Comments on: Being Tom Petty http://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/ your daily dose of pop culture Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:07:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Paulahttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-52183 Paula Mon, 04 May 2009 05:06:16 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-52183 Just returned from two back-to-back driving trips (total distance 2,600 miles). Southern Accents and Long After Dark were the only music I played, over and over. Enough said from this fan..... Just returned from two back-to-back driving trips (total distance 2,600 miles). Southern Accents and Long After Dark were the only music I played, over and over. Enough said from this fan…..

]]> By: Paulahttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-41246 Paula Mon, 04 May 2009 01:06:16 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-41246 Just returned from two back-to-back driving trips (total distance 2,600 miles). Southern Accents and Long After Dark were the only music I played, over and over. Enough said from this fan..... Just returned from two back-to-back driving trips (total distance 2,600 miles). Southern Accents and Long After Dark were the only music I played, over and over. Enough said from this fan…..

]]> By: Paulahttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-28668 Paula Mon, 04 May 2009 00:06:16 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-28668 Just returned from two back-to-back driving trips (total distance 2,600 miles). Southern Accents and Long After Dark were the only music I played, over and over. Enough said from this fan..... Just returned from two back-to-back driving trips (total distance 2,600 miles). Southern Accents and Long After Dark were the only music I played, over and over. Enough said from this fan…..

]]> By: Lisahttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-27421 Lisa Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:50:08 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-27421 very cool. very cool.

]]> By: Elainehttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-25028 Elaine Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:39:02 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-25028 I heard "Breakdown" on the radio yesterday. I've always wondered, and this seems like a good place to ask, why does he sing the verses with a Cuban accent? Anybody know? I heard “Breakdown” on the radio yesterday. I've always wondered, and this seems like a good place to ask, why does he sing the verses with a Cuban accent? Anybody know?

]]> By: Elainehttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-24813 Elaine Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:00:52 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-24813 I had a big crush for awhile on Benmont Tench when I was in HS. I had a big crush for awhile on Benmont Tench when I was in HS.

]]> By: stevehttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-24738 steve Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:21:57 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-24738 To me, the brilliance of Petty is that he never seems to run out of ways to put 3 or 4 simple chords together with a melody and make something really good. I mean, haven't all the possible combinations of simple roots-rock been played out? Nope, he has some bottomless well of ideas to make those simple ingredients great even after they've been seemingly exhausted for 50+ years now. And better yet, for an amateur guitarist like myself, he writes songs that are easy to learn and play. So I sit there playing them, saying to myself "damn this song is so easy to play", yet I could never write one like that myself. That's brilliance. He makes it look easy. To me, the brilliance of Petty is that he never seems to run out of ways to put 3 or 4 simple chords together with a melody and make something really good. I mean, haven't all the possible combinations of simple roots-rock been played out? Nope, he has some bottomless well of ideas to make those simple ingredients great even after they've been seemingly exhausted for 50+ years now. And better yet, for an amateur guitarist like myself, he writes songs that are easy to learn and play. So I sit there playing them, saying to myself “damn this song is so easy to play”, yet I could never write one like that myself. That's brilliance. He makes it look easy.

]]> By: Adamhttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-24710 Adam Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:12:36 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-24710 It's long been a contention of mine that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the greatest American rock n' roll band we've ever had. My criteria are as follows:<br><br>1. Longevity. They've been around for 40+ years in pretty much the same incarnation.<br>2. Quality of work over the entirety of their career. TP has really only made a couple of albums that are hard to listen to, and he's made a lot more masterpieces. What would the American musical landscape look like without their debut album, Damn the Torpedoes, Hard Promises, Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers? (I recognize those last two are solo albums, but most of the Heartbreakers play on them.) Many more peaks than valleys. <br>3. Signature sound. I think you can always tell when Mike Campbell plays on a song and I don't think anyone else sounds quite like him. <br>4. Amount of work in the American lexicon. If there were any justice in this world, new babies and immigrants would be issued a copy of TP's Greatest Hits and be told, "This is how it's done around here."<br><br>Keeping those 4 criteria in mind, is there any other band that comes close? I don't think so. It's long been a contention of mine that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the greatest American rock n' roll band we've ever had. My criteria are as follows:

1. Longevity. They've been around for 40+ years in pretty much the same incarnation.
2. Quality of work over the entirety of their career. TP has really only made a couple of albums that are hard to listen to, and he's made a lot more masterpieces. What would the American musical landscape look like without their debut album, Damn the Torpedoes, Hard Promises, Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers? (I recognize those last two are solo albums, but most of the Heartbreakers play on them.) Many more peaks than valleys.
3. Signature sound. I think you can always tell when Mike Campbell plays on a song and I don't think anyone else sounds quite like him.
4. Amount of work in the American lexicon. If there were any justice in this world, new babies and immigrants would be issued a copy of TP's Greatest Hits and be told, “This is how it's done around here.”

Keeping those 4 criteria in mind, is there any other band that comes close? I don't think so.

]]> By: Darrenhttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-24701 Darren Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:45:37 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-24701 I agree...vulnerable would be an understatement. I had always known (even as a fan) that Petty's marriage to Jane was a tumultuous one. When I heard that song for the first time, though, I knew this was a guy who'd just watched a huge part of his life fall into the ocean. I agree…vulnerable would be an understatement. I had always known (even as a fan) that Petty's marriage to Jane was a tumultuous one. When I heard that song for the first time, though, I knew this was a guy who'd just watched a huge part of his life fall into the ocean.

]]> By: Darrenhttp://popdose.com/being-tom-petty/comment-page-1/#comment-24699 Darren Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:36:49 +0000 http://popdose.com/?p=11770#comment-24699 thank you, my friend... thank you, my friend…

]]>