New Live Box by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Is Triumphant Celebration of Rock & Roll

In 1997, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers played 20 shows at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Now Live at the Fillmore (1997), a long-anticipated box set that appeared on November 25, captures highlights from the band’s residency in the city by the bay. And what a truly amazing celebration of rock & roll it is!

“We’re musicians and we want to play,” Tom Petty told the San Francisco Chronicle ahead of the 20-show run, as noted in a statement on Petty’s website, which announced the box set back in September. “We’ve made so many records in the past five years, I think the best thing for us to do is just go out and play and it will lead us to our next place, wherever that may be.”

Six-LP format of the box set, which is also available in various other vinyl, CD and streaming configurations

Here’s more from the above press release: The shows at the Fillmore ended up being some of the most joyful, honest, inspirational and prolific experiences of the band’s career, creating a unique bond between the group and their fans. This album features more covers than originals, paying tribute to the artists and songs that shaped Petty’s love of music as he was growing up—before he became a legendary songwriter and performer in his own right.

Highlights include Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” J.J. Cale’s “Crazy Mama,” The Rolling Stones’ “Time is On My Side” and more from The Kinks, Everly Brothers, Bill Withers, The Byrds, Chuck Berry and Booker T. & the M.G.’s. The collection also features special performances with The Byrds’ front man Roger McGuinn and blues legend John Lee Hooker. Other standouts include extended versions of original tracks “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “It’s Good To Be King.”

The Fillmore was a laboratory for the band. The captivating sold out performances were such a hit, the Heartbreakers were even nicknamed the “Fillmore House Band.” At the final show, Petty noted as he took the stage: “We all feel this might be the highpoint of our time together as a group… It’s going to be hard to get us off this stage tonight.”

Added Mike Campbell: “Playing the Fillmore in 1997 for a month was one of my favorite experiences as a musician in my whole life. The band was on fire and we changed the set list every night. The room and the crowd was spiritual… AND… we got to play with some amazing guests. I will always remember those nights with joy and inspiration.” Here’s a nice short film about the residency.

You can find a lot more background on the residency in the liner notes here, which were written by San Francisco-based music critic and author Joel Selvin. I’m also including a Spotify link to the box set at the end of the post. Now I’d say it’s time to take a look at some of the goodies.

Kicking it off is a great cover of a tune by the man about who John Lennon once said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry'”. Around and Around first appeared as the B-side to Chuck Berry’s March 1958 single Johnny B. Goode. It was also included on his third studio album Chuck Berry Is on Top, released in July 1959 – an album that in my book you could title the greatest hits of classic rock & roll.

I’ve always loved J.J. Cale’s Call Me the Breeze. Evidently, so did Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Call Me the Breeze first appeared on Cale’s debut album Naturally, which came out in October 1971. Check out this great cover. Man, this is swinging! Here’s the neat official video.

Did I mention The Rolling Stones previously? Let’s check out Time is on My Side. Written by Jerry Ragovoy under the pseudonym Norman Meade, the tune was first recorded by jazz trombonist Kai Winding and his orchestra in 1963. The Stones recorded two versions of the tune in 1964. The first, which is a looser arrangement featuring a briefer, organ-only intro, appeared as a U.S. single in September of the same year and was also included on their second American album 12 X 5, released in October 1964. The second version, a tighter arrangement with a guitar intro, was included on The Rolling Stones No. 2, their second UK album from January 1965.

After three tracks into this review, you might wonder about originals. Frankly, I could easily focus on covers only, since there are so many excellent renditions. But of course, this box set also features plenty of Tom Petty songs. Here’s a nice take of I Won’t Back Down, the lead single of his first solo album Full Moon Fever, released in April 1989.

Let’s throw in a cool instrumental – a great rendition of Green Onions, a tune by Booker T. & the M.G.’s I’ve always loved. The group served as the house band of Stax Records. Green Onions was mostly written by keyboarder Booker T. Jones when he was 17 years old. Also credited to the other three members of the MG’s, Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass) and Al Jackson Jr. (drums), the tune first appeared as a single in 1962 and also became the title track of the group’s debut album that came out in October of the same year. Heartbreakers keyboarder Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell do a great job with it.

The last track I’d like to call out features a cool guest appearance by John Lee Hooker. Here’s Boogie Chillen, which Hooker wrote and first recorded in 1948. Buddy Guy has cited the tune as a key reason why he picked up the guitar and became a blues guitarist. Prompted by Hooker, this sizzling close to 8-minute version features neat harp and keyboard solos by Petty and Tench, respectively.

I easily could go on and on featuring additional tunes. Instead, I leave you with a Spotify link to the entire collection. If you dig Tom Petty and The Live Anthology, a November 2009 box set with a similar concept combining live renditions of covers and originals, I have no doubt you’re going to like Live at the Fillmore (1997).

Live at the Fillmore (1997), which appears on Warner Records, is available in 3-LP, 6-LP and 6-LP Uber Deluxe formats (exclusively via Tom Petty web store), 2 and 4-CD sets, and on major streaming platforms. The compilation was meticulously curated by producers Ryan Ulyate and Mike Campbell. Serving as executive producers were Benmont Tench, as well as Adria Petty, Annakim Petty and Dana Petty, Tom’s daughters and wife, respectively, who manage the Tom Petty estate.

Sources: Wikipedia; Tom Petty website; YouTube; Spotify

Another Posthumous Album Highlights Some of Tom Petty’s Most Productive Years

While I would call myself a Tom Petty fan and dearly miss him, I’m mostly familiar with his catalog until 1994. Except for his final album with the Heartbreakers, Hypnotic Eye, my knowledge gets spotty when it comes to anything Petty released after his second solo album Wildflowers, alone or together with his longtime band. Among the latter was the August 1996 soundtrack Songs and Music from the Motion Picture “She’s the One”. That changed over the past few days with Angel Dream, a reconfigured and remastered 25th anniversary edition released on July 2. Listening to the anniversary issue not only led me to check out the original, but also to discover Tom Petty music I really like.

Officially titled Angel Dream (Songs and Music from the Motion Picture “She’s the One”), the latest Tom Petty posthumous release is being characterized as a “reimagined reissue.” This 25th anniversary edition keeps eight tunes of the original album, eliminates seven and adds four previously unreleased songs. As such, I’m okay with the characterization. But I can also see how some music fans like hotfox63 view the “reimagined reissue” label as a cynical marketing gimmick. Whatever the main motives behind a reissue may be, I think there can be no doubt that money is always part of the equation. Notably, Petty was involved in working on the mixes for Angel Dream with his longtime engineer and co-producer Ryan Ulate prior to his untimely death in October 2017.

I’d like to start this review with Angel Dream (No. 2), the album’s beautiful opener, a tune that also appeared on the original edition. During a recent interview on SiriusXM’s Tom Petty Radio (channel 31), Heartbreakers co-founder and keyboarder Benmont Tench called it “one of the loveliest songs Tom ever wrote,” as transcribed in this Rock Cellar Magazine review. Essentially, Angel Dream (No. 2) bookends the album, with the second bookend being an instrumental reprise titled French Disconnection, one of the previously unreleased tracks.

Among the highlights of the original album and this reissue is Change the Locks, a tune written by Lucinda Williams, which she recorded for her 1988 eponymous third studio album under the slightly different title Changed the Locks. Petty’s cover is more straight rock than the more bluesy original. Nice!

One of Life’s Little Mysteries is among the previously unreleased tracks. The song’s jazzy groove reminds me a bit of Full Grown Body, a tune from the aforementioned Hypnotic Eye. The music certainly fits the lyrics. An excerpt: Go to work in the morning/Try to make a buck/Do everything you’re told/And you’re still outta luck/It’s one of life’s little mysteries…

Here’s another cool cover and previously unreleased track: Thirteen Days, a J.J. Cale tune included on his fifth studio album 5 that came out in August 1979. “We had a lot of fun playing that song live and it’s great to have a recording of it from the studio,” said Mike Campbell, ex-Heartbreakers guitarist, during the above SiriusXM interview. I can definitely see why!

The last song I’d like to call out is yet another previously unreleased tune: 105 Degrees, which also is the album’s lead single. I realize I already covered this song in my last Best of What’s New installment, but since it’s an early favorite, I simply couldn’t skip it. I just love how this tune is shuffling along!

“‘She’s The One’ was originally a great way to include some of the songs that didn’t make it on to Wildflowers, but it has its own thing to it, its own charm, and putting it out now in a restructured form makes for a sweet little treat,” Benmont further noted. “At the time in the studio, it was fun working as a band to improvise the scoring cues for the movie rather than playing to preset click tracks and a written score. And it was interesting to try to cut covers of others’ songs for a record, instead of learning covers just for live shows.”

Here’s another tidbit I learned about “She’s the One” when doing some research for this post. It’s only album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers that was recorded without an official drummer. The studio sessions happened following the departure of the band’s original drummer Stan Lynch. The album featured contributions from three other drummers: Curt Bisquera, Ringo Starr and Steve Ferrone. Ferrone, who had also played on Wildflowers, became the official drummer of the Heartbreakers shortly after “She’s the One” had been recorded.

CD softpak with 12-page booklet.

“These songs are extremely special,” added Petty’s widow Dana Petty, who together with their two daughters Adria and Annakim manages the Tom Petty estate. “I am grateful this record is getting the recognition it deserves. The remix Ryan Ulyate did sounds amazing, and the unreleased gems are a lovely bonus. Annakim, Adria, and I took a lot of time finding artwork that reflects the mood of the album. I think we finally achieved that with Alia Penner’s work. It is surreal and beautiful, just like life during that time.”

Angel Dream, which appears on Warner Records and is available in CD and vinyl formats, as well as in digital music platforms, is the fifth posthumous Tom Petty album. It is also the third album with a connection to Wildflowers, widely considered to be one of Petty’s best records. October 2020 saw the release of Wildflowers & All the Rest. The super deluxe edition of that reissue, titled Finding Wildflowers, included a disc featuring alternate versions of Wildflowers’ 15 tracks, plus You Saw Me Comin’, a previously unreleased original song. That CD was released as a standalone under the title Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) in April this year.

I will admit the standalone release does smack a bit like a money grab, since they could have offered it as a separate option when Wildflowers & All the Rest came out. Instead, they waited for six months. In the meantime, if fans wanted to own the alternate versions and that new song, they needed to buy the whole enchilada. I wonder how Tom Petty would have felt about that. After all, he once successfully battled his label MCA when they wanted to sell his then-latest record Damn the Torpedoes at a premium price of $9.98 instead of the usual list price of $8.98.

Sources: Wikipedia; Tom Petty website; Rock Cellar Magazine; YouTube

Clips & Pix: Tom Petty/Confusion Wheel

This tune should have been included in my last Best of What’s New installment from Friday, but I missed it. Confusion Wheel is a previously unreleased song by Tom Petty, which be on the forthcoming box-set Wildflowers and All the Rest slated for October 16.

According to a short announcement on Petty’s website on September 8, “Confusion Wheel,” written in 1994, eerily captures the uncertainty of 2020 as if it were written yesterday and somehow twists it with infinite hope. Yesterday, Heartbreaker Benmont Tench and Tom’s longtime engineer and co-producer Ryan Ulyate spoke to David Fricke and premiered the previously unreleased song on SiriusXM’s Tom Petty Radio. Listen/share “Confusion Wheel,” alongside a visualizer featuring artwork by Blaze Ben Brooks.

As previously reported by Variety and other media outlets, Wildflowers and All the Rest was jointly curated by Tom’s wife and daughters Dana, Adria and Annakim Petty, respectively, along with former Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Tench. The collection was produced by Ulyate. In addition to remastered versions of the original Wildflowers tracks, the box set features home recordings/demos, live tracks and various previously unreleased songs.

I really miss Tom Petty, so looking forward to this release!

Sources: Tom Petty website; Variety; YouTube

New Tom Petty Box Set Works Because It’s Not A Greatest Hits Or Typical Anthology Compilation

When you see a box set being issued one year after the death of a widely beloved music artist like Tom Petty, you can’t entirely escape the cynical notion that somebody is trying to make a quick buck here. And while I’m sure Reprise Records wouldn’t mind, should An American Treasure turn out to be a hot seller, this box set is neither a greatest hits compilation nor a typical anthology, and that’s a good thing! Instead, the career-spanning collection focuses on previously unreleased alternate song versions, live performances and deep cuts. Is it going to gain Tom Petty additional listeners post mortem? Probably not. Are longtime fans going to like it? I certainly do and think others will as well.

An American Treasure, which dropped on September 28, is the first release following Tom Petty’s untimely death on October 2, 2017 at age 66 – just one week after the triumphant conclusion of his 40th anniversary tour with the Heartbreakers. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it still hurts and like so many other longtime fans, gosh, I miss him!

According to the official press release that announced the box set in July, Adria Petty and Dana Petty – Tom’s daughter and wife, respectively – were the key drivers behind this new collection. They teamed up with former Heartbreakers guitarist and keyboarder Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, as well as Ryan Ulyate, one of Petty’s studio collaborators. Campbell, Tench and Ulyate co-produced the box set, while Adria and Dana Petty served as executive producers.

“Everyone involved in this project chose each track with tremendous care and deep respect for the body of work Tom Petty created over the course of 40 years,” Adria and Dana Patty stated.  “He also accumulated a wealth of unreleased music in his vaults, and we have collectively uncovered one gem after another that will keep us all listening and discovering new facets of Tom’s talent for many years to come. We can’t wait to share with Tom’s fans this musical portrait of an artist who deeply affected our culture and indelibly touched the lives of fans the world over.”

Time for some music. Lost In Your Eyes is a previously unreleased single recorded during sessions in 1974 with Mudcrutch, Tom Petty’s band that preceded the Heartbreakers and included future members Mike Campbell (guitar) and Benmont Tench  (keyboards). Tom Leadon (guitar and vocals), the brother of former Eagles lead guitarist Bernie Leadon; Jim Lenehan (vocals); and Randall Marsh (drums) rounded out the lineup. Petty was on bass and vocals.

Keep A Little Soul is a previously unreleased tune from the 1982 sessions for Long After Dark, the fifth studio album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released in November that year. It also appeared as the collection’s first single back in July when the box set was initially announced. Here’s a video featuring rare never-before-seen footage of the band.

In 1984, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded a demo with Stevie Nicks called The Apartment Song. Perhaps it was motivated by the Petty/Campbell co-write Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, which had appeared in July 1981 on Nicks’ studio debut Bella Donna, generating a U.S. hit that peaked at no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune, which must have been recorded around the same time the band was working on their sixth studio release Southern Accents, did not make that album or any other records, as far as I know.

Another collaboration on the box set is King Of The Hill, a song Roger McGuinn co-wrote with Petty. It became the lead single to McGuinn’s sixth studio album Back From Rio released in January 1991. The version on the box set is an early take from November 1987 – great tune!

In April 1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came out with their 10th studio album Echo. One track that was recorded during the sessions for the record but not included on the album or released separately is Gainesville, an autobiographic song about Petty’s home town: Home-grown, in the headphone/Sandy loadin’ up the van/Singin’ through the speakers/You’re alright anywhere you land/Gainesville was a big town/Gainesville was a big town…

The last track I’d like to highlight is another song related to Petty’s home state of Florida: Bus To Tampa Bay, yet another previously unreleased tune. It was recorded during the sessions for Hypnotic Eye, the final studio album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released in July 2014.

An American Treasure is available in various formats: A Super Deluxe Limited Edition 4-CD set, a 6-LP Vinyl Edition and a 2-CD Standard Edition. All of the recordings have been mixed by Ryan Ulyate from transfers of the original studio multitrack masters. They have been re-mastered by Chris Bellman, a sound engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering, who has worked with artists like Diana Ross, Neil Young, Carole King, Duran Duran and Van Halen, among others.

Sources: Wikipedia, Tom Petty website, YouTube