Tom Petty
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Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1950) is an American rock musician.
Biography
Tom Petty, known in his early years as "Tommy", was born in Gainesville, Florida and grew up in northeast Gainesville. As a teen-aged, amateur musician he often practiced at home with friends and sometimes even in the family owned fall-out shelter located in his back yard. Petty graduated from Gainesville High School in 1968. Petty did not have any musical aspirations until Elvis Presley came to Ocala, Florida, 25 miles south of Petty's hometown, to work on a film, "Follow That Dream". Petty went down to watch him and was inspired. After working with his early bands The Sundowners, The Epics, and Mudcrutch with ace drummer Randall Marsh, (which also included future Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) he began his recording career with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers when the band broke onto the national music scene with their 1976 self-titled debut album. Still, it took America a full year to catch up to the album. "Breakdown" was re-released to radio and became a Top 40 hit in 1977 after word filtered back the band was creating a firestorm in England.Their 1978 second album You're Gonna Get It! proved the debut album's intensity was no fluke. Marking the band's first gold album, it features the singles "Listen To Her Heart" and "I Need To Know". Shortly after its release the band was dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records was sold to MCA Records. Petty refused to simply be transferred to another record label without his consent. He held fast to his principles for nine long months, which eventually led to him filing for bankruptcy.
After the dispute was settled, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers released their third album Damn the Torpedoes (1979) that rapidly became triple-platinum. It includes "Refugee", their U.S. breakthrough single.
Petty was appealling to an wide range of musical tastes as new wave. Punk and rocker fans alike were taking notice.
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 to Damn the Torpedoes. MCA wanted to release the record at the list price of $9.98, which was a high price at the time. Petty refused to comply to their wishes, threatening to change the album title to "The 8.98 Album" & actually withhold the album from the label. He organized a fan protest that forced the company to release the record at 8.98. Hard Promises became a Top Ten hit, going platinum and spawning the hit single "The Waiting." Tom also recorded his first duet "Insider" with Stevie Nicks.
On their fifth album Long After Dark (1982) bass player Ron Blair was replaced by Howie Epstein, giving The Heartbreakers their line up until 1994. However, Petty had problems coping with the stress and success and decided to slow things down.
On their comeback album Southern Accents (1985) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers picked up where they had left off. The recording was not without problems — Petty became frustrated during the mixing process and broke his left hand after punching through a wall. The album includes the hit single "Don't Come Around Here No More" which was produced by Dave Stewart. The video for the single, featuring Tom dressed as the Mad Hatter mocking and chasing Alice from the book Alice in Wonderland, then cutting and eating her as if she were a cake, caused some controversy after it was criticized by feminist groups.
A successful concert tour led to the live album Pack Up The Plantation-Live! (1985). The band's live capabilities were put to the test when Bob Dylan invited Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers to join him on his True Confessions tour through the U.S., Australia, Japan (1986) and Europe (1987).
Also in 1987, the group released Let Me Up (I've Had Enough), a studio album made to sound like a live recording using a technique they borrowed from Bob Dylan. It includes "Jammin' Me", which Petty wrote with Dylan.
Petty also appeared in several episodes of It's Garry Shandling's Show (1987 - 1990), playing himself as one of Garry Shandling's neighbors. This show appeared on the then-fledgling Fox network.
In 1989, Petty released Full Moon Fever. Though nominally a solo project, other Heartbreakers and well-known musicians participated in the album's production. Mike Campbell co-produced the album with Petty and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra. It was in the Billboard Top Ten chart for over 34 weeks and earned triple-platinum status, along the way spawning such hits as "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin'" and "Runnin' Down A Dream".
Prior to Full Moon Fever, Lynne and Petty worked together in the all-stars band Traveling Wilburys, which also counted Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy Orbison as members. Traveling Wilburys started as a joke in order to record a B-side for a George Harrison single, but the song "Handle With Care" was such a success that the group decided to record a full album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988). Roy Orbison's sudden death cast a shadow on the success and shortly afterwards Del Shannon, whom the remaining Wilburys had in mind as a replacement, committed suicide. A second Wilburys album, mysteriously called Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (1990), followed but couldn't quite live up to expectations.
Petty rejoined with the Heartbreakers for his next album, Into the Great Wide Open in 1991. It was again produced by Jeff Lynne and includes the hit singles "Learning To Fly" and "Into The Great Wide Open", the latter featuring Johnny Depp, Gabrielle Anwar and Faye Dunaway in the video.
In 1994, Petty released his second solo album, Wildflowers, which included hit singles "You Don't Know How It Feels", "You Wreck Me", "It's Good to Be King", "A Higher Place" and "Honey Bee". A year later, a six CD Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers box-set was released, entitled Playback. Approximately half of the tracks were previously available on albums, while the rest were B-sides, demos and live tracks. Two notable tracks are a version of Tom's famous duet with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", which Tom sings alone, and the song "Waiting For Tonight," which features vocals from The Bangles. The latter song also appeared on the two CD anthology released in 2000.
1996 saw the release of Tom's solo soundtrack to the movie She's the One, starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston. Three singles were released from this album, "Walls (Circus)" (featuring Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac), "Climb that Hill" and a song written by Lucinda Williams,"Change the Locks". The album also included a cover of a song by Beck, "Asshole".
Three years after the release of She's the One, Tom recorded the album Echo, with the Heartbreakers. Two songs were released as singles in the U.S., "Room at the Top" and "Free Girl Now". The album reached number 10 in the U.S. album charts. A Tom Petty Anthology was released in 2000, compiled by film director Cameron Crowe.
Tom's most recent album was The Last DJ, released in 2002. Many of the tracks are stinging attacks on the music industry, criticising the greediness inherent within it, as well as the tendency of record companies to water down popular rock acts and release throwaway pop music made by scantily-clad young girls. The album reached number 9 in the U.S. charts.
Petty has been honored with 16 Grammy Award nominations since 1981. In that year he received his first nomination for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" in the category of Best Rock Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal. Petty earned a Grammy Award in 1989 for Best Rock Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal for his work with the Traveling Wilburys. In 1994 he received another two Grammy Awards: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (for "You Don't Know How It Feels") and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). Wildflowers also garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.
Other Wildflowers achievements included Best Male Video Award for "You Don't Know How It Feels" at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers won the same award in 1994 with the video "Mary Jane's Last Dance". At the 1994 ceremony, Petty was also presented with the Video Vanguard Award, citing his longtime contributions to the field. In accepting the award though, while expressing his appreciation to MTV for the award, Petty denied his work was any more important than anyone else's, saying that all artistic expression was equally valid and implicitly validating the work of up-and-coming and aspiring musicians.
As a songwriter, Tom Petty was acknowledged in May 1996 with the prestigious Golden Note Award from ASCAP. In April 1996, Petty received UCLA's George And Ira Gershwin Award For Lifetime Musical Achievement. In 2002 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Petty appeared in the 1997 movie, The Postman, directed by and starring Kevin Costner. This was his second appearance on the silver screen, having had a small part in the 1987 movie Made in Heaven.
In 1999 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7018 Hollywood Blvd., an honor that acknowledges both their musical achievements and their humanitarian involvement with such organizations as Greenpeace, the National Veteran's Foundation, USA Harvest, Rock And Wrap It Up, AmFAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research), and his anti-nuclear activism.
In 2002 he appeared on The Simpsons in the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation". He has also voiced the character Lucky in King of the Hill.
In 2005, Tom Petty began hosting his own show "Buried Treasure" on XM Radio, on which he shares selections from his personal record collection. On December 6, 2005, he received the Billboard Century Award for his lifetime achievements. Later in the month, Tom agreed to sign on with XM Radio for a second season of his show "Buried Treasure."
In February 2006 Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers agreed to be the headline act at the fifth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. In addition to Bonnaroo, Petty will be on tour throughout the summer in 2006. The tour is projected to start in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 9 and end in Randalls Island, NY on August 19. Stops include major cities such as New York, St.Louis, Indianapolis and Denver. Supporting acts during the tour will include Pearl Jam, The Allman Brothers Band & Trey Anastasio. Additionally, Stevie Nicks will join Tom Petty onstage during the first eight concerts of the tour to perform various songs from the Heartbreakers vast catalog. It was just announced that for the Highway Companion Tour they will offer a Highway Companion's Club which would allow fans to recevie priority seating, discounts at the Tom Petty Store, a complimentary CD of Highway Companion and a personalized email address.
Some have claimed that the Red Hot Chili Peppers single Dani California, released in May 2006, is very similar to Petty's Mary Jane's Last Dance single. http://www.wgmd.com/newspost/fullnews.php?id=1142. While the songs do sound alike, it is unknown whether Dani California was an intentional copy. The two songs are compared here [link]. Petty himself might be guilty of the same crime though. In 1992 The Jayhawks released a song called Waiting For The Sun. A year later Petty released "Mary Jane's Last Dance" which sounds very simular to The Jayhawks song. Similarly, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds has said in an interview that the first time he heard American Girl he thought it was one of his own songs, and tried to remember when he wrote it.
Petty tells PageSix.com, "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike. Ask CHUCK BERRY. THE STROKES took AMERICAN GIRL (for their song LAST NITE), and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you'.
"If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe (I'd sue). But I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous law suits in this country without people fighting over pop songs."
On July 25, 2006 Petty will release a new solo album titled Highway Companion. Also that year, the ABC U.S. television network hired Petty to do the music for its NBA Playoffs coverage.
From July 2006 until 2007 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH will feature an exhibit of Tom Petty items. Much of the content was donated by Petty himself from a visit to his home by some of the Rock Hall curatatorial staff.
In July of 2006, Tom made a bold political statement in Esquire magazine. He said: "The war in Iraq is shameful. Whether you're pro or con Bush, you've got to admit it: the guy lied, and he continues to do so. I can't understand why he's not just run out on a rail. To send somebody's kids off and have them killed for no good reason - he's going to have his day in hell for that. I wouldn't want that karma." Making such a statement was uncharacteristic of Petty, who isn't known to be a political activist.
The Heartbreakers
- Current members
- *Mike Campbell - guitar
- *Benmont Tench - keyboards
- *Ron Blair - bass
- *Steve Ferrone - drums
- *Scott Thurston - guitar, keyboards, harmonica, bass
- Former members
- *Howie Epstein - bass (deceased)
- *Stan Lynch - drums
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | U.S. | UK | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | 55 | 24 | debut album |
| 1978 | You're Gonna Get It! | 23 | 34 | align="left" valign="top" |
| 1979 | Damn the Torpedoes | 2 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| align="left" valign="top" | ||||
| 1981 | Hard Promises | 5 | 32 | align="left" valign="top" |
| 1982 | Long After Dark | 9 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| align="left" valign="top" | ||||
| 1985 | Southern Accents | 7 | 23 | align="left" valign="top" |
| 1986 | [[Pack up the Plantation: Live!]] | 22 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| live album | ||||
| 1987 | Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | 20 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| align="left" valign="top" | ||||
| 1989 | Full Moon Fever | 3 | 8 | solo album |
| 1991 | Into the Great Wide Open | 13 | 3 | align="left" valign="top" |
| 1993 | Greatest Hits | 5 | 10 | hits compilation album |
| 1994 | Wildflowers | 8 | 36 | solo album |
| 1995 | Playback | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| 6-disc box set | ||||
| 1996 | Songs and Music from "She's the One" | 15 | 37 | film soundtrack |
| 1999 | Echo | 10 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| align="left" valign="top" | ||||
| 2000 | [[Anthology: Through The Years]] | 132 | 14 | compilation album |
| 2002 | The Last DJ | 9 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| align="left" valign="top" | ||||
| 2003 | [[Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ]] | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| live album | ||||
| 2006 | Highway Companion | TBD | TBD | solo album |
Tom Petty with The Traveling Wilburys
- Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (October 25 1988) (#3 U.S., #16 UK)
- Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (October 19 1990) (#11 U.S., #14 UK)
Singles
| Year | Song | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. MSR* | UK singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "Breakdown" | 40 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | |||||
| 1977 | "Anything That's Rock N' Roll" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| 36 | Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | ||||
| 1977 | "American Girl" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| 40 | Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | ||||
| 1978 | "I Need To Know" | 41 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| You're Gonna Get It! | |||||
| 1978 | "Listen To Her Heart" | 59 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| You're Gonna Get It! | |||||
| 1979 | "Don't Do Me Like That" | 10 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Damn The Torpedoes | |||||
| 1979 | "Refugee" | 15 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Damn The Torpedoes | |||||
| 1980 | "Here Comes My Girl" | 59 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Damn The Torpedoes | |||||
| 1981 | "The Waiting" | 19 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Hard Promises | |||||
| 1981 | "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks) | 3 | 2 | 50 | Bella Donna (Stevie Nicks album) |
| 1981 | "A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)" | 79 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Hard Promises | |||||
| 1982 | "You Got Lucky" | 20 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Long After Dark | |||||
| 1983 | "Change Of Heart" | 21 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Long After Dark | |||||
| 1985 | "Don't Come Around Here No More" | 13 | 2 | 50 | Southern Accents |
| 1985 | "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" | 54 | 12 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Southern Accents | |||||
| 1985 | "Rebels" | 74 | 5 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Southern Accents | |||||
| 1986 | "Needles and Pins" (with Stevie Nicks) | 37 | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| Pack Up The Plantation: Live! | |||||
| 1987 | "Think About Me" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 36 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | |||||
| 1987 | "Runaway Trains" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 6 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | |||||
| 1987 | "Jammin' Me" | 18 | 1 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | |||||
| 1987 | "All Mixed Up" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 19 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | |||||
| 1989 | "Runnin' Down A Dream" | 23 | 1 | 55 | Full Moon Fever |
| 1989 | "Love Is A Long Road" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 7 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Full Moon Fever | |||||
| 1989 | "I Won't Back Down" | 12 | 1 | 28 | Full Moon Fever |
| 1989 | "Feel A Whole Lot Better" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 18 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Full Moon Fever | |||||
| 1989 | "Free Fallin'" | 7 | 1 | 64 | Full Moon Fever |
| 1990 | "Yer So Bad" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 5 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Full Moon Fever | |||||
| 1990 | "A Face In The Crowd" | 46 | 5 | 93 | Full Moon Fever |
| 1991 | "Out In The Cold" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 1 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Into The Great Wide Open | |||||
| 1991 | "Learning to Fly" | 28 | 1 | 46 | Into The Great Wide Open |
| 1991 | "Into The Great Wide Open" | 92 | 4 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Into The Great Wide Open | |||||
| 1992 | "Too Good To Be True" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| align="center" valign="top" | |||||
| 34 | Into The Great Wide Open | ||||
| 1992 | "Makin Some Noise" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 30 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Into The Great Wide Open | |||||
| 1992 | "King s Highway" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 4 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Into The Great Wide Open | |||||
| 1993 | "Mary Jane's Last Dance" | 14 | 1 | 52 | Greatest Hits |
| 1994 | "You Don't Know How It Feels" | 13 | 1 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Wildflowers | |||||
| 1994 | "Something In The Air" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 19 | 53 | Greatest Hits | |||
| 1995 | "You Wreck Me" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 2 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Wildflowers | |||||
| 1995 | "It's Good To Be King" | 68 | 6 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Wildflowers | |||||
| 1995 | "Cabin Down Below" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 29 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Wildflowers | |||||
| 1995 | "A Higher Place" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 12 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Wildflowers | |||||
| 1996 | "Walls (Circus)" | 69 | 6 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Songs And Music From "She's The One" | |||||
| 1996 | "Waiting For Tonight" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 6 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Anthology: Through the Years (Disc 2)" | |||||
| 1996 | "Climb That Hill" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 6 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Songs And Music From "She's The One" | |||||
| 1997 | "Change The Locks" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 20 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Songs And Music From "She's The One" | |||||
| 1999 | "Room At The Top" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 19 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Echo | |||||
| 1999 | "Free Girl Now" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 5 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Echo | |||||
| 2002 | "The Last DJ" | align="center" valign="top" | |||
| 22 | align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| The Last DJ | |||||
Quotes
A comprehensive list of Tom Petty's most notable lyrics can be found in Wikiquote: [[Wikiquote:Tom Petty|Tom Petty]].
- "Nirvana to me was the most significant thing since the Beatles."
- "I'll endeavor to deserve it and may I remind you that this ain't the end. I can still kick some ass. God bless you." - Billboard Century Award acceptance speech.
See also
External links
- [Official Site]
- [Mudcrutch Farm] - Fan Community
- [Gone Gator] - fansite
- [Petty's entry in the Internet Movie Database]
- [Tom Petty article at Esquire magazine]
- [Rehearsals] - 2006 rehearsal of new song, Saving Grace.
| Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers |
|---|
| Ron Blair - Mike Campbell - Howie Epstein - Stan Lynch - Benmont Tench Steve Ferrone - Scott Thurston |
| Discography |
| Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - You're Gonna Get It! - Damn the Torpedoes - Hard Promises Long After Dark - Southern Accents - Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) - Full Moon Fever Into the Great Wide Open - Wildflowers - She's The One - Echo - The Last DJ Greatest Hits - Playback |
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