Today’s post covers the only album missing from my Tom Petty Deep Dive, his second record with the band Mudcrutch.
Titled simply 2, this 2016 release was the final studio recording made by Petty, who died a year later after six months of touring. 2 came eight years after the previous, self-titled, Mudcrutch album, with two Heartbreakers albums dropping in-between.
Few things are more comforting on a lazy summer morning than the sound of Tom Petty delivering a lighthearted country ballad.
‘House of Stone’ is a deep cut from the self-titled 2008 debut album by Mudcrutch, a band Petty formed in 1970 as a teenager. They played live gigs in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida, up through southern Georgia, but disbanded a few years later without recording an album. Petty and some Mudcrutch members went on to form the Heartbreakers and the rest is history.
The random music selector in my car has been on a Tom Petty kick lately. Lots of tracks from Wildflowers, Damn the Torpedoes, Hypnotic Eye, even Traveling Wilburys.
No matter what Petty song it serves up, I’m never tempted to hit the skip button. There’s just something about his music — or at least the music of his that I own — that makes it perfect for any situation.
I love Tom Petty, and I love how he reunited with his early band Mudcrutch to release an album in 2008. But nothing can excuse a song like this one lasting nine minutes, especially given that there are about 12 words in the whole song.
I am a vehemently anti-jam band man (say that five times fast). You can take your Phish, your Dead, your Dave Matthews Band and put them on mute. I have no interest in swaying for five minutes while a bearded man noodles away on his electric guitar.
