In Memoriam: Tom Petty
He wanted to see the crowd. I hate to admit it, but I was a bit checked out.
My excuse? I was enjoying the hell outta life. I was an American teenager participating in a classic rite of passage experience. It was a few days before my high school graduation, just after my 18th birthday. I packed myself along with a bunch of Sam Adams beer into a friends van, drank in the parking lot, and sat down on the lawn at the Meadows in Hartford, CT. I had never had that much beer in my life. There, in the haze of drunkness and socialization, I heard some of Tom Petty's classics in the background-the familiar ones. Yes, they might have been the songs you heard at the gas station. But they were the best ones. By light years. The perfect soundtrack to a fulfilling adolescence. The perfect soundtrack to the summer. Happy, care-free. . . with hints of sadness and longing on the way.
This past year, I saw Tom again, this time with much less beer. The crowd was incredibly diverse, and per usual, he played a solid set. I couldn't help but notice that everyone from the white-collar professionals with loosened neckties to the bikers had a smile on their face. Petty had that effect. Professional 'till the end.
The thing is, like a good parent, you could rely on Petty. He was solid, consistent, a rock in an angry sea. He was a man who pleased the folkies and Bob Dylan, construction workers in the Midwest, last call barflies and creatures of the American night, and your dad when working on the car in the garage. He pleased sorority girls with sing-along tunes like "Free Fallin'". He pleased the early 90s alternative crowd with songs like "Last Dance With Mary Jane". In short, Tom Petty could do a little of everything. His music was dynamic, something about it universally touched the human spirit.
As Petty put it himself in his classic song "Time to Move On"-
Which way to something better?
Which way to forgiveness?
Which way do I go?
Petty never stopped asking the question that the greats have asked: what does it mean to be human? May he rest in peace.
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ReplyDelete“Consistent” is definitely the first word that comes to mind when hearing the name Petty.
DeleteI agree! He was the "standard"!
DeleteMy Blog Entry on October 2
ReplyDeleteTom Petty Died Today
“It’s shocking, crushing news,” legendary songwriter Bob Dylan, a close Petty friend and colleague, told Rolling Stone magazine. “I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
The Traveling Wilburys are down to Two.
"I Won't Back Down" is the first single from Tom Petty's first solo album, Full Moon Fever released in 1989. The song was written by Petty and Jeff Lynne, his writing partner for the album. [Wikipedia entry] I'm going to play this song prior to my next class in tribute to Tom Petty. [ELP]
“I learned so much from Bob Dylan,” says Tom Petty. The Heartbreakers toured as Dylan’s backing band from 1986 to 87. “He gave us a kind of courage that we never had, to learn something quickly and go out on stage and play it. You had to be pretty versatile because arrangements could change, keys might change, there’s just no way of knowing exactly what he wants to do each night. You really learnt the value of spontaneity, of how a moment that is real in a concert is worth so much more than one you plan out.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/9334082/Tom-Pettys-debt-to-Bob-Dylan.html
Emmy Lou Harris, Dave Matthews, Patty Griffin and Steve Earle paid tribute to Tom Petty with an acoustic version of Refugee in Seattle on October 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6G7smsItQg&t=2s
I've heard some live recordings of the Heart breakers and Bob-everyone seems to malign the 80s stuff but I love it!
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to hear Dylan honor Petty as his final encore in Denver on 10/21/17.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbXcCqSjDPU