does tom petty have any redeeming qualities?

The question at the top of the thread is just silly.

Best place to start: Greatest Hits (MCA, 1993).

Best album: Damn the Torpedoes, 1979.

His first two are worth owning, as well. After that, less so.

Best single left off Greatest Hits: "Jammin' Me."

Best song, period: "American Girl"

No room or time to list the countless artists beloved on ILM that he's better than.

Last year's album kind of sucked, though. My Spin review went like this:

Tom Petty
Highway Companion
American
2 1/2 stars

The eternally squirrelly dad-rocker’s roadtrip album opens with its most explicit car rhythm, a ZZ-riffed boogie ride past exurbia’s ranch homes. And though it never works up comparable energy again, the tune about heading south to sell family headstones and the one about dropping in on a small-town buddy for a weekend beer do okay. Moodier moments respectably imitate Dylan and Neil Young, but often fall asleep at the wheel.

Downloadable cuts: “Saving Grace,” “Big Weekend”

i see the great american songs thing as a lack of culture in his music

So you would rather he what? Have a sitar or a gamelan or something in there? Besides, bologna's Italian, Mayo's French, and according to wikipedia, "cucumbers were probably first pickled 4400 years ago in Mesopotamia." America's a melting pot of culture and that's what makes us and our music (and our sandwiches) so damn good. Am I right?

Well, to me, Tom Petty sounds way less American than the blues/country/gospel overflow in the music of The Band or CCR. Which to me also makes it a lot better.

I have an irrational hatred for Tom Petty, even though I really enjoy a lot of his songs (e.g. "Don't Come Around Here No More"). He's just one of those artists that theoretically grates on my nerves but he's better than 99% of his dadrock compadres. "The Last DJ" is indefensible though.

holy shit I didn't realize "Free Fallin'" came out in 1989!

greatest hits was the first record i bought and i have no intention of selling it during my lifetime

free fallin was the lead track off full moon fever, wasn't it? god i loved that album...

xhuck pretty much otm.

I think all his records are pretty solid (even if a little spotty) up until the "She's the One" soundtrack, which is really quite good. Check his cover of Beck's "Asshole", Lucinda's "Change the Locks" and "California".
I'm not really familiar with anything after that other than the singles, which have been admittedly kinda lame. But still, 20 years of solid state RnR ('76-'96) ain't bad.

An older, completely insane room mate I once had took me to one of his shows around '99. She got wasted and went into total hair metal band-groupie mode, worked her way past security and befriended the tour manager. She ended up in a room at the Peabody with said manger, Petty and his girlfriend. They stayed up 'til dawn smoking grass.

She returned the next day with a stolen pair of his whitey-tighty underwear complete with "TP" scrawled on the waist-band and a gtr pick that said "ROCK LIVES". I've still got the pick.

There is no such thing as "dadrock", but if there is it must be a positive term, as it usually used about GREAT and timeless music, as opposed to useless R&B and hip-hop crap.

At the moment I'd be much happier to listen to a Tom Petty record than a Bob Dylan record.

listening to "Jammin' Me" right now. It's pretty ace.

lol Geir can't dance

Oh, some great songs.

Geir clearly you've never had a dad

My dad is too old for "dadrock" anyway. That term was invented by the Y-generation - the most ageist generation ever.

Always has been a good to great live act although I haven't seen 'em since the original drummer left a few years ago. Mike Campbell, Petty's partner in crime, is a particularly fine guitarist and at least as much responsible for the "sound" as TP hisself.

"The Big Jangle," which started life as the first CD in the Tom Petty box set (I think it's been released once as a stand alone), is an almost perfect end-to-end listen. It covers what was good on the albums up to "Damn the Torpedoes."

http://www.morethings.com/music/tom_petty/!tom-petty-on-stage.jpg

well it was nearly summer
we sat on your roof

Brilliant revive. And timely! My cover band may be taking this for a spin on Tuesday :-)

excellent.

y'know as we've probly discussed before the thing about tom p. that doesn't get enough respect is his singing. all the terribly obvious dylan/mcguin comparisons miss the syrupy drawl and southern soul in it. (his r&b inflections maybe come via mick jagger, but he has the advantage over mick of being from florida.) he might not appreciate the parallel, but there's some dirty south in his voice.

That term was invented by the Y-generation - the most ageist generation ever.

boo fucking hoo, old man

(j/k)

he might not appreciate the parallel, but there's some dirty south in his voice

Ach. If I didn't have to get real work done today this would be SUCH a license to photoshop...

another sorta interesting thing about Petty was his ability to recruit new, young fans. I was a teenager when Wildflowers came out and I thought (still do) it was pretty great. I seem to remember it being a hit with the MTV set as well. And that was what, 20 years into his career? I know there are plenty of other artists that have sustained successful careers over decades , but they really just seem to be selling to a previously esablished fan base and doing gargantuan tours...

I have no idea if this is still the case w/ Petty. I somehow doubt it. I haven't had cable - and thus, MTV - in about 7 years.

being really into tom petty actually makes you really cool cuz it's so like, not cool. definitely cooler than being really into Neutral Milk Hotel or something.

Oh dear.

I have an irrational hatred for Tom Petty, even though I really enjoy a lot of his songs (e.g. "Don't Come Around Here No More"). He's just one of those artists that theoretically grates on my nerves...

Damn, Curtis! I never thought someone would so adequately sum up my exact feelings about Tom Petty.

"My dad is too old for "dadrock" anyway. That term was invented by the Y-generation - the most ageist generation ever"

Summer of Love and "don't trust anyone over 30" to thread.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/518P3XDK8KL._AA240_.jpg

my dad does like tom petty.

and i'm a dad who likes tom petty too.

so there you go.

(altho bimble you might be pleased to know that my dad also like kate bush.)

(likes kate bush. he's not like kate bush. that would be weird.)

I think my dad is utterly indifferent to Tom Petty.

dads know about kate bush for some bizarre reason

My dad stopped paying attention to rock and roll about 15 years before "American Girl".

"Nightwatchman" and "Woman In Love" are enough to redeem.

dads know about kate bush for some bizarre reason

because her music is the dadrockiest music ever, that's why

"Nightwatchman" and "Woman In Love" are enough to redeem

i have a vague memory of adapting "nightwatchman" into some kind of graphic-novel form as part of a middle-school project, but i can't for the life of me remember what or why.

"woman in love" is one of my petty faves. mostly for the way he says, "well awright...do whadchoo want...don' say a word, don' say naaaaa-thin'"

kate bush's music is definitely not what i would consider dadrock, in the made-up, cliche sense of the term

Is Kate Bush dadrockier than Lucinda Williams?

I'm fairly certain that my dad has not heard of Kate Bush. I have just barely heard of Kate Bush, and even that's after hanging around Kate Bush fans on ILX for years

my dad is the dad-rockiest dad of all time, and he HATED "American Girl" the first time he saw TP&tHs play on TV; he was all "so she was an American girl, what about it? there are a LOT of American girls!"

"woman in love" is one of my petty faves. mostly for the way he says, "well awright...do whadchoo want...don' say a word, don' say naaaaa-thin'"

And see now, I love it for the little fill Mike Campbell plays right after that. Two great tastes...

but they really just seem to be selling to a previously esablished fan base

I should clarify: obviously the Beatles, Stones, Zep, Pink Floyd etc, continue to sell to young kids who are just discovering classic rock, but I would imagine it tends to be records from their heyday. I wouldn't think a lot of teens were running out to buy Bridges to Babylon, Flaming Pie or the Page/ Plant thing.

but I could be wrong.

lucinda is DEFINITELY more dadrock than kate, like by miles and miles i feel

he was all "so she was an American girl, what about it? there are a LOT of American girls!"

Yeah that whole thing of "she was an American Girl"...you get the feeling it's really just for marketing purposes that he even says that. Like you know, supposedly it'll help the song get further in the charts or be more memorable that way, whatever the agenda is. It's fuckin' cheesy, man.

That said, like Curtis I particularly appreciate Don't Come Around Here No More (though he did have a bit of help from Dave Stewart didn't he? I mean he wouldn't have done that by himself) and oh...let's see..."You Got Lucky" is quite good, too. Hell, in a drunken moment I'll even admit to appreciating Free Fallin'. But still it's like the best I can say about him is that he's NOT John Cougar Melloncamp or some other similar, much worse artist. He's like the lesser of two or more evils.

And see now, I love it for the little fill Mike Campbell plays right after that. Two great tastes...

was ipodding the heartbreakers today because of this thread and remembered another great thing is the patented stan lynch drum fill. the one that leapt out at me is coming out of the bridge on "don't do me like that," but he does variations on the same thing a lot. it's a kind of stop-start stop-start on the toms that usually ends in a triplet roll.

Bimble you are not OTM. Petty and Mellencamp have given us some fine American pop hooks. If you cannot hear that then I feel for you brother.

But still it's like the best I can say about him is that he's NOT John Cougar Melloncamp or some other similar, much worse artist.

Except that Mellencamp is a great artist and has made a couple of terrific records.

hating on american girl? jesus people...

dadrock is cool, dad's like a lot of cool music. my pop (RIP) liked CCR and the Stones and Jefferson Airplane.

bimble i generally appreciate yr enthusiasm but man oh man, you are RONG to the nth degree re: both petty and mellencamp

Good god Jess, have you never been in a CAR?
-- Josh, Tuesday, January 1, 2002 1:00 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

i always think the second line of 'american girl' is 'raised on barber sex'

i don't know what the actual line is, perhaps it's better that way