damn the torpedoes

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fought to be free and reached their high water mark with this triumphant tour de force.  After two albums ('Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' and 'You're Gonna Get It!') on Shelter Records, Petty was frustrated when major label MCA acquired Shelter and the rights to his music.  In an effort to get out from under their control, Petty took on the costs (almost half a millon dollars) of recording their third album and then filed for bankruptcy.  His plan worked and MCA released him from his contract and signed a new three million dollar deal on their Backstreet subsidiary.  

'Damn the Torpedoes' was recorded in California at Sound City in Van Nuys and Cherokee Studios in Hollywood.  Petty and Jimmy Iovine co-produced the sessions that featured Tom Petty on 6 & 12 string guitars, lead vocals, and harmonica;   Mike Campbell on 6 & 12 string guitars, slide guitar, keyboards, accordion, and bass guitar;   Benmont Tench on piano, organ, harmonium, and vocals;   Ron Blair on electric bass guitar;  and Stan Lynch on drums and vocals;   with Donald "Duck" Dunn adding bass on "You Tell Me" and Jim Keltner providing percussion on "Refugee". 

Campbell recalls: "When we were at the studio mixing it, I remember this one girl who was working in reception, she came in and heard the mix and she said, 'That's a hit, that's a hit,' and we looked at each other and said, 'Maybe it is.' You don't always know. Sometimes you think certain things are surefire and people just don't latch on to them and other things they do. You know when it's good or not, but you don't always know if it's a hit. A hit record a lot of times is more than just the song, it's the timing, the climate you put it out in, what people are listening to and what they're expecting to hear and if it touches a nerve at a certain time."

'Damn the Torpedoes' became a massive success, going to number fifty-seven in the UK, twenty-seven in the Netherlands, fifteen in Australia, two in Canada and the US, and number one in New Zealand.  In the US, it held at number two for seven weeks, just behind Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'.  It has been certified double platinum in Canada and the US.  





http://www.tompetty.com/









"Refugee" became reflected their struggle with MCA.  Petty says:   "This was a reaction to the pressures of the music business. I wound up in a huge row with the record company when ABC Records tried to sell our contract to MCA Records without us knowing about it, despite a clause in our contract that said they didn't have the right to do that. I was so angry with the whole system that I think that had a lot to do with the tone of the Damn the Torpedoes album. I was in this defiant mood. I wasn't so conscious of it then, but I can look back and see what was happening. I find that's true a lot. It takes some time usually before you fully understand what's going on in a song--or maybe what led up to it."    The single went to number twenty-four in Australia and the Netherlands, fifteen in the US, three in New Zealand, and two in Canada.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFnOfpIJL0M


We got somethin' we both know it 
We don't talk too much about it 
Yeah it ain't no real big secret all the same
Somehow we get around it 
Listen it don't really matter to me baby 
You believe what you want to believe
You see you don't have to live like a refugee

Somewhere, somehow somebody 
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you want to lay there 
And revel in your abandon
Listen it don't make no difference to me baby 
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
Now baby you don't have to live like a refugee

Baby we ain't the first 
I'm sure a lot of other lover's been burned
Right now this seems real to you
But it's one of those things
You gotta feel to be true

Somewhere, somehow somebody 
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away and held for ransom
It don't really matter to me
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
I said you don't have to live like a refugee




"Here Comes My Girl"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4nPa35CZPI




"Don't Do Me Like That" became the band's biggest hit in the US, peaking at number ten.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UCdbGvemVg










'Damn the Torpedoes' 
full album:  



All songs were written by Tom Petty, except where noted.


Side one
"Refugee" (Petty, Mike Campbell) 00:00
"Here Comes My Girl" (Petty, Campbell) 03:21
"Even the Losers" 08:12
"Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)" 11:51
"Century City" 16:16
Side two
"Don't Do Me Like That" 20:02
"You Tell Me" 22:47
"What Are You Doin' in My Life?" 27:20

"Louisiana Rain" 30:48

full moon fever

Tom Petty turned a side project into his greatest success with this laid back lunar launch party.  After seven albums with the Heartbreakers, Petty decided to record a solo album and began a fruitful period of his career.  He would reveal:    "It was Thanksgiving Day, 1987, when the seeds of 'Full Moon Fever' and the Wilburys were planted. I wanted to play baseball real bad that day, but I didn't have a mitt so I drove to the Thrifty Drug store because that was the only place open that I thought might have mitts. I was at the red light just before the Thrifty and I looked over and saw Jeff (Lynne). I had just met him a few weeks earlier in London and I waved for him to pull over. It turned out that he was living not far up the road from me so we exchanged numbers. He was working on the Brian Wilson record at the time so I didn't hear from him for about a month and then he started coming over. The first day I played a song for him that I had written called "Yer So Bad." He said he liked it, but how about if I tried a B minor here, and it instantly improved the song. We finished that song the first day and the next day we wrote "Free Falling." Most of the Heartbreakers were spread all over the country at the time so I grabbed Phil Jones, who plays percussion on some of the Heartbreakers records, and me, him and Jeff went to Campbell's garage studio and made demos of these new songs. When I heard them, I thought, "Hey, these sound like a record." Hmmm. Why not release them as a solo album? And that was that ... I just got in there with Jeff [Lynne] and [Heartbreaker guitarist] Mike Campbell. We had a basic band of us three and this drummer [Phil Jones]. I didn't want to call all my friends and have this long list of famous people. It's always tempting to do that. But I just wanted this little band.   Starting around January of '88, we worked about three months, then stopped and did the Wilburys for awhile. When the Wilburys were done, we came back and did four more tracks, then pieced it all together...[The brighter, less abrasive feel] wasn't a real conscious thing. I think it was just a reaction to this being a solo record as opposed to being in the band, which is a nastier environment. So it's sort of like I'm out on leave from the penitentiary. [laughs] I didn't really mean that. These were all just songs I wanted to write real bad and I didn't do a a lot of looking back. I just went straight ahead until I got stuck. These were a few I pulled out, a little bit later. That was because I had the luxury of taking a break to do the Wilburys. It let me live with the album and decide if I wanted to write other songs with this mood or that mood...I wanted this album to have a sense of humor. But I wanted it to be where the humor illuminated some important things. That was the idea...  We'd do a track, then on the next day we'd spend writing one. He'd come over to my house and we'd sit there and write. If it took us two days, it took us two days. We just kept doing it that way. A lot of the songs were worked out between the two of us, sitting on a couch. Like, I might have a lot of an idea, then he'd show up and we'd just start working.   This has been a very prolific time for me. It's fairly magical, in a way. I feel kind of revitalized, musically. There's a lot of music going in my head now and it's been an inspiration to have so much input from a lot of different artists, not only the Heartbreakers. In our little world here [in Southern California], it's funny, but I've never seen a period like this where there are so many people trading ideas and so open to it. 'Cause [the Heartbreakers] used to be awful about that. We didn't let anybody into our sessions. If you weren't in the Heartbreakers, you didn't come in. it was a very closed club. We lived like that. And I don't really want to live like that anymore."

Production was handled by Jeff Lynne with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell at at M.C. Studios, Rumbo Studios, Sunset Sound, Devonshire Studios, Conway Studios, and Sound City Studios.  The sessions featured Tom Petty on lead and backing vocals, 6 and 12 string acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards,and  tambourine;   Mike Campbell on lead guitar, mandolin, bass, slide guitar, dobro, and keyboards;   Jeff Lynne on bass, electric guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals;   and Phil Jones on drums and percussion;    with George Harrison adding acoustic guitar and backing vocals on "I Won't Back Down";  Jim Keltner on drums, maracas, and tambourine on "Love Is a Long Road";  Howie Epstein on backing vocals for "I Won't Back Down" and "Love Is a Long Road";  Benmont Tench on piano for "The Apartment Song";  Roy Orbison and Kelsey Campbell on backing vocals for "Zombie Zoo";  and Alan Weidel, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty doing the hand claps on "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better". Del Shannon provided barnyard noises in the "Hello, CD listeners…" interlude.  

'Full Moon Fever' became an even bigger success than 'The Travelling Wilburys', going to number thirteen in Australia, eight in Germany and the UK, five in New Zealand, three in the US, and number two in Sweden and Norway.  







http://www.tompetty.com/









"Free Fallin'" became the biggest single of his career, going to number seven on the US pop chart, five in Canada, four in New Zealand, and number one on the US hot mainstream rock tracks chart.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A




"Runnin' Down a Dream" hit number twenty-three on the US pop chart and number one on the US hot mainstream rock tracks chart. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs




"I Won't Back Down" made it to number twelve on the US pop chart and number one on the US hot mainstream rock tracks chart. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlTJrNJ5lA




"Yer So Bad" 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdRViFCvvUo






'Full Moon Fever' 
full album:



All songs written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, except as indicated.


01."Free Fallin'" – 4:14 
02."I Won't Back Down" – 2:56 
03."Love Is a Long Road" (Mike Campbell, Petty) – 4:06
04."A Face in the Crowd" – 3:58 
05."Runnin' Down a Dream" (Campbell, Lynne, Petty) – 4:23
06."I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" (Gene Clark) – 2:47
07."Yer So Bad" – 3:05 
08."Depending on You" (Petty) – 2:47
09."The Apartment Song" (Petty) – 2:31
10."Alright for Now" (Petty) – 2:00
11."A Mind with a Heart of Its Own" – 3:29 
12."Zombie Zoo" – 2:56 

traveling wilburys vol. 1

The Traveling Wilburys enjoyed the sweet smell of success with the laid back grooves of the most understated super group of all time.  George Harrison and Jeff Lynne joked around with the idea while working on the 'Cloud Nine' album; when there were recording errors, Harrison quipped:  "We'll bury 'em in the mix."   It wasn't until Harrison needed to quickly come up with a new song for a European c-side for the CD single that the idea came to fruition. He enlisted the help of Lynne, who had been producing albums for Roy Orbison and Tom Petty at the time.  Petty and the Heartbreakers had finished a tour with Bob Dylan as well.  They all gathered at Dylan's house to use his home studio and wrote and recorded 'Handle With Care' together in five hours.    Harrison revealed:   "We went over to Bob's; we sat on his lawn and wrote the song, the music to it, went in and put it down just with a machine and some acoustics, the five of us playing... might as well get them all playing.  And then we went out again and wrote the words and that was for my twelve inch.  We took it to the record company, they said 'No, it's to good to use just as a c-side.'   That was 'Handle With Care'."   

With the magical experience of recording the song, they decided to record an entire album together; but kept the project under wraps since many of the group members were on different record labels.  'Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1' features Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison) on vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, and backing vocals; Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) on vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, and backing vocals; Charlie T. Wilbury Jr (Tom Petty) on vocals, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals; Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) on vocals, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals; and Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan) on vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, and backing vocals;  with Buster Sidebury (Jim Keltner) on drums; Jim Horn on saxophones; Ray Cooper on percussion; Ian Wallace on tom-toms on "Handle with Care"; and Michael Palin writing the album liner notes.   The sessions were produced by produced by Otis and Nelson Wilbury (Jeff Lynne and George Harrison) with engineers Bill Bottrell, Richard Dodd, Phil McDonald, and Don Smith.  

Despite the fact that none of their real names appear on the album, it became a huge success, going to number sixteen in the UK, six in Switzerland, three in Austria and the US, two in Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden, and number one in Australia.  'Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1' won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and was nominated for Album of the Year.  It has been certified triple platinum.  




http://www.travelingwilburys.com/





documentary 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTZiWlsw1Iw






Handle With Care
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8s9dmuAKvU




Last Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja65XrIXKbc




Not Alone Anymore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2hoqgDtxzY




End of the Line
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqhdRs4jyA





'Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1'
full album:

The Travelling Wilburys, Vol 1 - Full Album... by MitchellRodriquez





All tracks written by Traveling Wilburys. Lead vocals listed.


1. "Handle with Care"   George Harrison (Bridge: Roy Orbison) 3:20
2. "Dirty World"   Bob Dylan 3:30
3. "Rattled"   Jeff Lynne 3:00
4. "Last Night"   Tom Petty (Bridge: Roy Orbison) 3:48
5. "Not Alone Any More"   Roy Orbison 3:24
6. "Congratulations"   Bob Dylan 3:30
7. "Heading for the Light"   George Harrison (Bridge: Jeff Lynne) 3:37
8. "Margarita"   Bob Dylan/Tom Petty (Bridge: Jeff Lynne) 3:15
9. "Tweeter and the Monkey Man"   Bob Dylan 5:30
10. "End of the Line"   all (Bridge: Tom Petty) 3:30
11. "Maxine" (2007 reissue bonus track) George Harrison 2:49
12. "Like a Ship" (2007 reissue bonus track) Bob Dylan 3:31

tom petty and the heartbreakers

When this Gainsville rocker released his assured debut album, it combined the attitude of punk with a classic rock and blues sound. Building on the sound of the Byrds and the Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had to find their own identity. Petty says their inability to embrace the Southern rock that was popular in Florida created tension: "It was a problem for us. We went up to Capricorn Records and made the drive up. I remember hanging around the studio with this band called the Marshall Tucker Band. They were making their first record, and they invited us in, and we sat around all day and waited for someone to listen to our tape. And the answer was, 'It's too British. It sounds too English.' So we decided then we were going to California. Florida just wasn't the place for us. We'd done everything we could do there. We had a huge following there. We could do a thousand people there. It had gotten to that when we left. But it wasn't going anywhere for us. So in 1974 we packed up and moved."

'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' was recorded and mixed at Shelter Studios in Hollywood with English record producer Denny Cordell. The album first made waves in the UK after a tour, rising to number twenty four on the British album chart. It peaked at number eighteen in New Zealand, and, after almost a year, hit number fifty five in the US, going gold.







http://www.tompetty.com/

'Breakdown' just cracked the top forty in Canada and the US.

"It's all right if you love me

It's all right if you don't

I'm not afraid of you running away

Honey, I get the feeling you won't"

'American Girl' hit number forty in the UK.

"Well she was an American girl

Raised on promises

She couldn't help thinkin'

That there was a little more to life somewhere else

After all it was a great big world

With lots of places to run to

And if she had to die tryin'

She had one little promise she was gonna keep"

'Anything That's Rock 'N' Roll' rose to number thirty six in England.

'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 
full album:




All tracks written by Tom Petty, except where noted. 


1. "Rockin' Around (With You)" (Petty, Mike Campbell) 2:29
2. "Breakdown"   2:43
3. "Hometown Blues"   2:14
4. "The Wild One, Forever"   3:03
5. "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" (Petty, Campbell) 2:24
6. "Strangered in the Night"   3:34
7. "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)"   3:50
8. "Mystery Man"   3:03
9. "Luna"   3:58
10. "American Girl"   3:34

hard promises

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers took it on faith, took it to the heart, and took on his record company. When MCA wanted to release the record at the "star list price" of $9.98, which was a high price at the time, Petty refused, threatening to change the album title to "The 8.98 Album" and actually withhold the album from the label. 'Hard Promises' made it to number five on the US album chart and number one in New Zealand.





http://www.tompetty.com/











'The Waiting' spent six weeks on the top of the new 'Top Tracks' chart, was a top twenty hit, and propelled the album into platinum status. Petty remembers: "That was a song that took a long time to write. Roger McGuinn swears he told me the line - about the waiting being the hardest part - but I think I got the idea from something Janis Joplin said on television. I had the chorus very quickly, but I had a very difficult time piecing together the rest of the song. It's about waiting for your dreams and not knowing if they will come true. I've always felt it was an optimistic song."

"Well, yeah, I might have chased a couple women around
All it ever got me was down
Yeah, then there were those that made me feel good
But never as good as I feel right now"





'A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)'

"He's gonna break her heart to pieces
But she don't wanna know"





'Insider' is one of two duets the band recorded with Stevie Nicks during the sessions. Tom says, "It's one of those things in a relationship that really is the stinger. You know, you didn't trust me, you couldn't trust me...that's the way it always come out. Trust. When I wrote that song, I wrote it very quickly, I mean maybe in ten, fifteen minutes. I just wrote it all down on paper and then I just picked up the guitar and tried to sing each line out. It took me maybe an hour to do that - it don't happen every day, fans! But the lyrics were real quick."

"I'm an insider, I been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars"





'Hard Promises'
full album:



All songs were written by Tom Petty, except where noted.

Side one
"The Waiting" – 3:58
"A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 4:22
"Nightwatchman" (Petty, Campbell) – 3:59
"Something Big" – 4:44
"Kings Road" – 3:27
Side two
"Letting You Go" – 3:24
"A Thing About You" – 3:33
"Insider" – 4:23
"The Criminal Kind" – 4:00
"You Can Still Change Your Mind" (Petty, Campbell) – 4:15