Hey gang, I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe during this trying time. To help you pass away around twenty minutes time while you are sheltering in place, some archival footage has been made available through YouTube marking the first occasion when Tom Petty received the key to his hometown of Gainesville, Florida. Although the video indicates that the ceremony took place in 1982, the correct date for the celebration is believed to be October 8, 1981 which was also the date of the first Tom Petty/Heartbreakers homecoming concert [setlist linked below]. A few points to make to place this event within it's proper historical context. Alongside Tom Petty, the rest of the Heartbreakers joined in on the festivities, including Ron Blair who if history is to be believed had already informed the band that he would not be continuing on as a member of the Heartbreakers after the conclusion of the tour. While there were originally supposed to be two further dates scheduled on the "Hard Promises" tour after the Gainesville show, those dates ended up being canceled so October 8, 1981 would prove to be Ron Blair's swan song with the band for essentially the next twenty years. It's also worth noting that the footage makes for one heck of a comparison with some of the latter day press conferences whether it be their 2008 Super Bowl presser or the second occasion that Petty received the key to the city of Gainesville [09-21-2006]. The band in these early days were a lot more loose! There is some great stuff here including a rare "Bugs" sighting! Footage from the ceremony has been accessed by many Tom Petty/Heartbreakers' documentaries including Peter Bogdanovich's 2007 documentary film "Runnin' Down A Dream", but this is the first time to my knowledge that the entire press conference has been made available for the public to view. Stay Safe, Stay Smart and Be Healthy. Enjoy! Tom Petty/Heartbreakers - 10-08-1981 - First Homecoming Concert at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL [setlist]: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Setlist at Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville
Their thread got locked and they also apologized. Do you think Tom would want us to keep piling it on?
From The Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios Facebook Page : " Renowned Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers keyboardist and founding member Benmont Tench mastered his Blue Note debut solo album for vinyl at Bernie Grundman Mastering with mastering engineer Chris Bellman (2014). “Such a joy to work with Chris,” Tench commented. Pictured in the cutting room are (L-R) Benmont Tench and mastering engineer Chris Bellman. Photo by David Goggin. #benmonttench "
Looks like there has been some activity over the past few days. LOL! Truth be told I'm not that concerned if someone wanted to start a new Tom Petty/Heartbreakers thread. I don't view it as hijacking, I guess I just don't get my knickers in a twist over stuff like that. It's all good will anyhow if the good music of Tom Petty/Heartbreakers is being spread and discussed. I do understand the GORTS concerns about having multiple threads, so it's probably best if conversations stay here for now. Truth be told, the reason why I didn't start a 2020 thread at the start of this year was that much of the first and second quarters of this year was to be devoted to Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs and they already have their own dedicated thread as well [The Dirty Knobs with Mike Campbell • Wreckless Abandon 2020 ]. Unfortunately, Mike ended up having to postpone things due to a medical issue and now we all postponing things due to a much further reaching medical issue so the best laid plans right? Anyhow I hope everyone is doing well and keeping safe and healthy and listening to some good music. For now in loving memory of the very wonderful kind spirit John Prine, I'll leave you with this:
In these dark times, Mike Campbell to the RESCUE. Mike Campbell has got a new song to share with us and I'll post it up here given that it isn't exactly The Dirty Knobs. It's been a-spinning a bit on SiriusXM's Tom Petty Radio, but the good news for non subscribers is that GATOR has made a YouTube video to share. More info here AND there [The Dirty Knobs - Wreckless Abandon out March 20th ]: Hi everyone. I came up with a new song, “Lockdown,” for fun. Everyone around me loved the song, so I’m putting it out for people to enjoy and to raise some money for Feeding America. It feels good to do something positive to help in this time of crisis. So we hope this gives you a smile and takes your mind off the dark times for a few minutes. Donations made via our webstore at thedirtyknobs.com get a free download, and if you donate enough you’ll get a LIMITED edition LOCKDOWN bandana which you can use to cover your face and have a memento of these times. With love and hope, Mike Campbell More info & full statement at TheDirtyKnobs.com
Thank you! That's a fun rockin' song. I needed that. Boy, Mike sure sounds like Tom at times. All the best.
Oh man, that was what I needed. Yeah, if I close my eyes, it sounds like Tom Petty is singing. His Petty impression is pretty great!
Mike needs to reconvene the Heartbreakers and continue the story. He can totally do it, even if he calls it something else. Fantastic song!
I've thought this from the outset. Ron, Scott, Ben, and Mike can all sing. Various groupings of the Dead have kept the music going when their first instinct was to shut it down. Is it the same? No! But it sure sounds good, and it's fun. The music needs to live on.
Nope. Mike only “sounds” like Tom because they have the same accent. His vocal range is very limited in comparison. Ron is a much better singer, IMO. But it’s a moot point because the band isn’t ready to do this. Mike has said, someday but I’m not ready and Benmont has said that he can’t even imagine them all playing together without Tom. Let it go, enjoy what was.
TOM PETTY IN THE UK...IN 1989???!!! So we turn from the something NEW variety to something from the MISTS OF TIME and the definition of the word RARE. I'll set the stage for you if you'd like. In the spring of 1989, Tom Petty embarked on a brief promotional tour of the UK where he spoke at length about The Traveling Wilburys and the imminent release of his forthcoming solo LP "Full Moon Fever". This would ironically be the only in-person promotional work that "Full Moon Fever" would see in the United Kingdom as Tom Petty/Heartbreakers ultimately decided not to tour that album abroad. During this promotional tour, Petty would partake in both television and press interviews speaking with such outfits as Melody Maker and NME. However, what was unknown by almost all Tom Petty/Heartbreakers fans was that he did indeed leave one performance behind for his UK fans to enjoy and it is a treat! To my knowledge, this is the only solo acoustic performance of "Yer So Bad" in existence. Petty would perform the song throughout the years in concert in a far more minimalist arrangement that what appears on the record, but if you were ever wondering how the song likely sounded the first time Petty played it down to Jeff Lynne in 1987 this would probably come pretty close. Enjoy this one folks, available for your perusal for the first time ever, it is the very definition of uber rare! PS: The sentimentalist in me has just hit upon the vast irony of the fact that this performance happens to show up just now at a time when musicians across the globe are self-isolating and yet using that time to present us with minimalist and stripped down versions of their music. Sadly TP couldn't be around to partake and yet in a way HE JUST HAS! Cheers Tom!
My local record shop is dead sold on the fact that Wildflowers Box will come out this year and most likely Black Friday? Then again, they were first pitching RSD....industry sources apparently.
Is Mike into having his name "up front?" If not, perhaps Heartbreakers without "the" or Broken Hearts.
Just a few tidbits to get your week started in the right direction. Prior to the lockdown, Guitar Player magazine conducted an interview with Mike Campbell who discussed his long career working alongside Tom Petty as well as few of his guest slots on other musician's albums. He also briefly commented on upcoming plans involving The Dirty Knobs, which of course have now been put on hold (hopefully just temporarily!): Mike Campbell Reflects on His Long Career as the Rock Guitarist's Guitarist | GuitarPlayer SHF member MikeMono uploaded yet another rare piece of Tom Petty/Heartbreakers media onto YouTube late last week. This is actually one that I have some degree of recall watching back in 1995 when it first aired on VH1. At least I recall the name "Postcards From The Road" although I couldn't recall if it was a Tom Petty/Heartbreakers documentary or one of those MTV/VH1 "road updates" that they would run incessantly in those days, since they would rarely be given permission to actually broadcast live concerts on their networks. In reality, it's a bit of both as "Postcards From The Road" was a series produced by VH1 offering fans brief glimpses of rock 'n' roll tours that were in progress at the time. What makes the Tom Petty/Heartbreakers entry special though is that the footage was filmed and submitted to the network by Tom Petty's daughter Adria Petty. The footage captures the events leading up to Tom Petty/Heartbreakers' performance at Madison Square Garden on 03-20-1995 during the "Dogs With Wings" tour. Of course, as was the custom in those days, the CV of the songs which the band is performing live onstage is used as a bed for those performances rather than allowing the viewers to hear portions of the live performance itself. But it's still pretty sweet, have a look!:
Jesse Malin just released a wonderful cover of "Crawling Back to You" as the b-side to his new digital single
Hey, so did anyone buy the "Lockdown" track? I did, and though FLAC was given as an option, I got an mp3. I contacted Musictoday about it, twice since last week, and have gotten no response.
I got in the car for the first time a weeks yesterday, and Tom Petty radio played 4-5 new to circulation tracks. It was pretty crazy. IS there a master list anywhere that people are keeping of the live and studio tracks exclusive to SiriusXM? I was pretty caught up until the lockdown. I know there's about a half dozen from the 2017 tour, and a few outtakes, but these from yesterday were from all over and not from previous collections like the Live Anthology and the live albums released to fan club members. Thanks! Hope it means that new music is on its way to us soon.
