Goodbye Tom Petty
Thank you for everything, Tom. :(
There are so many reasons why I loved Tom Petty.
I loved his integrity: how he fought his record company over an unfair contract, willing to go bankrupt rather than “be bought and sold like a piece of meat”, and later over a price hike on their forthcoming record. It’s hard not to love a guy willing to wage war with the record industry to save his fans just $1.
I loved his passion and determination. Petty famously broke his hand in 1984 after punching a wall in frustration over a song he was recording for the album Southern Accents. The doctors told him he would never play guitar again. Petty was of course determined to prove them wrong and by 1985 he was back on stage and playing his trusty Rickenbacker. It’s the kind of inspiring story befitting a music legend.
He was a superb collaborator. First of all with his incredible band the Heartbreakers, but also with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks who he helped launch as a solo superstar with their duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around“. For me, Stevie and Tom singing together on their many duets will always rule my heart and seeing them perform together this past summer was easily one of the highlights of my life.
There’s also the fact that even though they were superstars themselves at this point, Petty and the Heartbreakers didn’t mind putting their egos aside to tour with one of their heroes, Bob Dylan, as his back-up band for two incredible years (check out the excellent Hard To Handle tour video) and of course Petty was the baby of the band in maybe the best super-group of them all, the Traveling Wilburys.
I absolutely loved his sense of humour and his willingness to make fun of himself (watch the spontaneous song “I’m Stupid” from the A Bunch Of Videos And Some Stuff VHS, a video I worn out as kid and actually had to buy another copy) or his brilliant comedic performance as the lovable Lucky in the animated series King Of The Hill. And who else could have got away with playing a sci-fi version of himself in the post-apocalyptic movie The Postman?
Most of all though I loved Tom Petty for his music, which has always been a huge wonderful part of my life. He was a rock n’ roller who was not afraid of a good pop melody. Those jangly guitars, obviously inspired by The Byrds yet so unique to him, those songs which could make you feel so good or break your heart, he could do it all. And what a lyricist, I don’t think there has ever been a person that can’t relate to the yearning expressed in the lines from “American Girl”, all the hopeful feelings of “Even The Losers” or the defiance of “Swingin”, easily one of his most underrated tracks.
He was on par with the likes of Springsteen live, and I was lucky enough to see him four times over the years, the first time in the late 90s, front row at a small theatre show in London and the last time at in a crowd of thousands at Hyde Park this year. It didn’t matter the size of the audience he was able to make you feel like he was singing just for you. My favourite memory though is from 2012 where every single person in the Royal Albert Hall loudly joined in singing “Free Fallin’”, like a huge glorious choir. It was an incredible feeling to be part of that.
For me Tom Petty was a giant: a masterful singer-songwriter, an amazing entertainer and just a fantastic human being and I will forever miss him.
There are so many reasons why I loved Tom Petty.
I loved his integrity: how he fought his record company over an unfair contract, willing to go bankrupt rather than “be bought and sold like a piece of meat”, and later over a price hike on their forthcoming record. It’s hard not to love a guy willing to wage war with the record industry to save his fans just $1.
I loved his passion and determination. Petty famously broke his hand in 1984 after punching a wall in frustration over a song he was recording for the album Southern Accents. The doctors told him he would never play guitar again. Petty was of course determined to prove them wrong and by 1985 he was back on stage and playing his trusty Rickenbacker. It’s the kind of inspiring story befitting a music legend.
He was a superb collaborator. First of all with his incredible band the Heartbreakers, but also with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks who he helped launch as a solo superstar with their duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around“. For me, Stevie and Tom singing together on their many duets will always rule my heart and seeing them perform together this past summer was easily one of the highlights of my life.
There’s also the fact that even though they were superstars themselves at this point, Petty and the Heartbreakers didn’t mind putting their egos aside to tour with one of their heroes, Bob Dylan, as his back-up band for two incredible years (check out the excellent Hard To Handle tour video) and of course Petty was the baby of the band in maybe the best super-group of them all, the Traveling Wilburys.
I absolutely loved his sense of humour and his willingness to make fun of himself (watch the spontaneous song “I’m Stupid” from the A Bunch Of Videos And Some Stuff VHS, a video I worn out as kid and actually had to buy another copy) or his brilliant comedic performance as the lovable Lucky in the animated series King Of The Hill. And who else could have got away with playing a sci-fi version of himself in the post-apocalyptic movie The Postman?
Most of all though I loved Tom Petty for his music, which has always been a huge wonderful part of my life. He was a rock n’ roller who was not afraid of a good pop melody. Those jangly guitars, obviously inspired by The Byrds yet so unique to him, those songs which could make you feel so good or break your heart, he could do it all. And what a lyricist, I don’t think there has ever been a person that can’t relate to the yearning expressed in the lines from “American Girl”, all the hopeful feelings of “Even The Losers” or the defiance of “Swingin”, easily one of his most underrated tracks.
He was on par with the likes of Springsteen live, and I was lucky enough to see him four times over the years, the first time in the late 90s, front row at a small theatre show in London and the last time at in a crowd of thousands at Hyde Park this year. It didn’t matter the size of the audience he was able to make you feel like he was singing just for you. My favourite memory though is from 2012 where every single person in the Royal Albert Hall loudly joined in singing “Free Fallin’”, like a huge glorious choir. It was an incredible feeling to be part of that.
For me Tom Petty was a giant: a masterful singer-songwriter, an amazing entertainer and just a fantastic human being and I will forever miss him.
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