Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida on October 20, 1950. When he was 11 years old, he met his idol Elvis Presley in Florida. From that moment on he decided to pursue his dream in rock'n'roll. Petty was influenced by the Byrds, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan. Petty has not only achieved superstar status in the music world, he has inspired influenced many other artists. He and his group, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have a discography of more than 50 albums released between 1976 and 1999. When he was 17, Petty formed his first band, Mudcrutch. The band moved to L.A. and broke up just before recording was to begin on their first album. Through a series of other gigs, Petty was offered a solo contract, but ended up returning to Mudcrutch members Benmont Tench (keyboards) and Mike Campbell (guitar), along with Gainesville, FL musicians Ron Blair (bass) and Stan Lynch (drums) to form the now famous lineup that he dubbed "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."
This lineup stayed intact for four records and was responsible for some of the most infectious songs ("American Girl," "Breakdown," "Listen to Her Heart,"Refugee," "I Need to Know,"Don't Do Me Like That") and one of the most critically acclaimed albums--Damn the Torpedoes (1979)--of all time. Their tremendous success catapulted them from club band to arena rockers. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Petty dabbled in solo and ensemble work, joining rock legends Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, and Roy Orbison as one fifth of the Traveling Wilburys and recording Full Moon Fever (1989) his solo debut. Petty has continued to record both solo and group efforts, consistently earning critical praise and fan adoration for his trademark brand of straight-ahead, American rock 'n roll. His most recent effort with the Heartbreakers, Echo, was released in the spring of 1999.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers has been a source of admiration for many of The Wallflowers. Jakob Dylan offers:
“I always admired Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' set-up. I mean, they were so unlimited." (Album Network 6.21.96)
Greg Richling agrees:
I think we were all pretty much into groups like The Clash, Tom Petty, stuff like that. (Exan 6.97)
Tom Petty recently spoke of The Wallflowers' success in an interview fpr AllMusic:
Q: Speaking of kids, when I saw Jakob Dylan's band, the Wallflowers, I had a sense of a circle being completed. You paid homage to Bob Dylan early on in your career, and here's his kid saying you're the reason he picked up a guitar.
A: I remember Jakob sitting behind the amps when we were working for his dad back in 1986. He was just a little boy then. You don't think about what's going into their impressionable minds. We had two years playing with Bob. We pretty much circled the globe. I remember Jakob being around. I'm really proud of him because I think he's really good and I'm glad that he got to do this without Bob's legend resting on his back. He did it pretty cool. He got through that, and his dad doesn't seem to be an issue, and people tend to leave him alone. I got that record really early on before it came out, and I thought it was damn good. I played it over and over and over again. I love that song "Invisible City" that they never put out as a single. But I was going to do that song. I'm really proud that things went so well for him.
