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 Tom Petty writes songs rooted purely in American genres — rock & roll, Americana, folk and blues — and yet if it weren't for the fact that his 1976 debut album with The Heartbreakers took off in England a year after its release his then-floundering career may never have gotten going in his own country.
Throughout their 14-album, three-decade, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (whose current lineup still includes guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench from Petty's early bands back in Florida) have recorded some of the most enduring songs and albums of their generation.
Along the way, TP has also been a Traveling Wilbury with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison, and he has balanced his musical life by working on behalf of humanitarian causes, dabbling in acting (he currently voices Lucky Kleinschmidt, a recurring character on the animated TV series "King Of The Hill") and being a radio DJ; on his XM Radio show, Buried Treasure, he plays songs from his own vast record collection and generally embodies the spirit of the free-thinker he sang about in his song, "The Last DJ."
In the fall of 2007 Petty and The Heartbreakers were the subjects of a four-hour Peter Bogdanovich-directed documentary called Runnin' Down A Dream, and they also contributed a version of "I'm Walkin'" to Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino, sales of which are helping to raise funds for rebuilding New Orleans.
Around the time of the Bogdanovich documentary, which features extensive footage on Petty’s pre-Heartbreakers band, Mudcrutch, he gathered up the old band (Heartbreakers Campbell and Tench, plus guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh), and together they released their self-titled debut album — 34 years after they’d broken up.
Provenance: Gainesville, Florida
Latest release: Highway Companion (2008)
© 2007 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
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