Few rock acts have the startling consistency of sound and quality of Tom Petty. A cursory listen of any random cross-section of
Tom Petty songs reveals an artist who never lost his fire, always remained relevant, and occasionally indulged in experimentation without losing sight of the music he did best.
Backed primarily by the Heartbreakers, Petty carved a niche for himself by playing bluesy rock infused with a pop sensibility that kept him relevant, even in the days of synth pop and grunge. From the opening strains of the first top-40 for the Heartbreakers (Breakdown) to the first single from the Heartbreakers last album (American Dream Plan B, from Hypnotic Eye), Petty forged a sound that is distinctly his.
Early Days
Pettys first taste of fame came with Mudcrutch. Although the band didnt get national recognition until after Pettys own rise to fame, Mudcrutch gained a regional following around Florida and Georgia. Pettys future pop sensibilities shine through on an early Mudcrutch single, Up in Mississippi, which has echoes of Big Star-esque power-pop while keeping a country-rock ethic.
While Mudcrutch never gained serious popularity (with their only national single, Depot Street, not gaining any traction on the radio), many of the members of that group would follow Petty into the Heartbreakers. Their first two albums, a self-titled album and Youre Gonna Get It! both saw modest success, but they broke through with Damn the Torpedoes. To give an idea of just how impactful this album was, four of the albums nine songs (Dont Do Me Like That, Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, and Even the Losers) feature on their greatest hits collection.
Pettys modest sense of humor came out when asked to comment on Pink Floyds The Wall keeping Damn the Torpedoes from the number one spot on Billboards album charts; I love Pink Floyd, but I hated them that year.
The MTV Era
Many 70s rockers could not adjust to the music video era. Petty, however, managed to fit perfectly in the era of musicians with skinny ties and bizarre sartorial choices by continuing to be himself. His underrated acting talent helped to make clips like You Got Lucky and Dont Come Around Here No More memorable, as he could be menacing, steely-eyed, and even silly.
As he continued to gain popularity, he found himself meeting with (and often performing with) other legendary rockers. This culminated in him joining up with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Roy Orbison for the Traveling Wilburys.
This connection with Jeff Lynne would prove fruitful for Petty, as Lynne would produce Pettys first solo record, Full Moon Fever. And this turned out to be one of Pettys biggest commercial smashes, with Free Fallin hitting the top 10 and gaining heavy rotation on MTV.
The Elder Statesman
While Pettys smash hits would fall off by the end of the 90s, he still saw an impressive run of top-40 hits up to You Dont Know How It Feels. Even without having major hits, Petty still churned out excellent songs in his later career, with songs like The Last DJ, Swingin and American Dream Plan B releasing in the last few years.
While the pop charts may have cooled on Pettys music on an individual song basis, true rock fans never forgot Petty, with all of his albums hitting the top 10 of the album charts. And Petty and the Heartbreakers saw an induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2002.
He even reunited Mudcrutch, finally bringing the band some success with two top-10 albums to their credit. And, to show just how much people still loved Tom Petty even to his final years, his last album, Hypnotic Eye, debuted at #1, being the first Heartbreakers album to hit #1.
But all these numbers are tertiary to the music itself: going from the beginning of Tom Pettys discography with Mudcrutch, going all the way to his last songs, one notices that Petty never wavered in quality. Sure, some albums are better than others (Damn the Torpedoes typically being the fan-favorite), but you cant really go wrong with any album featuring Tom Petty. Its hard not to fall for Tom Pettys music.
