Tom Petty

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times Photo Credit)

Tom Petty passed away tonight from a heart attack he was 66.  Earlier in the day, his death was reported while he still fighting for his life but even then, the prognosis didn't look good, his brain activity was none.

Last month it was Grant Hart, this month it's Tom Petty and it's my turn to write a obituary of what Tom Petty and his music meant to me.   While the breakout album was Damn The Torpedoes, my introduction to Tom Petty was the 1978 album You're Gonna Get It, with the hit single I Need To Know. The 8 track had a couple duplicates song since it didn't venture over 30 minutes, but it sounded great coming from a 8 track, I later did buy it on album and on CD.  In 1978 You're Gonna Get It stood out in front of the disco and corporate rock with Petty's power pop and rock with a Byrds via Rolling Stones sound.  I always loved failed single Listen To Her Heart enough to cover it in my own band and solo career.

Although Petty was around in 1976 for the first album which gave the world American Girl and Breakdown, radio didn't play those songs very often.  After Damn The Torpedoes that all changed.  When Shelter-ABC Records held Petty hostage with his recording contract he declared  bankruptcy And then MCA signed Petty to the fledgling label Backstreet and scored hits with Refugee, Don't Do Me Like That and Here Comes My Girl but I enjoyed the lesser known What Are You Doing In My Life, Even The Losers, Shadow Of  A Doubt and Century City.  Still a classic album but You're Gonna Get It remains my go to Petty.

Petty was a original rock and roller who fought his label when Backstreet/MCA wanted to raise the price of his next album to 8.98 and Petty refused.  In fact he was set to call that album 8.98 but it ended up being called Hard Promises. It did some hits like The Waiting and Woman In Love and Nightwatchman but I did not warm up to it.  Long After Dark felt phoned in but had some good songs to it.  Southern Access, tries too hard but Let Me Up I Had Enough seemed a return back to simple rock and roll.

Petty did managed to work with some of the best musicians around and that eventually became the Traveling Wilburys, with Roy Orbinson, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison and Bob Dylan.  With Jeff Lynne, Petty made his first solo album Full Moon Fever that spawned off his biggest hit it seems Free Fallin, a song written as a joke but it's not a classic rock staple.  Petty has said while they were mixing that song up, he and Lynne then wrote I Won't Back Down in a half hour.  Around that time, Petty got to work with Roger McGuinn on the 1989 Back From Rio album that should have done better on the charts.

And he reconnected with Del Shannon.  In 1980 Petty and the Heartbreakers backed Del up on his 1981 album Drop Down And Get Me which gave Del a top fifty chart showing with Sea Of Love.  9 years later TP along with Jeff Lynne would help out Del on Rock On! that had a minor hit with Walk Away, but the album would see the light of day in 1991, a year after Del took his life, on Petty's Gone Gator label.

After Into The Great White Open, Stan Lynch left The Heartbreakers and in reality took the swinging beats away, Steve Ferrone, the replacement had a more professional sound but to my ears Stan Lynch was the beat of the Heartbreakers.  While Tom Petty did do solo albums, Mike Campbell and Beamont Tench would play on their albums.  A move to Warner Brothers gave him a big hit with the CD Wildflowers, a album that went on a bit too long for my liking. A soundtrack to the movie She's The One was much better and then Petty gave us the scathing The Last DJ.   And Petty kept busy, when the Heartbreakers were not touring, he started back up Mudcrutch, the band he, Campbell and Tench were originally in and they made two pretty good albums. Petty became the voice of Lucky on King Of The Hill and started up Buried Treasures on Sirius Radio, Tom shared a love of music and records and obscure artists and his radio shows were must hear.  Just recently, Petty produced Chris Hillman's latest album which is also a must hear.

Petty could do it all.  He could play guitar with The Heartbreakers and he could play bass in Mudcrutch or Ben Tench's album.  And he could find time to chat with the local crowd after a show. Like most rockers we thought he could live a long time and play music.  But even he was hinting that this year might be the last time the Heartbreakers would be touring and probably time to relax. But at 10:40 CST, Petty's heart finally gave out on him.

He will be missed.

Tom Petty albums graded. (incomplete)

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers (Gone Gator 1976)  B+
You're Gonna Get It (Gone Gator 1978) A-
Damn The Torpedoes (Backstreet 1979) A-
Hard Promises (Backstreet 1980) B+
Long After Dark (Backstreet 1982) B-
Southern Accents (MCA 1985) B
Let Me Up I Had Enough (MCA 1987) A-
Pack Up The Plantation (MCA 1988) B
Traveling WIlbury's Volume 1 (Wilbury 1989) B+
Full Moon Fever (MCA 1989) B+
Into The Great Wide Open (MCA 1991) B
Traveling Wilburys Volume 3 (Wilbury 1992) B+
Greatest Hits (MCA 1993) A-
Wildflowers (WB 1995) B
She's The One (WB 1996) B+
Echo (WB 2000) B+
The Last DJ (WB 2001) B
Highway Companion (American Recordings 2007) B
Mudcrutch (Reprise 2008) B+
Mojo (Reprise 2010) C+
Hypnotic Eye (Reprise 2012) B+
Mudcrutch 2 (Reprise 2016) B+