- The Zollo book ("Conversations With Tom Petty") has been confirmed for republication later this year and will feature additional content. Also, there was a recently published book on the "Southern Accents" album by Michael Washburn as part of the 33 & 1/3rd series. If you scroll through this thread, you will find linkage regarding further information on this publication. - Also completely unrelated but those in San Marcos, CA looking for some great rock 'n' roll this weekend as well as an opportunity to help out a great cause might want to check this out:
I've always loved "Zombie Zoo." Maybe it's because FMF came out when I was nine years old. I think it's a great track. In fact, I listen to Side B of FMF much more than I do Side A.
I love when my 35 year-old son shakes his head over the youthful ignorance of someone much younger than him.
I was lucky to have a mother that got me into music very early. Petty was one of my firsts and I'm happy I got to grow up with him supporting my life's soundtrack.
Has anyone actually read the 33 1/3 book on Southern Accents? It's my fave TP record (yeah I know) so for the money I should buy it anyway but if it is a pile of pants I'd rather keep the tenner in my pocket.
Mine was delivered by amazon today. I skimmed a page or two. Washburn seems preoccupied with politics of race in the few pages I looked at. And I am aware that is not something that is likely to be discussable on these forums.
Thanks for that, sounds like it might be a tiresome trudge and a missed opportunity for an insight into the making of the album. If you struggle through it and it comes good let me know and I might give it a go.
I listened to AAT quite a bit when it dropped - but now it's not ringing a bell. I was actually thinking of the TV show, and any outtakes, deleted scenes, etc, featuring Petty. I wasn't aware he contributed any music to the show.
@FourWalledWorld means the track/duet he did with Roger McGuinn. He didn’t, the song just happens to have the same name as the show, maybe even inspired the title for it.
I have some of these books already...some are fabulous and provide real insight......however others suck the joy out of some of my favourite albums.......they are definitely a real mixed bag.
I have dug a little deeper into Washburn's 33 1/3 book on Southern Accents and it should probably come with a health warning for fans of the album, or of Tom. It is a fierce critique of the way Petty (according to Washburn) reactivated all kinds of unsavoury elements of the South's history, culture and politics. Even the title track Washburn admits first of all is Petty's most beautiful song, and then takes a sledgehammer to its politics. There is not an awful lot in there about the music from my initial scan. Washburn says that Best of Everything with the missing verse was released on American Treasure (it wasn't). He makes a snide comment about Robertson (or Roberson - the book is very, very poorly copy edited) being a good editor (for having cut the missing verse for Southern Accents). I will read it cover to cover, but I am not really looking forward to the ride, I have to say...
Thanks for the added details. It's kind of amazing, considering how much the Heartbreakers (save Mike) disliked the "Travelin'" session, that Tom was able to convince them to do an entire album that way.
- Starting off this morning with some news for West Coasters. As announced by Mark Felsot of SiriusXM's "Tom Petty Radio" on Wednesday morning, Benmont Tench has scheduled four solo performances this coming July. If you are a member of the Tom Petty/Heartbreakers' "Highway Companions Club", you should've gotten an email yesterday detailing on how to get in on yesterday's presale. Anyhow, the tickets are now available to the general public and the shows (and ticket linkage) are as follows: Wednesday July 17, 2019 * Terrapin Crossroads, San Rafael, CA: (((folkYEAH!))) Thursday July 18, 2019 * The Chapel, San Francisco, CA: (((folkYEAH!))) Friday July 19, 2019 * Henry Miller Library, Big Sur, CA: (((folkYEAH!))) Sunday July 21, 2019 * Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA: (((folkYEAH!))) - Speaking of SiriusXM's "Tom Petty Radio", Jason Isbell will be slotting in as Guest DJ beginning on Monday (May 6, 2019) at 8 AM ET w/encores to follow throughout the week! - Here is a recent review of Jon Scott's book "Tom Petty And Me" by Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post Dispatch: Jon Scott's book about Tom Petty benefits from personal touch - Speaking of books, I noticed there has been some discussion about Michael Washburn's recent book which focuses on the Tom Petty/Heartbreakers album "Southern Accents". To begin with, I have not yet read the book and probably won't get a chance to until this summer, at which time I will probably chime in with a more in-depth review. I have however, spent some time reading interviews with Washburn as well as a podcast he did around a month ago where he discussed the book to some degree of depth. Needless to say I was not a fan of what was coming across the wire so to speak. Now granted a posting up the chain mentioned how the 33 & 1/3rd series has the tendency to "suck the joy" out of popular music. I think there is some degree of truth to that statement, especially given that there are a lot of books in that series that tend to go off on tangents, which is understandably not going to be appreciated by some readers. I did however, promote the book in this thread because Washburn did choose to access both Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench for the book. He also had scheduled an interview with Tom Petty, but unfortunately Petty passed away before they could sit down to discuss the album. Again having not yet read the book, the issue I have with posthumous publications particularly when it comes to an individual like Tom Petty is that more times than not they fall short of meeting their burden. For example, while Tom Petty was never one to intentionally inundate his audience with a ton of hidden messages/meaning, he was also someone who you weren't going to get a complete read on at first blush. He was certainly someone who if your objective was to profile him or his work, you needed to fully engage him as part of the process. Unfortunately the opportunity for writers to do that has now expired, so given that context it's not surprising that posthumous writings on Tom Petty aren't going to carry the same weight as ones that he contributed to during his lifetime.
Anyone wanting to know more about the Washburn book before buying it could look at this interview. I work with cultural criticism all the time in my teaching and research but frankly I think Washburn is a bit of an a$$. And cloth eared to boot.
