I’m not a big enough fan of Tom Petty. I own seven of his solo and Heartbreakers albums, plus two he recorded with other bands, but somehow that doesn’t feel like enough.
He has released eight albums that I don’t own. I’m familiar with his early work mostly through the hits, and no doubt those records contain lots of material just as worthy as the radio staples I love.
I wouldn’t dream of owning a handful of Elvis Costello albums and just the “hits” from the rest (in whatever sense Costello has actually had hits). I’m not equating Tom Petty with Elvis Costello, but they aren’t so far apart that the analogy is baseless.
If I were a better Tom Petty fan, he’d be a perfect candidate for a weekend series. Seventeen albums — that’s more than four months worth of material. But I’m not qualified to pay that kind of attention to his career.
Instead I’m going to dedicate a few weeks to Petty, one song per album, to celebrate the work I love and get to know the work I’ve neglected. I’ll break those weeks up with non-Petty weeks to risk monotony.
But enough with the ground rules.
Petty’s debut album, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers was released in 1976. I read an excellent description of the band’s sound on AllMusic.com: “They shared a… love for pure ’60s rock… that meant embracing the Byrds as much as the Stones.”
That pretty much nails it on the head. Petty and the boys brought a garage band’s swagger to the sort of tuneful pop Roger McGuinn (one of Petty’s heroes) made a living on. That quality is on beautiful display in ‘American Girl,’ the classic track that closes out Petty’s debut.
The rest of the album, which I’ve sampled on Spotify, doesn’t live up to the standard set by that song (or today’s SOTD, “Breakdown’) but it nicely establishes Petty’s sound and perspective. It’s a great listen start to finish and contains the seeds of nearly everything Petty would attempt over the next 35 years.
It’s all right if you don’t
I’m not afraid of you running away
Honey, I’ve got the feeling you won’t
There is no sense in pretending
Your eyes give you away
Something inside you is feeling like I do
We said all there is to say
Baby Breakdown
Go ahead and give it to me
Breakdown honey take me through the night
Breakdown now I standin’ here can’t you see
Breakdown, it’s all right
It’s all right
It’s all right
Breakdown
Go ahead and give it to me
Breakdown honey take me through the night
Breakdown now I standin’ here can’t you see
Breakdown, it’s all right
It’s all right
It’s all right
Meet Me In Montauk 
Oh, I’m looking forward to this. I too don’t own every Petty album, and may not even own as many as you do. Yet I would put him up there amongst my favorite artists.
I must admit that when I first heard about Petty, I was resistent to him. Part of that had to do with the fact that Rolling Stone magazine couldn’t seem to rave enough about his early albums (at least through Damn the Torpedoes, but probably even after that), and so I had this visceral backlash type of reaction. But then the great music kept seeping through my radio and on MTV, and I had to admit that this guy really had something different and special.
I’m not sure if I have ever heard the debut album all the way through, though I feel like I may have. I certainly know and love “American Girl” as well as today’s song. In fact, there is a live version of “Breakdown” out there that is really cool–one of the first times I ever heard an audience sing an entire verse (or maybe first two verses) all on their own.
If you haven’t checked out “Mojo”, it’s worth the time.
I’m sorry that I’m only today getting to catch up on the last few Tom Petty songs, but I couldn’t be more pleased you intend to feature him. Of course, I’m not always partial to your one song per album rule. Seems to be if every song on Southern Accents, Full Moon Fever, or Wildflowers (the three Petty albums I know and love best) deserve to be featured, then they ought to be featured. Regardless, I’m happy to see Petty get some well-deserved attention from your blog. I love the songs I do know from his first album, including this one. Like Dana, I came to know Tom Petty first through MTV (with “Don’t Come Around Here No More”). When I was a student in Gainesville, I started listening to more of his music, and will always remember watching Petty perform there. That was a truly wonderful moment, to see the young man who grew up in “Micanopy” but had gone on to travel “all around the world.” In that concert, it was his performance of “Souther Accents” that I remember bets
remember best, that is. Look forward to these weeks.