Shelter

I have a few things that I cherish. A lot of guitar picks, Autographs on books and DVD's, extra covers that Tom signed and gave out to a few people. I also have 1 of the 1000 made Tom Petty Rickenbacker 660/12 signature models. One of my favs is a RIC 360/12V64 George Harrison model that I tried to get George to sign and sent him the pickguard to sign and included return envelope and postage. Sadly he passed away before I ever got it back. Later on I took a pickguard with me to Seattle and a few of us drove to the Gorge to see TPATH play. We were there bright and early sitting in the grass on the hill overlooking the stage and river and drinking beer! About 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I made a call to Chinner and he said "What the hell are you doing up there, come down to the gate and I'll meet you there in 5 minutes", So we went down to the gate. Chinner was already there and told the gate keeper to open up and let us in. We went to the stage and BS'd while he was working. I told him I had a pickguard that I wanted to get signed and he asked if I wanted just Tom or the whole band, and I didn't know. I finally said lets get the whole band and we did!!!! So now that George Harrison RIC is signed by TPATH and is my favorite guitar. I also have an autographed Fender Tele by Mike Campbell that he signed at Cozy's in LA (Sherman Oaks I think). I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting right now, but those are a few of my prized possessions. But, most important to me are the memories and meeting people from the Farm to share those exciting times together.

Yeah, possessions.. it's difficult. Like I've said elsewhere, Tom's music and this band litterally changed my life in no small ways, so it could never be measured, let alone paid back. It is in itself, on some metaphysical level, among my most cherished and prize possessions. It's stories, and what stories it is.
As for material things, still hard to rank between ultra rare records, recordings, a Rickenbacker I probably never would've bought if it wasn't for Tom, a few vintage posters and memorabilia (incl some fan made gems that carry stories of their own)..
But what somehow always seem the most magical to me.. (perhaps even more so now when it is.. over.. ) is a few very simple things. A set of old guitar strings used by Tom, and a bunch of assorted picks, some used by Tom, some by Mike and one by Howie ( my first original real life souvenir from the TPATH realm, as it were) . Some of which I use myself, now and then, to see if some magic wears off on my playing. So far.. nothing.  
Again, it's all stories, really. So, thanks for all the stories, Tom!

Right! It doesnt get better than that in this life!

Generally speaking, I not much of a collector other than the music. But I was at the Petty show at Forest Hills, NY and my wife & I were walking around before the show and enjoying a few adult beverages. 
I walked by a booth & they had this little booth with posters on it for a bunch of different shows. 
 It would’ve been very easy to walk right by but I noticed somebody in the booth and went up and talk to him.
Apparently Forest Hills has posters made specifically for each artist who plays there.   The poster for the two Forest Hills shows was limited to 50 numbered copies & you couldn’t even buy it that night. They just gave a website address to me. 
The poster wasn’t even available that night. Several days later it finally popped up on the internet. I wasn’t able to get #1 of 50 so I asked if I could get #40 of 50 in honor of the tour being the 40th Anniversary of TP&THBs. 
This is the poster. 

Remembering Tom Petty: Mudcrutch’s Second Encore  
by Larson Sutton on October 20, 2017


Today would have been Tom Petty's 68 birthday. In honor of the legendary singer-songwriter, who passed away early this month, we're looking back to our summer 2016 feature on Petty and his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch, who reunited in recent years and released their second studio album, 2, last year. This piece was originally published in the June 2016 issue of Relix.

It's a soggy Southern California afternoon, and the members of Mudcrutch are enjoying a well-deserved break during a long press day at Warner Bros. Records. Mike Campbell counters the gloom outside with a bright, five-note melody on a nearby piano. The two Toms—Leadon and Petty—inspect a multicolored spread of sliced and chunked fresh fruit. Randall Marsh thumbs through a cardboard box of vinyl LPs. With the feigned tone of an interrogator, Benmont Tench questions Leadon’s fruit choice. “Where did you get that?” he asks. “Is that a Nashville banana?”

These are little diversions before the five musicians gather themselves, sitting comfortably on three couches for one last group interview. In a few weeks, Mudcrutch will release 2, the follow-up to the belated eponymous debut they issued in 2008—33 years after their original label let them go and they quickly disbanded. Despite releasing a live EP shortly after Mudcrutch, another eight years have already passed since the group’s improbable 21st-century reunion. 

“We didn’t get dropped,” Petty, who handles bass duties and lead vocals in Mudcrutch, says of the lag time between albums, to laughs around the room. “It’s amazing.” 

The notion that a group containing Petty, Campbell and Tench—three-fifths of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers —could actually be in jeopardy of losing its record deal accounts for considerable irony. But this is, after all, 2016. The music industry business model is in a perpetual state of flux and there are few, if any, guarantees. 

Mudcrutch were Petty’s band before the band. They coalesced around Gainesville, Fla., in 1970, had some success playing bluesy country-rock on the local Southern rock circuit, relocated to Los Angeles in 1974, released an ill-fated single on Shelter Records and parted ways before Petty’s 26th birthday. Though Petty included a Mudcrutch track on a 1995 box set, the first time many of the most hardcore Heartbreakers fanatics heard about the quintet was when they regrouped in 2007 and released the well-received full-length debut that proved they were still capable of making great music. So, what’s an eight-year hiatus when the first one lasted over three decades? 

“I was a little nervous about it because I liked the first one so much,” admits Petty. “Because we made [the debut] so off-the-cuff, in like 10 days, I didn’t think that was going to happen again.” 

“I knew we would sound good,” says Marsh. “We play together; we sound good.” 

Tench was equally unconcerned. “It feels like a flow to me, with a damn long gap. It didn’t feel forced or unnatural.” 

Instead of performance apprehensions, it was the writing and recording process that went under a microscope this time around. “I wanted to make more of a proper record,” says Petty. “Rather than a Polaroid, I wanted a nice painting.” 

But, before anything could happen again for Mudcrutch, there had to be available time. “We’ve all got big lives and families, so scheduling is the hardest part of it,” Petty admits. “We always talked about it like we were going to do it next week—first chance we get.” The biggest of those big lives belongs to Petty himself. While he never refers to The Heartbreakers as “his band,” Petty is unquestionably their leader and eager to respond to any question, albeit in a voice that’s languid and gentle, like honey and lemon tea. He is also deeply self-aware and inspired by the venerated talent surrounding him. While conceiving 2, Petty charged his bandmates with bringing their own material to the session, and encouraged everyone to take turns singing at the mic. 

The results are more varied than Mudcrutch and appeal to the group’s egalitarian approach. There is Marsh’s “Beautiful World,” with a stripped-back beat and call-and-response bridge, and the sock-hop swing of Tench’s “Welcome to Hell.” Campbell contributes his jackrabbit, jukebox rock on “Victim of Circumstance.” From Leadon, the band got the rollicking “The Other Side of the Mountain,” after Petty requested that the guitarist turn back to his bluegrass roots. 

“It has a lot of variety to it, which I like,” says Leadon. “It sounds like our band, but different aspects.” 

Petty says he was particularly hung up on the record’s slant. “I wanted it to be a guitar-based album, but I wanted the sounds to drastically change from track to track.” In fact, the group tasked him with making such tough choices that he still has nine finished cuts in the vault. He points out that those tracks were left on the cutting room floor for sequencing reasons, not because of quality. “I still try to make records that you can still listen to all the way through,” he says. “It’s got to have a roll to it; a beginning, middle and end.” 

2 certainly rolls—and rocks— along, feeling overall like a travelogue of American music, all with what Petty calls “a Mudcrutch tip.” One of the more jarring entries is “Hope,” a garage-rock stomper wrapped around a fuzzed-out guitar and pulsing organ. “It’s what Tom and I sounded like in ‘66,” says Petty.

At the tender age of 14, Tom Petty attended a show by the Daytona, Fla.-based rock band The Escorts—his first concert—at the American Legion Hall in Gainesville. Four years later, that band’s teenage stars, Duane and Gregg Allman, formed the Allman Brothers. “That’s the first band you ever saw?” Marsh asks, turning to his bandmate. “Holy shit.” Unbeknownst to him at the time, Petty witnessed the nascent work of two siblings who would revolutionize improvisational rock, before The Escorts were relegated to the status of a fond footnote. Certainly Petty’s own colossal success with The Heartbreakers had the capability to rejuvenate Mudcrutch. 

“I was completely surprised that we did it at all,” says Leadon of the reunion. “How many superstar, Hall of Fame guys at that level are going to go back to the band they had before they ever made it?” 

“The Heartbreakers had done everything there was to do. Twice. I love that band, and I’ll always be in it,” explains Petty. “I just wanted to see Mudcrutch get its shot.” 

Mike Campbell sits on the same couch as Petty. He’s been relatively silent, deferring respectfully to his bandmates. When questions of comparisons to The Heartbreakers come up, he vigorously jumps into the conversation.



“We’re not thinking, ‘I hope this is as good as The Heartbreakers .’ We’re just trying to be as great as we can be in that moment,” he says. “You’re going for greatness. You’re going for magic.” 

The others are quick to agree and, for the first and only time during the afternoon’s discussion, they begin to talk over each other. Petty says that Mudcrutch allows him to get away from expectations. Tench points out that The Heartbreakers have never been that calculating. Leadon compliments them all as great musicians. 

“We get to play with our old friends and explore where that leads us,” says Campbell. “It’s no deeper than that.” 

Still, there is the undeniable fact that Petty’s voice is among the most distinctive in all of popular music. Campbell’s guitar and Tench’s keyboards have helped cultivate The Heartbreakers’ sound, a staple of American rock radio for the past 40 years with tens of millions of albums sold. Even without making a conscious effort to do so, their trademark, collective style is bound to surface. 

Tench counters that argument, pointing out the unique swing of the Mudcrutch rhythm section. By virtue of Marsh’s drumming and Petty’s bass style, the “air in this band,” as he refers to it, is inherently different. Campbell mentions his formative years as a teen strumming acoustics with Leadon for hours on end, as the two guitarists developed their own distinguished styles. 

“In the moment, we’re not worried about any parameters. Ben goes for the organ thing he normally may go for in The Heartbreakers, and I might go with the tonality that goes with that,” Campbell concedes. “Listening back, we say: ‘That’s great, but it sounds a little too much like The Heartbreakers. Let’s rethink that.’” 

Tench may refer to himself as Mudcrutch’s crank, but the band members unanimously agree that Ryan Ulyate was is an integral arbiter during their recording sessions. The longtime engineer and producer worked on the first album and has collaborated with The Heartbreakers, most recently on 2014’s Hypnotic Eye. “He’s like a sixth Beatle,” says Marsh. 

Often, a look on Ulyate’s face as he emerged from the control booth was enough of an indicator that something wasn’t clicking. “We’ve learned to trust him,” says Campbell. 

“He doesn’t let us float,” says Petty. “Neither do I. I set the bar pretty high because I knew they could do it.” 

Campbell, who usually serves as a co-producer on Heartbreakers records, focused on a cooperative, unified mission to achieve the best possible outcome, while having fun doing it. “We had a mindset that we could fix it, get it right— and we did,” he says. “Nobody got their nose broken.” 

“I was really proud that we all hung together,” says Leadon. “Everyone was patient. We worked through the rough spots and got to the good stuff.” 

Mudcrutch only supported their first record with a handful of California shows. This time, the quintet will hit the road in earnest, undertaking a full-scale, coast-to-coast tour. Petty says the band captured first takes in the studio when they could, making this batch of material particularly suited for the live setting. “A show will have its own life,” he says. “There’s room to move.” 

“You can’t just noodle,” cautions Campbell. “You’ve got to be thinking. You’ve got to compose the arc. And be brave.” 

One thing is for certain, though. Those hoping to hear The Heartbreakers should leave that wish at home. 

“We’re not going to throw in ‘Refugee’ to save the festival,” says Campbell. 

In 2008, Mudcrutch had rehearsed a contingency plan in preparation for their reunion shows, in the event of an overwhelming demand from an audience for a Heartbreakers classic. “But, there was never a hint of that,” Marsh says. 

“It’s nice—instead of saying, ‘You should’ve seen the band we had back in Florida’—to say, ‘Come see the band we had back in Florida,’” says Tench.

For Petty, this current reunion comes after two records and subsequent tours with The Heartbreakers. He says that wherever he went, more often than not, people asked about when Mudcrutch was coming back. And as for whether or not this fits into his present artistic period? 

“Absolutely. That’s where I’m at right now,” says Petty. “I think it’s of a piece with Hypnotic Eye. It’s a natural place to go from there. It’s just so lucky to get a song. Fortunately, they found a life with this band.” 

Leadon divulges that there were some personal health issues stunting an earlier reunion. Petty dismisses the topic, saying that if they start discussing the ailments of men in their mid-60s, then they’ll never stop. It does offer a moment of perspective. 

“It makes me value being able to do this even more,” says Leadon. “To treasure it while we do it.” 

The reunion isn’t exclusive to the studio and stage, Leadon explains. He and Marsh lived with Petty while the band made the record. “It’s part of the experience, and it’s just a blast, hanging out.” 

After they wrap up their interviews, the members of Mudcrutch file out one after another into the hallway. A Warner Bros. rep has given each member a copy of the new 7” single pressed especially for Record Store Day. On the cover is a tow ball and hitch, a metaphor for the A-side, “Trailer,” that also opens the album. The B-side is Marsh’s “Beautiful World.” Petty and Marsh stop for a moment and slide the spotless, glossy black 45 out of its sleeve. Marsh notes the thickness of the sleeve paper, remembering, in contrast, how thin it was when he was a kid. For a second, it’s easy to forget that these old friends from Gainesville holding a teenage dream in their hands are rock stars. 

“When you go that long— Tom and I from our teens—you really value those long friendships we’ve had. So many of us just aren’t here anymore,” Petty says. “They’re all incredibly good musicians, and we can play together and be fulfilled by that. That’s a nice thing.”

Read more: https://www.relix.com/articles/detail/remembering_tom_petty_mudcrutchs_second_encore#ixzz4w8MvH3qj
 

Hey. Never posted here before but I have been lurking for a long time. What an awesome site and wonderful people. Like everyone else, Tom's passing has affected me deeply. I don't have any words that haven't been said. I've met him, know people close to the Heartbreakers, etc but always was and still is the music for me. This past year has been really hard for me personally, and it was Tom's songs that mostly got me through it. Or, I'm still going through it and his death has just made it all even harder. Thought I would share the ones that hit the closest to home for me. 
 

Cool news story I just stumbled upon. 
 
https://www.avclub.com/vampires-walked-through-the-valley-last-night-in-honor-1819725703

I have always loved music since I was a kid. The Stones really grabbed a hold of me. I think it was their raw energy. 
And being born in the mid-60s, I grew up loving all the classic rock bands and classic rock songs. 
All of those bands had really been around my whole life. 
But there I am in late 70’s and I start hearing this band called Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. They were new and it felt like I was discovering them as they were still in the very early stages. 
I jumped on the train and never got off. 
I’m sure there are others on here who could marvel me with the amount of shows you have seen or members you have met or TP&THBs items you own. 
And I am sure I would be a bit envious... in a good way. 
But for me, this loss has hit my musical part of my soul. I think it’s because I felt in my heart that they were my band. I heard the band from the beginning and first saw them in the early 80s. 
And though I wasn’t a regular here, I keep popping by because I know that you’re all hurting at least as much as me. 
It’s nearly 2 am and I can’t sleep. My mind is stuck on Tom. 
Sorry for the ramble. I just needed to express the feelings again.
Have a Happy Birthday in Heaven Tom  
Thanks for leaving part of you behind for all of us to enjoy. God bless.  🎩💔 
 
 
 

I volunteer at a college radio station where the DJ's "play what they wanna play, and say what they wanna say".  A rarity in this day and age even on the non commercial side of the dial.  And for six hours tonight we'll be hosting a birthday celebration/farewell tribute to Mr. Petty.  We're WUSB-FM and broadcast out of Stony Brook University in New York but we also webcast all over the globe.  And, unlike some other tributes that are happening, we will be helmed by real live people in real time playing the music that's meant so much to some of us for so long.  Here's a link to the Facebook Event page.  Tune in if you can.

https://www.facebook.com/events/805830809599025/?active_tab=discussion&__xt__=33.{"logging_data"%3A{"profile_id"%3A805830809599025%2C"event_type"%3A"clicked_view_event_posts"%2C"impression_info"%3A"eyJmIjp7Iml0ZW1fY291bnQiOiIwIn19"%2C"surface"%3A"www_events_permalink"%2C"interacted_story_type"%3A"1058178634193603"%2C"session_id"%3A"0b964d4914caab5c715def6311508344"}}


And here's a link to WUSB-FM's home page with a Shoutcast link in the upper left corner for your listening pleasure

http://wusb.fm
 

I definitely think there should be a GH Vol 2, but only with TPATH songs from original LP's. Live tracks should be put on a separate LP of all great live songs. Mudcrutch should stay Mudcrutch, it's a separate band just like The Wilburys. So now you'd have 3 LP's in the works. (1) GH Vol 2,  (2) TPATH  Greatest Live Hits, a double LP.  (3) Mudcrutch Greatest Hits. Mixing Mudcrutch in with the TPATH LP's would cause a giant headache on payday!!!! You couldn't give Leadon and Marsh an equal part of the money, the same as the Heartbreakers, that's just wrong. A lot of things have to be considered before releasing all these LP's, books and whatever. A lot of people are going to want to get their hands in the pot, including lawyers. As much as I'd like to see these things come about ASAP, I think The Heartbreakers and Dana should get together for a series of meetings to discuss and plan their moves 1st.
 

I've read quite a few books on musicians and bands. These are some favourites:
 
"Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend" by Stephen Davis and "The Lizard King: The Essential Jim Morrison" by Jerry Hopkins are essential reads for Doors fans.
"The Beatles" by Bob Spitz is the Beatles bio to end all Beatles bios.
"Skydog: The Duane Allman Story" by Randy Poe provides a great look into his life and the early years of the Allman band.
Phil Lesh's "Searching for the Sound" might be, of what I've read, the best Grateful Dead bio ever written.
"Moon: The Life & Death of a Rock Star" by Tony Fletcher is a classic of the genre.
"The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music" by David Meyer is a must for fans of the under-pinnings of the country direction pop music took starting in the early 70s.
Paul Trynka's book on Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones is the best one.

Runaway Trains could have benefitted from the (live) sound of Too Good To Be True.
At the time the album came out, I was too young, too less of a fan and too far away geographically to attend a live concert. Only a few years after I discovered Tom through the Greatest Hits, so ITGWO was still the latest album. To this day I find the album as well as Take The Highway feel like a rebirth, or a birth acutally, the start of something new and special. Which is strange, because FMF was the actual (re)birth of Petty's (new) musical self. ITGWO feels more dreamy, for some reason, whereas FMF is more down-to-earth in sound and feel. But what's more, where FMF was Tom kind of accidentally stumbling onto a new playground, a new work method for himself, and experimenting with Jeff's way of recording, ITGWO found him arriving at the point where he had fully integrated his new abilities into his system. Maybe that's why he could throw the doors wide open (no pun intended... but maybe things are connected here).
Through Take The Highway runs an atmosphere of... optimism, for lack of a better word. That is, if you neglect Stan's feeling uncomfortable with the new material (the cover-band argument). Tom seems to be pretty much at peace with himself, the band, and his music (if not with politics). But most of all, it's the music, of course. Everything sparkles and jangles... I think it's their most unique sound (I can hear the complaints already ), this special blend of West Coast bands of the sixties, southern rock'n'roll and British pop. Nothing else ever sounds like them at that time, not even themselves nowadays! The lyrics are mature, but not boring, and so are the songs. I think that is, maybe, because there's not yet anything formulaic about the performance. Sure, they do play RDAD, but it's only three years old at that time. Not 25.
That's why ITGWO to me is the peak of "Tomness". Sure, he rocked harder in the late seventies, sounded even more mature and wise on Wildflowers and rediscovered his anger as late as 2014 with Hypnotic Eye. But sometimes transitional phases can be peaks in their own right as well, despite them being unspectacular. That certain and rare combination of innocence (Learning To Fly and All The Wrong Reasons are based on a four- and three chord pattern, respectively, and do neither feature complicated lyrics or melodies) and maturity (Built To Last, Two Gunslingers, Learning To Fly, Into The Great Wide Open, All The Wrong Reasons and The Dark Of The Sun all contain insights and perspectives he did not have or did not share ten years earlier), set to beautifully layered arrangements played by top-notch musicians... Not even Jeff's rather stiff production methods could destroy that. I even believe he added his very own spark of magic to the mix that created the album's airiness. Learning to Fly set the tone. And the sky was the limit.

I will never forget the first time that I saw him. Feb.26, 2003. I was attending the Concert for Artist Rights benefit for the Recording Artist Coalition at the Forum in Los Angeles. Stevie Nicks was on stage. I was already on cloud 9 as it was my first time seeing Stevie apart from Fleetwood Mac. She announced that she had a VERY special guest joining her onstage. Tom Petty walked out. I was stunned. I couldn't believe it!
When I was a child, I used to watch all of the Tom Petty and Stevie NIcks videos on MTV. I wondered if they were real people. I was so enchanted with them. They were the Fairy Godmother and Fairy Godfather of Rock n Roll to me.
I was lucky to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers a few times. Mudcrutch once. I will never forget those shows and what a gift they were. Happy Birthday Tom Petty!

You are so missed on your birthday, Tom! It should've been such a great one and the beginning on new things to come.. Now it's bookends, memories.. a sad, yet beautiful day. You are in our hearts.

You are so missed on your birthday, Tom! It should've been such a great one and the beginning on new things to come.. Now it's bookends, memories.. a sad, yet beautiful day. You are in our hearts.

Right! It doesnt get better than that in this life!

You are so missed on your birthday, Tom! It should've been such a great one and the beginning on new things to come.. Now it's bookends, memories.. a sad, yet beautiful day. You are in our hearts.

Blowing out the candles. Hard to see.

I Just wanted to share some of my favorite Tom Petty memories. Since it was his 56th birthday when I was there to see him with Stevie Nicks. These cell pics of old photos from my scrap book are pretty hard to see but special to my heart and I wanted to share and say Happy Birthday Tom! Thanks for the music!!!

I saw Iggy Pop on April 1, 2016 and no joke! Not just for Lust For Life, which he opened the show with, but for the entire 2 hour show!  He is in better form now than I think he was when he was in his 20's!  It was very inspiring! 

Nice new tribute picture on the main page btw.
Thanks!

Wrapping up the tour praise and thanks and stuff, from the one and only, Norm...  (or like I would've named this video: Two Men Talking!)
 
 

some guys with really weird timing for their new promo video... but a beautiful take, imo
 

as been reported, this was kinda nice.. goosebumps