarity — and the production is too polished and punchy to give it a joie de vivre similar to the debut. That polish is an indication that Lynne and Petty dominate this record, which only makes sense because they made it between Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open, but it’s striking that this sounds like more like their work, even when Dylan takes the lead on “Inside Out” or the doo wop-styled “7 Deadly Sins.” Both of these are quite good songs and they have a few other companions here, like the quite wonderful country stomp “Poor House,” but they’re songs more notable for their craft than their impact — nothing is as memorable as the throwaways on the debut — and when combined with the precise production, it takes a bit for them to sink in. But give the record some time, and these subtle pleasures are discernible, even if they surely pale compared to the open-hearted fun of the debut. But when paired with the debut on this set, it’s a worthy companion and helps support the notion that the Traveling Wilburys were a band that possesses a unique, almost innocent, charm that isn’t diminished after all this time. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Charlie T. Wilbury Jr (Tom Petty) (vocals, guitar)
Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) (vocals, guitar)
Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan) (vocals, guitar, harmonica)
Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison) (vocals, guitar, slide guitar)
Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards)
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Ray Cooper (percussion)
Jim Horn (saxophone)
Buster Sidebury (Jim Keltner) (drums)
Ian Wallace (tom-toms on 01.)

Tracklist:
01. Handle With Care 3.19
02. Dirty World 3.30
03. Rattled 3.00
04. Last Night 3.48
05. Not Alone Any More 3.24
06. Congratulations 3.30
07. Heading For The Light 3.37
08. Margarita 3.15
09. “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” Dylan 5:30
10. End Of The Line 3.30

All song written by The Traveling Wilburys
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What a line-up !

 

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Southern Accent In The Sunshine State (2015)

This 2CD set FM broadcast captures Tom Petty ‘s complete 1993 Homecoming concert, his first show in hometown Gainsville, Florida  for 20 years Following the breakup of Mudcrutch in 1975, Tom Petty and former band-mates Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, joined up with some other Gainesville musicians, bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch, to become Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, in 1976. But, even then, success was not immediate, and they had many struggles ahead. When their first album was released in November 1976, it initially received little attention, selling only a few thousand copies over the `initial months. They released two singles, ‘Breakdown’ and ‘American Girl’, and both failed to chart in the US. Apparently, potential punters were confused; they looked like a new wave band (the album cover photo especially), but the music was pure rock n’ roll with a definite 60’s throwback style.

Fortunately, however, the UK seemed to ‘get it’, and they became popular there, with the album climbing to #24 on the British charts. Slowly, after news of their success in Britain, the album began picking up interest in the US, finally entering the Billboard charts almost a full year after its initial release. ‘Breakdown’ was re-released too, and this time made it into the top 40. Back in Gainesville, the community was very supportive and proud of Petty’s success. However, by the late 80’s, there was also some growing resentment, that Tom Petty had forsaken his hometown, that now that he had made it big, he rarely came back to his local fans and his roots there.

Thus, the show presented here, from 1993, represented his homecoming to Gainesville, his first major concert there since packing up his van and leaving with Mudcrutch, almost 20 years before. This show was just prior to the release of his greatest hits album and while he was in the process of moving to a new label.

The greatest hits album also included 2 new recently recorded songs ; ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’ and a cover of Thunderclap Newman’s ‘Something in the Air’, both of which are included in this show. And the show was broadcast on the radio nationwide, in superb FM quality.

So, here is Tom Petty’s triumphant, yet somewhat overdue, return to Gainesville. Although some of the circulating FM versions of the show are shortened substantially, this is the full show in all its glory.

In a very bad period of m< life Tom Petty helped me alot with his brilliant song “Learning To Fly”  … so I have to thank him so much ! His death is a very sad moment in my life.

Personnel:
Mike Campbell (guitar)
Howie Epstein (bass, background vocals)
Stan Lynch (drums, percussion)
Tom Petty (vocals, guitar)
Benmont Tench (piano, accordion)

Tracklist:
01.Love Is A Long Road (Campbell/Petty*) 4.43
02. Into The Great Wide Open (Lynne/Petty) 4.25
03. Listen To Her Heart (Petty) 4.25
04. I Won’t Back Down (Lynne/Petty) 4.59
05. Free Fallin’ (Lynne/Petty) 5.05
06. Psychotic Reaction (Ellner/Chaney/Atkinson/Byrne/Michalski) 6.51
07. Ben’s Boogie (Tench) 3.57
08. Don’t Come Around Here No More (Stewart/Petty) 9.14
09. Something In The Air (Keen) 4.27
10. Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Petty) 8.50
11. King’s Highway (Petty) 3.40
12. A Face In The Crowd (Lynne/Petty) 4.31
13. Ballad Of Easy Rider (McGuinn) 4.08
14. Take Out Some Insurance (Singleton/Hall) 5.44
15. Thirteen Days (Cale) 4.59
16. Southern Accents (Petty) 5.22
17. Yer So Bad (Lynne/Petty) 3.28
18. Driving Down To Georgia (Petty) 6.30
19. Lost Without You (Petty) 6.53
20. Refugee (Campbell/Petty) 4.39
21. Running Down A Dream (Lynne/Campbell/Petty) 5.12
22. Learning To Fly (Lynne/Petty) 4.56
23. Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35 (Dylan) 4.21
24. American Girl (Petty) 4.44
25. Alright For Now (Petty) 2.40

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Well, I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up and the world got still

I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Now the good ol’ days may not return
And the rocks might melt, and the sea may burn

I’m learning to fly but I ain’t got wings
(Learning to fly)
And coming down is the hardest thing
(Learning to fly)
Yes, it is

Now some say life will beat you down
Yeah, it will break your heart, steal your crown
So I started out for God knows where
But I guess I’ll know when I get there

Tom Petty …

Various Artists – FM (OST) (1978)

FM is the original AOR soundtrack to the 1978 film FM. In the United States, the album reached the Top Five of Billboard’s album chart and quickly earned a Platinum-certified disc. It reached 37 in the UK charts. The soundtrack also won the 1979 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

QSKY radio station manager/program director Jeff Dugan (Michael Brandon) builds a large fan base by assembling a group of charismatic DJ personalities playing popular rock and roll. He soon finds that corporate management expects Jeff to use the station’s position atop the ratings to sell more advertising time. (Jeff Dugan is based loosely on Mike Herrington, the program director of Los Angeles radio station KMET while writer Sacks was working there.)

The conflict grows until sales manager Regis Lamar (Tom Tarpey) presents him with the chance to advertise for the U.S. Army using a series of cheesy radio ads. When Jeff refuses to endorse the contract, Regis takes the issue to upper management. Jeff is then ordered to run the ads as provided by the Army and on the schedule specified in the advertising contract. Rather than comply, Jeff quits his job.

All of the remaining DJs decide to take control of the station in a sort of lock-in/sit-in/protest. They get listeners to gather in the street outside the station as a sort of protest while the DJs play music without any commercials.

Jeff Dugan wakes up to hear the DJs take control of the station. The crowd is already present when he arrives at the station. The DJs lift him up to the second story with a fire hose as they have already barricaded the front doors.

The lock-in lasts only until the police get an injunction to remove the staff. A tow truck rips off the front doors and the police enter the building. The DJs battle back using a fire hose and throwing tapes and other office objects at the police.

The battle is resolved when Jeff Dugan finds himself fighting a policeman outside on an overhang. Jeff saves the policeman from falling off and decides that fighting is the wrong thing to do. He calms the crowd and announces that the DJs are coming out.

Unknown to him, the company owner, Carl Billings (Norman Lloyd), has watched from the crowd as the events unfolded. He insists that the DJs stay in the station, fires his management staff responsible for the advertising conflict, and then joins the DJs inside the station.

The story unfolds across a background of concerts, broadcast music, appearances by various rock stars, and public appearances by the station DJs. A minor subtheme to the film is the competition between QSKY and another area radio station. The major event of that subtheme occurs when Jeff arranges to broadcast a live concert by Linda Ronstadt that is being sponsored by the competitor’s radio station.

Another minor subtheme is the ongoing task of massaging egos of the various DJs to keep them happy and on the air.

Martin Mull appears in his feature film debut as a zoned-out record spinner. He plays Eric Swan, a libidinous disc jockey with eyes for everyone female. The character is self-centered, smarmy, quick tempered, and overbearingly insincere. During the course of the film, Swan beds a supposed girlfriend, encounters a female fan with a peculiar physical “gift”, and barricades himself in owing to a severe emotional breakdown due to his agent’s dropping him and his girlfriend’s leaving him, all within the confines of QSKY’s studio.

Also rounding out the cast are Cleavon Little, who plays the Prince of Darkness, QSKY’s overnight host (Little had previously played a disc jockey in the 1971 film, Vanishing Point); Eileen Brennan as ” Mother”, the 40-something nighttime DJ; Alex Karras as “Doc Holiday”, the midday DJ with the lowest ratings on the station who is eventually let go from the station; and Tom Tarpey as new sales manager Regis Lamar, the bane of the disk jockeys’ existence.

In addition, the film includes live appearances by Tom Petty & REO Speedwagon and live performances by Linda Ronstadt & Jimmy Buffett. Steely Dan performed the title theme, which became a sizable hit. The Eagles, James Taylor, Bob Seger, Dan Fogelberg, Billy Joel, and Queen were featured on the Platinum-plus soundtrack album.

Rolling Stone magazine considered the music heavily biased towards musicians who had been managed by Irving Azoff, who was head of MCA Records at the time. Some reference books claim that the TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati was based on FM. The physical resemblance between Michael Brandon and WKRP lead actor Gary Sandy and the fact that their respective characters were both based upon KMET programming director Mikel Hunter may have contributed to this speculation. However, WKRP series creator Hugh Wilson asserts that the sitcom was already in development when the film came out. He also states that he was “scared to death” when the film came out, afraid that it would eclipse the CBS show, which made its debut in September 1978. Wilson was relieved when FM came and went from theaters quickly. (by wikipedia)

Appropriately, the soundtrack for the 1978 movie FM feels like a radio play list of the era, collecting songs from Joe Walsh, Randy Meisner, Boz Scaggs, and other ’70s radio staples. Steely Dan’s title track, Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s “Night Moves,” Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are,” and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” are some of the highlights from this double-disc set, which also includes tracks from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Foreigner, and Linda Ronstadt, all of whom also appeared in the film. Though FM itself wasn’t exactly a box-office smash, its soundtrack is a surprisingly durable and entertaining collection of classic rock that is arguably better than many of the ’70s rock compilations available today. (by Heather Phares)

In other words: If you like to celebrate a Seventies party … use this soundtrack and you can´t do wrong !

Tracklist:
01. Steely Dan: FM (Becker/Fagen)  4:52
02.  Bob Seger: Night Moves (Seger) 3:27
03. Steve Miller Band: Fly Like an Eagle (Miller) 3:04
04. Foreigner:  Cold As Ice (Gramm/Jones) 3:20
05. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Breakdown (Petty)  2:44
06. Randy Meisner: Bad Man (Frey /Souther)  2:38
07. Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane (Frey/Henley/Walsh) 4:46
08. Steely Dan: Do It Again (Becker/Fagen) 5:54
09. Boz Scaggs: Lido Shuffle (Paich/Scaggs) 3:42
10. Boston: More Than a Feeling (Scholz) 4:45
11. Linda Ronstadt: Tumbling Dice (Jagger/Richards  4:51
12. Linda Ronstadt: Poor, Poor Pitiful Me (Zevon/Ronstadt) 4:15
13. Jimmy Buffett: Livingston Saturday Night (Buffett)  3:10
14. Dan Fogelberg: There’s A Place In The World For A Gambler (Fogelberg) 5:41
15. Billy Joel: Just the Way You Are (Joel) 4:49
16. The Doobie Brothers: It Keeps You Runnin’ (McDonald)  4:13
17- James Taylor:  Your Smiling Face (Taylor) 2:43
18. Joe Walsh: Life’s Been Good (Walsh) 8:05
19. Queen: We Will Rock You (May) 2:04
20. Steely Dan: FM (Reprise) (Becker/Fagen) 2:54

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This is another item from the great greygoose collection !
Thanks a lot !

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – KSAN Record Plant (1977)

Upon the release of their first album in the late ’70s, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were shoehorned into the punk/new wave movement by some observers who picked up on the tough, vibrant energy of the group’s blend of Byrds riffs and Stonesy swagger. In a way, the categorization made sense. Compared to the heavy metal and art rock that dominated mid-’70s guitar rock, the Heartbreakers’ bracing return to roots was nearly as unexpected as the crashing chords of the Clash. As time progressed, it became clear that the band didn’t break from tradition like their punk contemporaries. Instead, they celebrated it, culling the best parts of the British Invasion, American garage rock, and Dylanesque singer/songwriters to create a distinctively American hybrid that recalled the past without being indebted to it.

The Heartbreakers were a tight, muscular, and versatile backing band that provided the proper support for Petty’s songs, which cataloged a series of middle-class losers and dreamers. While his slurred, nasal voice may have recalled Dylan and Roger McGuinn, Petty’s songwriting was lean and direct, recalling the simple, unadorned style of Neil Young.

This is one their earliest radio-shows and this is the chance to hear young Tom Petty at the start of his career … enjoy it !

Recorded live at the Record Plant Recording Studios, San Francisco, April 23, 1977

Personnel:
Rain Blair (bass)
Mike Campbell (guitar)
Stan Lynch (drums)
Tom Petty (guitar, vocals)
Benmont Tench (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. Surrender (Petty) 2.58
02. Band Intros/American Girl (Petty) 4.45
03, Fooled Again (I Don’t Like it) (Petty) 6.24
04. I Need To Know (Petty) 2.44
05. Strangered In The Night (Petty) 4.23
06. Dog On The Run (Campbell) 10.25
07. Route 66 (Troup) 4.11

Tom Petty, 1977

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