Who exactly was Tom Petty trying to sound like on his early albums?

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I was in the record store this morning (surprise surprise) and found Tom Petty's first album on vinyl for $5. Feeling frivolous, i thought I'd grab it and take a nostalgia trip - I remember really loving it when I was a kid - it was one of the first CDs I ever owned.

I still like the record - underrated in his vast catalog, I say - but what the hell was he going for with that delivery? Sounds like an ESL student with cerebral palsy, especially on "Breakdown" but on most of the others as well. Know what I mean?

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 26 May 2005 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Roger McGuinn dude!

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 May 2005 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Elvis Costello for Johnny Cougar fans?

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Thursday, 26 May 2005 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

dylan + muppets

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 May 2005 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Pappawheelie is closest. Though I agree that everything from Full Moon Fever on was straight up "I wish i was in The Byrds" rock

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 26 May 2005 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

The Strokes?

― Jay Watts III (jaywatts), Thursday, 26 May 2005 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Byrds Byrds Byrds.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, American Girl is about as Byrds-y as you can get!

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know...Breakdown has a Costello desperation about it.

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm mostly talking about his vocals here - no argumnet the Rickenbacker jaqngle of "American Girl" is Byrds-derived. I'm talking about the mush-mouthed, Ronnie Lane-esque diction Petty chooses. "Your eyes give you ayy-wayy..."

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

My copy of Petty's debut actually came with a sticker on the cover that read "Sounds like an ESL student with cerebral palsy".

OK, it didn't. But it should have.

― Rukki, Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:09 (twenty-one years ago)

DUDE!!! Petty does an unbelievable Roger McGuinn impersonation on "American Girl"!!!

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Dwight Twilley

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Twilley, Dylan, McGuinn. His McGuinn impersonation isn't as good as Chilton's on "Ballad of El Goodo," but it's pretty good.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

That's called "the McGuinn vocal readymade."

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

You'd think Tom, Alex and Dwight would've formed their own Non-Ambulatory Wilberrys or somethin'.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Roger McGuinn & The E-Street Band

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 26 May 2005 19:36 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, i was gonna say dwight twilley, too.

people know he was often filed as "new wave" back then, right?

― xhuxk, Thursday, 26 May 2005 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

That'd probably be Phil Seymour, then; he was actually the singer in the Twilley Band.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 26 May 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Petty's like REM in my book--I never bought any of their records but I never minded hearing them on the radio, not a bit. "Here Comes My Girl" is pretty great, actually, I always liked that one a lot. So maybe it's time I break down and buy some of his albums.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

which video was it where Petty was in the desert and it was sort of post-apocalyptic in the desert and someone drives by in a spaced out car? maybe a delorian? the song was kinda psychedelic?

― jaxon (jaxon), Friday, 20 January 2006 22:16 (twenty years ago)

in the desert in the desert in the desert in the desert

― jaxon (jaxon), Friday, 20 January 2006 22:16 (twenty years ago)

"You Got Lucky".

It'd be cool if someone remade it today, but kept it where the band still discovers betamaxes and arcade games.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 20 January 2006 22:31 (twenty years ago)

wicked. that's what i thought. SOMEONE POST THIS SHIT TO YOUTUBE ALREADY!

― jaxon (jaxon), Friday, 20 January 2006 22:35 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I've always wondered about the vocal on "Breakdown" and esp noticed it when I heard it recently. He definitely sounds like he's trying to mimic some sort of East European accent (e.g. the way he pronounces "don't") but it's hard to place and harder to explain.

― Sundar (sundar), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:04 (twenty years ago)

well it's just a southern accent (to quote tom himself), isn't it?

my question is where did bruce springsteen get HIS southern accent from?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:09 (twenty years ago)

he sounds like rickie lee jones!

― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:16 (twenty years ago)

or ray davies, i dunno

― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:16 (twenty years ago)

or some pacino character

― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:17 (twenty years ago)

I always thought it was Dylan

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:28 (twenty years ago)

But where did he get that fake Puerto Rican accent from?

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:33 (twenty years ago)

Is that really a Southern accent?! I mean, "Sweet Home Alabama"'s a Southern accent, right?

4xpost

― Sundar (sundar), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:35 (twenty years ago)

OK, I can see it being Latin American.

― Sundar (sundar), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:37 (twenty years ago)

(xpost) well there are lots of possible southern accents, depending on whether you're from florida or alabama or georgia or wherever. and tom's southern accent is combined with a rather severe nasal issue, which i assume has nothing to do with either where he's from or who he might be trying to sound like.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:39 (twenty years ago)

cajun?

― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:41 (twenty years ago)

DUDE!!! Petty does an unbelievable Roger McGuinn impersonation on "American Girl"!!!

Just go directly to the McGuinn cover of "American Girl" on his '77 solo album.

There's also the McGuinn/Petty duet on "King Of The Hill" where you really can't tell who's singing what...

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:49 (twenty years ago)

the missing vocal ingredient not mentioned above: MICK JAGGER. i always thought petty was trying to split the difference between dylan and jagger.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:04 (twenty years ago)

eleven years pass...

Roger McGuinn & The E-Street Band
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, May 26, 2005 12:36 PM

One of the rare times, like a passing bright comet, where I agree with Geir

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 27 August 2017 08:24 (eight years ago)

seeing both petty threads bumped just makes me assume he either died or did something horrible

― qualx, Sunday, 27 August 2017 08:46 (eight years ago)

Yeah, he's going to fight Mayweather next year.

― StanM, Sunday, 27 August 2017 08:50 (eight years ago)

Gross.

The Heartbreakers are so far removed from the E Street Band. For me, that's what makes the early records stand out. In an era where full-on bloat was king, consider something like the arrangement on 'Luna' from the first album for an example of how Petty had much more of a grasp on being tasteful. And, of course, 'Breakdown' is an absolute killer.

If anything, I'd say he was initially more inspired by 60s British pop than anything else. And obviously the Byrds.

― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Monday, 28 August 2017 00:01 (eight years ago)

I think they like the Stones/Faces quite a bit too. It's kinda like the Byrds with Stones toughness. That said, I think Benmont Tench is more like Ian McLagan. Something like "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" - those kinda tunes have that type of vibe.

― earlnash, Monday, 28 August 2017 00:07 (eight years ago)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers don't have as much the folky/country rock side of the Byrds.

― earlnash, Monday, 28 August 2017 00:08 (eight years ago)

five years pass...

Just posted on the Midnight Special YT channel. I dare you to pause it midway through...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t4ygBn6NJM

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 26 July 2023 23:13 (two years ago)

your dare made me realize another great thing about this song -- the words end less than halfway through. the rest is an extended mic drop.

― Thus Sang Freud, Thursday, 27 July 2023 13:17 (two years ago)

Is there a thread for songs that give you that ASMR tingle every time you hear them? Cause this song is on my list.

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Thursday, 27 July 2023 14:18 (two years ago)

Yes, that happens for me too. I posted about this years ago, but after an adolescence of seeing arena rock bands, seeing Petty in a much smaller theater setting (twice, '78 and '79) was extremely powerful. That Midnight Special clip is a great example.

RE: his vocal, McGuinn is always the obvious mention, and I hear Jagger in there as well. One other possible influence: Van Morrison, that marble-mouthed delivery on songs like "Wild Night."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NfNmvz2ej0

― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 27 July 2023 14:32 (two years ago)

Whoa have I been mishearing the first verse lyrics all my life...

― Lee626, Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:13 (two years ago)

Another vocal influence that I think became more clear later (on things like "Honey Bee") but was always there is Southern soul singers. Definitely present in "Breakdown" e.g.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:33 (two years ago)

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