Written by Jon Williams
On a day
already darkened by sadness, music lovers everywhere were shocked Monday by the
news of rocker Tom Petty’s passing. He was 66.
Born in 1950
in Gainesville, Florida, Petty overcame a rough childhood to find fame in the
music industry. With early influences including
Elvis
Presley,
the
Beatles, and
the
Rolling Stones, and guitar lessons from Don Felder of
the
Eagles, he first formed a band that eventually became known as Mudcrutch.
After that band struggled to find success, some lineup shuffling eventually
resulted in the Heartbreakers, the band which Petty was associated with for
most of his music career. In 1976, their
self-titled
debut album hit the charts first in Great Britain, and then spread to the
U.S. Containing the classic hits “Breakdown” and “American Girl,” it kicked off
a musical legacy that would grow to legendary status over the course of the
next 41 years.
The band’s
first taste of success soon led to more.
You’re
Gonna Get It!, released in 1978, was their first album to chart in America, and
1979’s
Damn the Torpedoes (currently
unavailable on CD, although patrons
can stream it on hoopla)
gained multiplatinum status. The ‘80s were a very productive time for the band,
spawning albums including
Long
After Dark (1982) and
Southern
Accents (1985). Petty’s greatest success came on 1989’s
Full
Moon Fever, technically a solo album, although members of the
Heartbreakers did contribute.
Full Moon Fever also benefitted from the
presence of a number of other musical legends:
Roy
Orbison,
Bob
Dylan,
George
Harrison, and
ELO’s
Jeff Lynne. The five of them had gotten together in 1988 for a single (“Handle
with Care”), and ended up recording
an
entire album as the Traveling Wilburys. Although Orbison passed away late
that year, the remaining members put together a second album, joking titled
Volume
3, which was released in 1990. Of course, Petty was no stranger to
high-profile collaborations. His duet with
Stevie
Nicks, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” appeared on her
debut
solo album, while another duet, “Insider,” was released on his album
Hard
Promises. He and the Heartbreakers also backed
Johnny
Cash on the country icon’s 1996 album
Unchained.
In 2007,
Petty reunited his first band, Mudcrutch, and together they recorded two
albums: their
eponymous
“debut,” released in 2008, and
2,
released in 2016, which would be Petty’s final recording. Through it all, though,
Petty never stopped working with the Heartbreakers. Their two most recent
albums,
Mojo
and
Hypnotic
Eye, were released in 2010 and 2014. The band had just finished their 40th
anniversary tour, with the final performance coming September 25 at the
Hollywood Bowl.
Tom Petty is
sadly gone, but his classic rock hits will endure. Make sure you have his music
on your shelves for patrons to check out and enjoy again and again. You can
SmartBrowse his name on our website to find all the albums listed above and
more.