Tom Petty’s Breakthrough: From Mudcrutch to the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty grew up in Gainesville, Florida during the ’50s and ’60s. He formed his first band with guitarist Mike Campbell, who would remain by Tom’s side for his entire career – not a bad move!
Under the name Mudcrutch, they released a single in 1975 that didn’t make much of an impact, leading to the band’s split.
Out of the ashes rose Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, whose self-titled debut album arrived in 1976. Three fantastic tunes appear here: Breakdown, Anything That’s Rock ’n’ Roll, and American Girl.
Strangely, the American market didn’t take to the album at first – they actually found more success in the U.K. Of course, in time the debut became legendary, with American Girl becoming something of a signature song.
The follow-up, You’re Gonna Get It! (1978), included two more classics: I Need To Know and Listen To Her Heart. By now, the American audience had caught on to Tom’s songwriting, and the album did better, peaking at #23.
The band’s third release, Damn the Torpedoes, came in 1979. This one included Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Even the Losers, and Don’t Do Me Like That. It went on to sell 3 million copies and firmly established Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers as household names.
Don’t Come Around Here No More… Unless You Want Hits!
Next came Hard Promises (1981), which didn’t do quite as well as its predecessor. The band had been looking forward to sharing studio time with John Lennon—something Tom was especially excited about. Sadly, Lennon was murdered just before the sessions were set to take place.
One big tune did emerge from the album: The Waiting, which reached #1 on the U.S. rock charts. The album sold a respectable one million copies.
In 1982, Tom released Long After Dark, featuring another hit in You Got Lucky. Two years later came Southern Accents, which included Don’t Come Around Here No More. Written and produced with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, the title was inspired by Dave’s memories of hearing the phrase used by English people during his childhood in Sunderland, in reference to immigrants.
The album led to a massive world tour. Around this time, the band also served as Bob Dylan’s backing group. When it came time to record their next album, bass player Ron Blair decided to move on.
All this seemed to take its toll. Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), released in 1987, didn’t produce any major hits. It clearly affected the band, who decided to take a break.
Tom, however, didn’t slow down. He wrote with Jeff Lynne for Roy Orbison’s Mystery Girl, with You Got It standing out as a big hit. Not long after, Tom joined forces with Jeff, Roy, Bob Dylan, and George Harrison to form the Traveling Wilburys in 1988. Their hit End Of The Line was massive. Sadly, Roy Orbison passed away before either of the group’s two albums had even been released.
Returning to his solo career, Tom brought Mike Campbell along for the ride and released Full Moon Fever (1989). This album gave us Free Fallin’ and I Won’t Back Down, both huge hits.
(Side note: In 2014, Sam Smith’s Stay With Me was found to have borrowed heavily from I Won’t Back Down. Tom was eventually awarded a share of the royalties.)
After a second Traveling Wilburys album in 1990 with no notable hits, Tom reunited with the Heartbreakers to release Into the Great Wide Open (1991). Both the title track and Learning To Fly were massive hits.
By now, Tom Petty had racked up so many hits that a Greatest Hits compilation was inevitable. Released in 1993, this is what first got me into his music. The one new single from the collection, Mary Jane’s Last Dance, turned out to be another classic.
The Masterpiece After the Hits: Tom Petty’s Wildflowers and His Final Albums
What comes next is, by many, considered Tom Petty’s masterpiece. The incredible Wildflowers, made with producer Rick Rubin, was released in 1994, and musicians haven’t stopped talking about it since.
Even though there were no big hits on Wildflowers, there isn’t a single weak tune. I won’t list them all—just listen to it from beginning to end on Tidal. This is a true masterpiece, both sonically and lyrically. The playing, the writing—it’s a perfect album. Maybe the best album ever recorded, by anyone. Or maybe that’s Exodus by Bob Marley… I’ll let you decide!
Wildflowers was technically a solo album, although Mike Campbell, of course, still played guitar. Tom peaked creatively here; his following albums couldn’t quite live up to what had come before.
She’s The One (soundtrack, 1996), Echo (1999), The Last DJ (2002), and Highway Companion (2006) didn’t contain any hits.
In 2008, Tom reformed Mudcrutch, the original band. There were no hits here either. Mojo (2010) sounded incredible, though—I Should Have Known It was so strong, it could have been on Wildflowers.
Tom’s final two albums were Hypnotic Eye (2014) and 2 (2016), the latter being another Mudcrutch record, but neither managed to build on Mojo.
On October 16th, 2017, Tom Petty died following a heart attack brought on by an accidental overdose of opioids.
In the aftermath, an expanded version of Wildflowers was released, containing all the tracks that didn’t make the original. To me, this is sacrilege—they don’t live up to the standard of the original masterpiece and only serve to taint the legacy of Tom Petty, one of the greatest songwriters we’ve ever had.
Tom Petty Tunes | Related Pages
American Girl | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play American Girl by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| D | E (E7) | G | A |
Well, she was an American girl, raised on promises…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: American Girl (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
End Of The Line | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play End Of The Line by the Traveling Wilburys using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| D D/A | D | D A | G |
Well, it’s alright, ridin’ around in the breeze…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: End Of The Line (Traveling Wilburys) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Free Fallin’ | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| E Asus2 | Asus2 E B5 |
She’s a good girl, loves her mama…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
I Won’t Back Down | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| E5 D5 | G5 |
Well I, won’t back down…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: I Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Into The Great Wide Open | Chords + TAB
Learn how to play Into The Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Em Emmaj7 | Em7 Em6 |
Eddie waited ’til he finished high school…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Into The Great Wide Open (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Learning To Fly | Chords + TAB
Learn how to play Learning To Fly by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Fadd9 C | Am7 G (Gsus4) | Fadd9 C | Am7 G (Gsus4) |
Well, I started out, down a dirty road…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Learning To Fly (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Mary Jane’s Last Dance | Chords + TAB
Learn how to play Mary Jane’s Last Dance by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Am G |
She grew up in an Indiana town…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Tom Petty on the web
