It's not that I am a huge fan of his. Just got through listening to a bunch of his stuff though, and I was thinking that Tom Petty is a bit of a question mark to me. He is undoubtedly a great writer and bandleader. He is the real deal. Integrity to burn, excellent, EXCELLENT band. Campbell must be one of thew best rock guitarrists out there; but why is he not thought of they compile the lists? Stan Lynch is right out of the Charlie Watts school of drumming. Tench is one of the No1 sesssion guys.TP hangs out with the top, top guys.Super career, big selling aLbums and hits. The girls like him too.
But somehow somewhere he is not one of the heavyweights. Or at least he is not one that I automaticaLLY think of. He might have many more superstar ingredients, done a lot of stuff, but I would name others with less "points" first if asked for superstars. Does he not have the ":starpower"? the intangible?
I do hve to say that when listening to a lot of his songs, they all sound sort of the same. The Stones eg can change up drastically. But TP it is all that jangly, straight-up chord=ing,. Either a rave-up or a jingle sing along folker. What do you think of him?

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

he's the best of the second-generation set. once removed from the 60's icon acts.

He's got some nice stuff, and it's strange that he doesn't increase his position in showbiz through the years. He's a bit anonymous...I've got a few of his albums, yet I don't know much about him.

i only know the 1st 4 lps.........like 'em.......they do a pretty good Byrds impersonation

and to be completely frank at the risk of offending the easily offended here - I've been to many a Petty show in my time and these days, TP&H are THE best road band out there.

His last album was a bit of a disappointment, I think he's in a down curve (depression) His bass player OD on Herion, George Harrison Died, Tom needs Knee replacement Surgery...I read were he said he was gonna quit touring after this one...It's sad days for these guys, anyone ever turn on MTV, not exactly the same style of music anymore....

Rebels is a great song! I love Southern Accents.

I Love PETTY...but I hate Dylan which is so bizarre to me because Petty is a complete rip off of Dylan...but rocks better...I just think he is the shit...Wildflowers is a desert island disc for me...especially the last two tracks...masterpieces...I would say they are his "Moonlight Mile" tracks.

Erik_Snow...Tom Petty recently said what you alluded to...he said is level of success is about all he could take...he said if he was any more popular, he would go off the deep end.

PECMAN

He a little bit what I call a "minchia bollita" (a "boiled cock").

Everything perfect, great names, but not exciting. Probably he is a boring man to start with.

C

StonesTod Wrote:
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> and to be completely frank at the risk of
> offending the easily offended here - I've been to
> many a Petty show in my time and these days, TP&H
> are THE best road band out there.


story for ya ST......a couple of jobs ago, i was a delivery/runner type person for a entertainment lighting company here in smogtown......tv shows, bands, etc.........i used to deliver the lighting equipment in a van.....one time i was making a delivery at a rehearsal studio in Hollywood....i entered the studio....and some dude was playin guitar by himself.....it was Mike Campbell....he was just noodling around on the guitar...guess he was waiting for the rest of the band......and some executive looking guy walks past me and mutters: "That guy needs guitar lessons".........he had no idea who it was.......i just laughed to myself



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-21 19:00 by Leonard Keringer.

funny story, lenny - thanks for sharing. campbell's good - but as all good bands are - it's the "sum of the parts" in the case of TP&H. same goes for our lads.

Liddas, he actually seems like anything but boring. that is why I sometimes wonder why he just comes off as a little boring. More than him is Campbell. If there is one boring person to watch, even more so than shoegazers, it is Mike Campbell. And he is such a great guitarrist. Not just that: what I often overlook is that Campbell is almost as much of a writer of music as Tom Petty. Plyus he writes for others. He wrote the great hit for Don Henley "Boys of Summer".

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-21 19:08 by ChelseaDrugstore.

I like Tom Petty.....my girl friend loves him. She's seen him several times. I have yet to see him.

Lukester Wrote:
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> I like Tom Petty.....my girl friend loves him.
> She's seen him several times. I have yet to see
> him.


And give him a good beating I hope ! You'll get your chance, Lukester, just wait...what a bandit!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-21 19:19 by Erik_Snow.

Thanks Erik.....I doubt I'll beat him, but thanks for the suggestion.

Better hurry Luke, turns 26 in a couple weeks - LOL...

i loved him growing up.

he's a stones fan - i saw him at the wiltern show in '03

Toms OK. Obviously some people love him but I never heard an original note come out of him. It's all borrowed in an almost obvious way...i.e. "retro".

Other things that keep him from a higher level of stardom :

1) He's a boring person/personality. 5 minutes into a conversation with him and you'll be excusing yourself.

2) Not very attractive to look at.

3) He suffers from depression. He actually holed up at his house for a few years after a divorce or some such drama.

Tom Pettys current status suffers from a long line of good, but not great albums since Full Moon Fever. no hits in a long time. He reached his peak with this album but has nothing added since. his career was quite stable since then, but he did not reach new heights.

Saw TP this past summer at Saratoga...excellent show..as good as the first time I saw him back in late '78, maybe better

tom petty IS a heavyweight..no ifs ands or buts about it..

everybody knows he's a heavyweight..turn on any fm rock station for an hour or two and you'll hear tom petty.. got a tom petty show (which will be sold out) and everyone in the place will know the lyrics to most of his songs..

the man is a national treasure and a part of the american songbook

not many people can claim to have backed bob dylan and johnny cash by the way...

tom petty is a wilbury for chrissakes

tom petty boring?

come on! get real!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-21 21:38 by stoned_in_dc.

little queenie Wrote:
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> i loved him growing up.
>
> he's a stones fan - i saw him at the wiltern show
> in '03


it was in '02 - and yeah, saw him up the balcony - Campbell, too. Many others like Neil, Stills, etc....

I was always a casual fan of his. Had his greatest hits album, but that's all. I was in Palm Springs, CA last month for a different matter and he happened to be playing a concert there (w/Jackson Browne as his opening act!). I went and it turned out to be a great show. Petty was a great showman, sounded fabulous, did all his hits and did a salute to Chuck Berry.

As a huge added bonus, he brought out Stevie Nicks, introducing her as an honorary Heartbreaker! I don't get these sort of special guests much at concerts being from the midwest.

Anyway, great show and very happy I went.

"Take all the pain...It's yours anyway"

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-05 08:02 by Beelyboy.

nice thread you started here, Chelsea! i've always found Tom Petty real appealing,
and that "integrity to burn" you mention must be the primary reason, since i don't know his music at all -
i think the first Wilburys album is the only music he's contributed to that i've ever owned, but ... i like the cat.

>> 5 minutes into a conversation with him and ... <<

in my experience musicians are often not real scintillating conversationalists - ahem: iorrians excepted, of course! :E
i've always thought it was too bad that being scintillating in conversation somehow became a requirement for being a star ...

Beelyboy Wrote:
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> > some of dylan's coolest live stuff had petty's
> band backing him...
>

can't sign up with that. i thought the '86 True Confessions tour was about the nadir of live Bob. The '87 jaunt in Europe with Petty & Co. was significantly better though.

Beelyboy Wrote:
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> he'll always owe a deep dept to mcquinn, down to
> the 12 string electric and the high tenor tremble
> in his voice, but not a ripoff anymore than you
> can call the stones a ripoff for doing berry...he
> adopted it, adapted it, and made his own music out
> of it.

I agree. He owes a great debt to the Byrds, Dylan and the Stones, just as those bands did to those who came before them. It doesn't make them any lesser for it. Petty is one of the greats, not quite in the Stones' league but then again few are.

> and yeh, stan lynch is a great drummer, and also a
> wonderful harmony singer, that's him on most of
> the foundational big hits and albums singing with
> tom, and he sung all that stuff live while playing
> drums too...
> i think they use a different drummer these last
> several years tho...
> don't know the story behind that.

It was an amicable split; Lynch wanted to get off the road and concentrate on producing and songwriting.

StonesTod Wrote:
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> he's the best of the second-generation set. once
> removed from the 60's icon acts.

I'm a big Petty fan, and you're right that he and his band are smokin' live, but best of the second-generation set? Better than Springsteen?

What about Tom Petty? First of all, he and Keith are the two coolest personalities in rock 'n roll today ... not much to argue about there. If anything, he's run into the same problem that the Stones have ... namely, it's hard to be relevant after you get into your forties (and well beyond) ... sorry, but that's just the truth ... In the sixties, the Beatles, Stones, Dylan, etc., created the "don't trust anybody over 30 generation" and we're all victims of that mindset to some degree ... Petty and the Heartbreakers rock as hard and well as anybody around these days (yes, up there with the Stones) ... My biggest complaint about Petty is that he does virtually the same show night after night ... even the Stones no longer do that ... even though his new album was well-received, he only did two (maybe 3?) songs from it last time I saw him ... personally, I was blown away by the Strokes (who opened for Petty in September) -- Petty is no less original than any other artist out there ... he, along with his bandmates, have definitely perfected a unique sound ... Petty rocks! (and during a recent NPR interview talked about trying to figure out the chords and lyrics to Get Off My Cloud as a high schooler [so therefore he must be cool])

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> StonesTod Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > he's the best of the second-generation set.
> once
> > removed from the 60's icon acts.
>
> I'm a big Petty fan, and you're right that he and
> his band are smokin' live, but best of the
> second-generation set? Better than Springsteen?

perhaps a biased opinion, inasmuch as i hate bruce with a passion.