Tom Petty RIP
Oct. 7th, 2017 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23This one is a bit unexpected and certainly sad for me.
Tom Petty fell in a unique spot in modern music. I can't think of many solo rockers who were loved for so long by so many. Yes, he was part of a band, but for purposes of this discussion, everyone did think of him as an individual.
It's Springsteen and everyone else, but in the last decade Petty might be more beloved. Giving this some thought, I think we can agree on a triumvirate of Springsteen, Petty and Mellencamp.
There are rock bands of course (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Metallica, even Bon Jovi) and there are people in the pop genre, but I am not talking pop. Nor do I feel Petty belongs in that category of great rock guys who dipped into soft rock. Soft rock did love Petty, but I don't consider him a soft rocker. So I am not including in the discussion guys like Henley, Sting, Collins, Clapton, Stewart, Adams, Elton and others.
Nor do I feel inclined to include those rockers who either have too infrequent with their output or just never stayed in the commercial spotlight. So as much as I love some of these guys- I say you can leave out Jackson Browne, Randy Newman, Peter Gabriel, Lindsay Buckingham, Mark Knopfler, John Fogerty, Roger McGuinn or Jeff Lynne. I am also talking charts, so we won't include icons like Dylan, Neil Young and Mccartney or cult figures like Elvis Costello, Lou Reed or Chris Isaak.
So, Petty is truly unique. He was born of a southern rock spirit that should have likely carried into the 80s but didn't. There was the Skynyrd plane crash, the Allmans break up and finally MTV came along and killed the momentum of bands like .38 Special and Molly Hatchet. Petty was able to succeed in this era by embracing the medium and giving us one of the striking music videos ever.
I knew Petty like many of my age from the Alice pastiche "Dont Come Around Here No More". It is still a work of genius- striking and a bit disturbing, and unexpectedly a more lasting Wonderland tribute than anything Johnny Depp or Tim Burton ever put together.
I remember 1986 as Petty rode high and being too young to know my history, and thinking how lucky Bob Dylan must be to be able to tour with Tom Petty. The local Wal Mart played MTV on a loop and it was about my only exposure so I ate up the excitement of the Petty/Dylan tour as much as I did the soul-inspired mid 80s version of the Stones and the excitement of up-and-comers Jason and the Scorchers.
Full Moon Fever of course ended up being the megahit, and no matter what kind of music you liked, you probably bought it. For me, it is still great, though to be honest, I have had my fill of "Free Fallin" and immediately turn it off. To be fair though, I would never turn off "Runnin down a Dream" or "I Wont Back Down"
My friends and I were in love with Manchester in those days, and punk, so the only cool Heartbreakers were those of the LAMF variety, and alternative, which meant it was ok to like REM which was born off the Byrds just as well, but not as cool to like Petty who had the same influences. Petty stuck out but I was never too worried about it. Sure, it was all about the Replacements and the Pixies, but I wasn't afraid of a little Full Moon Fever as I wasn't afraid of Diamonds and Pearls.
Into the Great Wide Open and Wildflowers came out in the landscape change of the 90s. The 90s showed Petty still knew video, and his title song was memorable with the Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway leads and the single "Mary Jane's Last Dance" with Kim Basinger in a 'memorable' role- like a Hollywood movie. I hated Wildflowers, and I think that was a prevailing thought, but time has come where critics now consider it his masterpiece. It was a commercial success and to be honest I do love all those hits- "You dont know how it feels", "It's Good to be king" and the throwback "You Wreck Me".
Though "serious" music guys discredit Greatest Hits, Petty's Greatest Hits is absolutely perfect. "American Girl" is as perfect as it gets. Released in a world where it wasn't cool like punk or new wave, time has established it as the perfect rock song. It is as good as "Born to Run". The early singles are all there and most are standards now. The only drawback was that it was released before capturing the Wildflowers singles, and another of Petty's finest moments- 2002's "The Last DJ". "Last DJ" is one of this young century's best rock songs. It is less known than the similar "Radio Nowhere" but is just as good. In those days, it was ok to have Britney sing about threesomes, Nelly sing about weed and Eminem to sing about all of that and more, but it was revolutionary to sing about Clear Channel, so the song didn't get near enough exposure.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the two Mudcrutch albums. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been a big champion of these albums. They are some of the best of recent years. Mudcrutch doesn't sound like much in theory- it was Petty's pre Heartbreakers band, and is very similar in lineup (Tench and Campbell, but also Bernie Headon's brother).
Those two records are fantastic. Very much in the vein of Byrds and Flying Burritos influence, with a little bit of NRBQ and Buffalo Springfield. If you have not listened to these records, I once again strongly encourage to do so. Petty was an amazing singles artists, but these are fantastic records. Also the song "Trailer" got a bit of airplay on Adult Alternative radio.
The sad thing of course was that the last Mudcrutch record came out last year and that meant we were still being treated to essential Petty music. What an artistic loss.
Tom Petty fell in a unique spot in modern music. I can't think of many solo rockers who were loved for so long by so many. Yes, he was part of a band, but for purposes of this discussion, everyone did think of him as an individual.
It's Springsteen and everyone else, but in the last decade Petty might be more beloved. Giving this some thought, I think we can agree on a triumvirate of Springsteen, Petty and Mellencamp.
There are rock bands of course (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Metallica, even Bon Jovi) and there are people in the pop genre, but I am not talking pop. Nor do I feel Petty belongs in that category of great rock guys who dipped into soft rock. Soft rock did love Petty, but I don't consider him a soft rocker. So I am not including in the discussion guys like Henley, Sting, Collins, Clapton, Stewart, Adams, Elton and others.
Nor do I feel inclined to include those rockers who either have too infrequent with their output or just never stayed in the commercial spotlight. So as much as I love some of these guys- I say you can leave out Jackson Browne, Randy Newman, Peter Gabriel, Lindsay Buckingham, Mark Knopfler, John Fogerty, Roger McGuinn or Jeff Lynne. I am also talking charts, so we won't include icons like Dylan, Neil Young and Mccartney or cult figures like Elvis Costello, Lou Reed or Chris Isaak.
So, Petty is truly unique. He was born of a southern rock spirit that should have likely carried into the 80s but didn't. There was the Skynyrd plane crash, the Allmans break up and finally MTV came along and killed the momentum of bands like .38 Special and Molly Hatchet. Petty was able to succeed in this era by embracing the medium and giving us one of the striking music videos ever.
I knew Petty like many of my age from the Alice pastiche "Dont Come Around Here No More". It is still a work of genius- striking and a bit disturbing, and unexpectedly a more lasting Wonderland tribute than anything Johnny Depp or Tim Burton ever put together.
I remember 1986 as Petty rode high and being too young to know my history, and thinking how lucky Bob Dylan must be to be able to tour with Tom Petty. The local Wal Mart played MTV on a loop and it was about my only exposure so I ate up the excitement of the Petty/Dylan tour as much as I did the soul-inspired mid 80s version of the Stones and the excitement of up-and-comers Jason and the Scorchers.
Full Moon Fever of course ended up being the megahit, and no matter what kind of music you liked, you probably bought it. For me, it is still great, though to be honest, I have had my fill of "Free Fallin" and immediately turn it off. To be fair though, I would never turn off "Runnin down a Dream" or "I Wont Back Down"
My friends and I were in love with Manchester in those days, and punk, so the only cool Heartbreakers were those of the LAMF variety, and alternative, which meant it was ok to like REM which was born off the Byrds just as well, but not as cool to like Petty who had the same influences. Petty stuck out but I was never too worried about it. Sure, it was all about the Replacements and the Pixies, but I wasn't afraid of a little Full Moon Fever as I wasn't afraid of Diamonds and Pearls.
Into the Great Wide Open and Wildflowers came out in the landscape change of the 90s. The 90s showed Petty still knew video, and his title song was memorable with the Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway leads and the single "Mary Jane's Last Dance" with Kim Basinger in a 'memorable' role- like a Hollywood movie. I hated Wildflowers, and I think that was a prevailing thought, but time has come where critics now consider it his masterpiece. It was a commercial success and to be honest I do love all those hits- "You dont know how it feels", "It's Good to be king" and the throwback "You Wreck Me".
Though "serious" music guys discredit Greatest Hits, Petty's Greatest Hits is absolutely perfect. "American Girl" is as perfect as it gets. Released in a world where it wasn't cool like punk or new wave, time has established it as the perfect rock song. It is as good as "Born to Run". The early singles are all there and most are standards now. The only drawback was that it was released before capturing the Wildflowers singles, and another of Petty's finest moments- 2002's "The Last DJ". "Last DJ" is one of this young century's best rock songs. It is less known than the similar "Radio Nowhere" but is just as good. In those days, it was ok to have Britney sing about threesomes, Nelly sing about weed and Eminem to sing about all of that and more, but it was revolutionary to sing about Clear Channel, so the song didn't get near enough exposure.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the two Mudcrutch albums. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been a big champion of these albums. They are some of the best of recent years. Mudcrutch doesn't sound like much in theory- it was Petty's pre Heartbreakers band, and is very similar in lineup (Tench and Campbell, but also Bernie Headon's brother).
Those two records are fantastic. Very much in the vein of Byrds and Flying Burritos influence, with a little bit of NRBQ and Buffalo Springfield. If you have not listened to these records, I once again strongly encourage to do so. Petty was an amazing singles artists, but these are fantastic records. Also the song "Trailer" got a bit of airplay on Adult Alternative radio.
The sad thing of course was that the last Mudcrutch record came out last year and that meant we were still being treated to essential Petty music. What an artistic loss.
