"I do actually consider him as on the level of a Bob Dylan, or anyone like that," Shultz said. When Shultz, 33, got to play with Petty at the MusiCares event in February, he was awestruck. He's headlined Bonnaroo and halftime of the Super Bowl, and his songs are staples in movies and at karaoke. In his elder years, Petty exudes a wizardly aura, a laid-back mysticism that endears him to younger fans. It might not be my favorite record, but I get that. "There's just something in it, though - a melodic change over the chords, whatever it is, I don't know. " Free Fallin', Tom Petty - I remember hearing that, and probably at the time, I didn't think, 'Yeah, that's going to last forever,'" said another Brit, Rick Astley. Smith isn't the only pop singer who can't shake the melodies Petty has produced. "These things happen," Petty shrugged at the time. In 2015, the English pop singer agreed to share credit for his Grammy-winning hit Stay With Me with Petty over its similarity to I Won't Back Down. Sam Smith can tell you a thing or two about the timelessness of Petty's songwriting. He was very much of a particular time, but the thing that's crazy about him is he transcended that time period, and has been able to write incredible songs throughout his life." "He has his own voice, his own sound, completely. "His craftsmanship of songs is, I think, the starting place," said Matt Shultz, singer of Cage the Elephant. There's a reason Petty joined the Traveling Wilburys alongside the likes of Dylan, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne - merely a decade into his career, he already had the respect of the greatest songwriters alive. Petty took the searing Southern kerosene of fellow north Floridians Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band blended it with the country-rock leanings of his fellow Gainesvillians Don Felder, Bernie Leadon and Stephen Stills and packed it all into three-minute parcels of Byrds- and Beatles-like efficiency. "Every time he sings," said country singer Eric Paslay, "it's like he's just talking to you." He sang about rebels, refugees and losers who sometimes get lucky - the kind of characters that populate every American dream. He sang of American girls raised on promises girls who grew up tall and grew up right girls who loved Elvis, horses and their boyfriends, too. He had the aura of an outsider, a demeanor that said he'd tell it like it was because lying wouldn't get him where he was going any faster. "He's not Otis Redding, as far as a singer," Janeway said.īut the underdog look always suited Petty well. Sang a little like Dylan, not entirely a compliment. Skinny kid, big teeth, hair all stringy and shiny. But this good? For this long? And with so little intraband turnover?Īnd we haven't even gotten to the singer. Other great American bands have killer side credits, too. And let's not forget, in 19, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - the entire group - toured as the backing band for Bob Dylan. ![]() Even the only two men who can call themselves ex-Heartbreakers, Stan Lynch and the late Howie Epstein, worked with Ringo Starr, Aretha Franklin and the Eagles. Ferrone's played with Eric Clapton and Duran Duran, Thurston with Bonnie Raitt and Iggy Pop, Blair with Stevie Nicks. Tench played on Johnny Cash's Hurt and Alanis Morrissette's You Oughta Know, among countless others. Campbell co-wrote Henley's The Boys of Summer and The Heart of the Matter. ![]() Every Heartbreaker is in demand as a session man and songwriter, and their bona fides are endless. Petty's loyal to his players because he knows he won't find anyone better. Let's make a case for this band of Floridian misfits as the greatest rock band this land ever saw. So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, damn the torpedoes, and let's break it down. Together they've produced several careers' worth of epic American rock songs, a body of work few can match. His Heartbreakers have mostly been with him since Day 1 back in Gainesville. Petty's an icon, a Hall of Famer, one of the all-time great rock songsmiths. In February, Petty was named the Grammys' MusiCares Person of the Year, a top industry honor, receiving tribute performances from acts like Don Henley, George Strait and the Foo Fighters. They just dropped two career-spanning box sets featuring all 16 of Petty's Heartbreakers and solo records. ![]() The group just launched a tour marking the 40th anniversary, give or take, of their self-titled debut, the one that spawned hits American Girl and Breakdown it stops next week at Amalie Arena in Tampa, a two-hour trip south of Gainesville. The time is right for a Heartbreakers reappraisal. And if they're in the discussion, if there is an argument to be made, then let me be the one to make it. So do Petty and the 'Breakers - that's the point. and Nirvana and Metallica and the Ramones? Heresy, you say? What about the Grateful Dead and Eagles, Van Halen and the Beach Boys, R.E.M.
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