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Tom Petty Information
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'Thomas Earl Petty' (born October 20, 1950 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician. Petty is a graduate of Gainesville High School. Petty did not have any musical aspirations before Elvis Presley visited his hometown. After working with his early bands The Sundowners, The Epics, and Mudcrutch (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, Shelter's mother company, was sold to MCA Records. Petty refused to be simply transferred to another record label without his consent. He held fast to his principles for a long nine 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 US breakthrough single. Damn The Torpedoes was followed by the unsuccessful but critically acclaimed Hard Promises (1981).
On their fifth album Long After Dark (1982) bass player Ron Blair was replaced by Howie Epstein, giving The Heartbreakers their final line-up. However, Petty had problems coping with the stress and success and decided to slow things down.
On their come-back 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, caused some controversy after it was criticised 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 US, 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 originally appeared on the Showtime cable TV channel.
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 Tom Petty Anthology was released in 2000, compiled by film director Cameron Crowe.
Petty has been honored with 10 Grammy Award nominations since 1981. In that year he received his first nomination for his collaboration with Stevie Nicks, "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.
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, and AmFAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research).
In 2002 he appeared in The Simpsons, in the episode "What I Did In My Strummer Vacation". He has also voiced the character Lucky in King of the Hill in 2004.
In 2005, Tom Petty began hosting his own show "Buried Treasure" on XM Radio. On the show, Tom shares selections from his personal record collection.
The Heartbreakers
*Current members
**Mike Campbell - guitar
**Benmont Tench - keyboards
**Ron Blair - bass
**Steve Ferrone - drums
**Scott Thurston - guitar, harmonica, bass
*Former members
**Howie Epstein - bass
**Dave Grohl - drums
**Stan Lynch - drums
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | US | UK | Additional information |
|---|
| 1976 | Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | 55 | 24 | debut album | | 1978 | You're Gonna Get It | 23 | 34 | - | | 1979 | Damn the Torpedoes | 2 | - | - | | 1981 | Hard Promises | 5 | 32 | - | | 1982 | Long After Dark | 9 | - | - | | 1985 | Southern Accents | 7 | 23 | - | | 1986 | Pack up the Plantation: Live | 22 | - | live album | | 1987 | Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | 20 | - | - | | 1989 | Full Moon Fever | 3 | 8 | solo album | | 1991 | Into the Great Wide Open | 13 | 3 | - | | 1993 | Greatest Hits | 5 | 10 | hits compilation album | | 1994 | Wildflowers | 8 | 36 | solo album | | 1995 | Playback | - | - | 6-disc box set | | 1996 | Songs and Music from "She's the One" | 15 | 37 | film soundtrack | | 1999 | Echo | 10 | - | - | | 2000 | Anthology: Through The Years | 132 | 14 | compilation album | | 2002 | The Last DJ | 9 | - | - | | 2003 | Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ | - | - | live album | | 2005 | Highway Companion | TBD | TBD | expected release: late 2005/early 2006 | |
Tom Petty with The Traveling Wilburys
#Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (October 25 1988) (#3 US, #16 UK)
#Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (October 19 1990) (#11 US, #14 UK)
Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | US Main- stream Rock | UK singles | Album |
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| 1977 | "Breakdown" | 40 | - | - | Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | | 1977 | "Anything That's Rock N' Roll" | - | - | 36 | Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | | 1977 | "American Girl" | - | - | 40 | Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers | | 1978 | "I Need To Know" | 41 | - | - | You're Gonna Get It | |
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| 1978 | "Listen To Her Heart" | 59 | - | - | You're Gonna Get It | |
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| 1979 | "Don't Do Me Like That" | 10 | - | - | Damn The Torpedoes | | 1979 | "Refugee" | 15 | - | - | Damn The Torpedoes | | 1980 | "Here Comes My Girl" | 59 | - | - | Damn The Torpedoes | | 1981 | "The Waiting" | 19 | - | - | Hard Promises | | 1981 | "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks) | 3 | 2 | - | Bella Donna (Stevie Nicks album) | | 1981 | "A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)" | 79 | - | - | Hard Promises | | 1982 | "You Got Lucky" | 20 | - | - | Long After Dark | | 1983 | "Change Of Heart" | 21 | - | - | Long After Dark | | 1985 | "Don't Come Around Here No More" | 13 | 2 | - | Southern Accents | | 1985 | "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" | 54 | 12 | - | Southern Accents | | 1985 | "Rebels" | 74 | 5 | - | Southern Accents | | 1986 | "Needles and Pins" (with Stevie Nicks) | 37 | - | - | Pack Up The Plantation: Live | | 1987 | "Jammin' Me" | 18 | 1 | - | Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | | 1989 | "I Won't Back Down" | 12 | 1 | 28 | Full Moon Fever | | 1989 | "Runnin' Down A Dream" | 23 | 1 | - | Full Moon Fever | | 1989 | "Free Fallin'" | 7 | 1 | - | Full Moon Fever | | 1990 | "A Face In The Crowd" | 46 | 5 | - | Full Moon Fever | | 1991 | "Learning To Fly" | 28 | 1 | - | Into The Great Wide Open | | 1991 | "Into The Great Wide Open" | 92 | 4 | - | Into The Great Wide Open | | 1992 | "Too Good To Be True" | - | - | 34 | Into The Great Wide Open | | 1993 | "Mary Jane's Last Dance" | 14 | 1 | - | Greatest Hits | | 1994 | "You Don't Know How It Feels" | 13 | 1 | - | Wildflowers | | 1995 | "It's Good To Be King" | 68 | 6 | - | Wildflowers | | 1996 | "Walls (Circus)" | 69 | 6 | - | Songs And Music From "She's The One" | |
Quotes
* "It's alright if you love me, It's alright if you don't. I'm not afraid of you runnin' away, honey I get the feeling you won't." - Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
* "There is no sense in pretending, your eyes give you away. Something inside you is feeling like I do, we've said all there is to say." - Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
* "God it's so painful--something's that's so close is still so far out of reach." - American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
* "Little miss queen of hearts you're a strange thing. Why you wanna stay so vague? I'm wandering through this mess you've made to see what I can save." - Too Much Ain't Enough (You're Gonna Get It!)
* "Restless sleep twisted dreams. Moving targets silent screams. Restless city restless street. Restless you restless me." - Restless (You're Gonna Get It!)
* "Everybody's had to fight to be free. You see you don't have to live like a refugee." - Refugee (Damn The Torpedoes)
* "It just seems so useless to have to work so hard and nothin' ever really seems to come from it."- Here Comes My Girl (Damn The Torpedoes)
* "I showed you stars you never could see. It couldn't have been that easy to forget about me." - Even The Losers (Damn The Torpedoes)
* "Louisiana rain is soaking through my shoes. I may naver be the same when I reach Baton Rouge." - Louisiana Rain (Damn The Torpedoes)
* "Louisiana rain now is falling just like tears, running down my face, washing out the years." - Louisiana Rain (Damn The Torpedoes)
* Somewhere deep in the middle of the night, lovers hold each other tight. Whisper in their anxious ears, words of love that disappear." - A Thing About You (Hard Promises)
* "I fought for you. I fought too hard." - Change Of Heart (Long After Dark)
* "Real love is a man's salvation. The weak ones fall, the strong carry on." - Straight Into Darkness (Long After Dark)
* "I don't feel you anymore, you darken my door." - "Don't Come Around Here No More" (Southern Accents)
* "There's a southern accent, where I come from. The young 'uns call it country, the yankees call it dumb." - Southern Accents (Southern Accents)
* "For just a minute there I was dreaming, for just a minute is was all so real. For just a minute she was standing there with me." - Southern Accents (Southern Accents)
* "Yeah and it's over before you know it, it all goes by so fast. The bad nights take forever and the good nights don't ever seem to last." - The Best Of Everything (Southern Accents)
* "Take back your insurance, baby nothin's guaranteed." - Jammin' Me (Let Me Up (I've Had Enough))
* "There were times apart, there were times together. I was pledged to her for worse or better. When it mattered most I let her down. That's the way it goes, it'll all work out." - It'll All Work Out (Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)
* "'Cause it can feel like perfection, but never all the time. But you don't wanna be alone again." - Ain't Love Strange (Let Me Up (I've Had Enough))
* "And no I can't find no reason to explain the way that I feel. I remember things being more clearer, at one time things were more real." - All Mixed Up (Let Me Up (I've Had Enough))
* "Well I know what's right, I got just one life. In a world that keeps on pushin' me around, I'll stand my ground and I won't back down." - I Won't Back Down (Full Moon Fever)
* But not me, baby. I've got you to save me. Oh yer so bad, the best thing I ever had. In a world gone mad, you're so bad." - Yer So Bad (Full Moon Fever)
* "I slept in your treehouse, my middle name is 'Earl'." - A Mind With A Heart Of Its Own (Full Moon Fever)
* "I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings. Coming down is the hardest thing." - Learning To Fly (Into the Great Wide Open)
* "I don't wanna end up in a room all alone. Don't want to end up someone I don't even know." - King's Highway (Into The Great Wide Open)
* "In the dark of the sun will you save me a place? Give me hope, give me comfort, get me to a better place?" - Dark Of The Sun (Into The Great Wide Open)
* "I don't mind workin', but I'm scared to suffer" - All Or Nothing (Into the Great Wide Open)
* Well she grew up hard and she grew up fast in the age of television. And she made a vow to have it all, it became her new religion." - All The Wrong Reasons (Into The Great Wide Open)
* "I want her more than diamonds, I want her more than gold. I want her more than anything anyone could hold."- Built To Last (Into The Great Wide Open)
* "You belong somewhere you feel free." - Wildflowers (Wildflowers)
* "Think of me what you will. I have a little space to fill." - You Don't Know How It Feels (Wildflowers)
* "I'll be the boy in the corduroy pants. You be the girl at the high school dance." - You Wreck Me (Wildflowers)
* "Excuse me if I, have a place in my mind, where I go time to time." - It's Good To Be King (Wildflowers)
* I remember feeling this way, you can lose it without knowing. You wake up one day and you don't notice which way the wind is blowing." - Don't Fade On Me (Wildflowers)
* "If we don't get to a higher place and find somebody who can help somebody might be nobody no more." - A Higher Place (Wildflowers)
* "I'm so tired of being tired. Sure as night will follow day, most things I worry about never happen anyway." - Crawling Back To You (Wildflowers)
* "You follow your feelings, you follow your dreams. You follow the leader into the trees. And what's in there waiting, neither one of us knows, you gotta keep one eye open the further you go." - Wake Up Time (Wildflowers)
* "Some days are diamonds. Some days are rocks." - Walls (Songs and Music from 'She's The One')
* "I saw an angel, I saw my fate. I can only thank God it was not too late." - Angel Dream (Songs and Music from 'She's The One')
* "Now I'm walkin' this street on my own, but she's with me wherever I go." - Angel Dream (Songs and Music from 'She's The One')
* I hope you never need no one, hope you treasure your independence. I hope you never fall in love with someone like you." Hope You Never (Songs and Music from 'She's The One')
* "No more songs tonight, I'm drivin' to the break of day. No more words tonight, we've got enough to throw away." Supernatural Radio (Songs and Music from 'She's The One')
* Look deep in the eyes of love and find out what you were looking for." - Room At The Top (Echo)
* "Redemption comes to those who wait, forgiveness is the key." - Lonesome Sundown (Echo)
* "And I don't want to question or even celebrate all the joy you took and then gave back too late." - Echo (Echo)
* "And I don't want to mean anything to you, I don't want to tempt you to be true." - Echo (Echo)
* "They say be careful who you believe, be careful who you trust. Did you smile when you pulled the trigger that dropped me in the dust?" - Billy The Kid (Echo)
* "Oh my love if I reveal every secret I've concealed, how many thoughts would you steal, how much of my pain would you feel?" - Rhino Skin (Echo)
* "One more night, God I've had to fight to keep my line of sight on what's real. One more day I fear I've lost my way, I don't know how to say what I feel." - One More Day, One More Night (Echo)
* "As we celebrate mediocrity all the boys upstairs want to see how much you'll pay for what you used to get for free." - The Last DJ (The Last DJ)
* "There was no use in pretending, no magic left to hear. All the music gave me was a craving for light beer." -Money Becomes King (The Last DJ)
* "There was Rock 'N' Roll across the dial. When I think of her, it makes me smile." - Dreamville (The Last DJ)
* "But if you shoot at everyone you see, can't be my friend 'cause you might shoot at me." When A Kid Goes Bad (The Last DJ)
* "I can't save you from yourself, you gotta want it." You And Me (The Last DJ)
* "How about a cheer for all those bad girls and the boys that play that Rock 'N' Roll? They love it like you love Jesus, it does the same thing to their souls." - Have Love Will Travel (The Last DJ)
* "And you may think it's all over, but there'll be more just like me. Who won't give in, who'll rise again. Can't stop and man from dreaming on and on and on." - Can't Stop The Sun (The Last DJ)
* "Nirvana to me was the most significant thing since the Beatles."
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