Remembering Tom Petty: Distinctive voice, quirky charm, immense talent

The Republic | azcentral.com

"Damn the Torpedoes" has always been an album I could throw on anytime on any day and instantly find comfort in the sound of that distinctive voice, from the Dylanesque phrasing of lines like "Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around some" to the spoken-word verses of "Here Comes My Girl" and the pop sensibilities of "Don't Do Me Like That."

When I turned to it Monday as early reports that Tom Petty had suffered a heart attack and may be dead started making the rounds on social media, that voice still sounded every bit as great as I remembered it. And yet, I found no comfort there. At least not yet.

The unexpected deaths hit harder. David Bowie. Prince. John Lennon. And at 66, Petty had just wrapped a 40th-anniversary tour with one of rock 'n' roll's most celebrated backing bands, the Heartbreakers, a week before the news of his precarious condition broke.

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The singer did tell Rolling Stone, "I'm thinking it may be the last trip around the country," going on to clarify, "It's very likely we'll keep playing, but will we take on 50 shows in one tour? I don't think so.... We're all on the backside of our 60s."

But the L.A. Times responded to one of Petty's last performances, the first of three nights at the Hollywood Bowl, by saying that he and the Heartbreakers had "made the case that they should be considered the most invigorated almost-original-lineup classic rock act touring today."

Ten days after that concert, the singer was rushed to a hospital after being found unconscious at his Malibu, Calif., home, according to early reports. Initial accounts were muddled, but late Monday night, according to the Associated Press and others, family spokeswoman Carla Sacks confirmed Petty had died at UCLA Medical Center after he suffered cardiac arrest.

Petty was quirky, had odd sense of humor

Petty's career spanned decades and united generations, drawing a much younger crowd than most of his contemporaries.

He broke through with "Breakdown," a track from his 1977 debut that would remain a staple of the live show through the last of those Hollywood Bowl performances. A second album spawned two minor hits with classic songs, "I Need to Know" and "Listen to Her Heart."

But Petty really hit his stride with the 1979 release of his masterful third album, "Damn the Torpedoes." "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Refugee" became the first two major hits for a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose songs became the soundtrack for a generation (or two, maybe three), from "The Waiting" to "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and 1994's "You Don't Know How it Feels."

The marijuana references of Petty's last two massive hits – "Last dance with Mary Jane / One more time to kill the pain" and "Let's get to the point / Let's roll another joint" – were big audience favorites through his final tours.

He was also a bit of a weirdo – in a good way, from the quirks in his delivery to the loopy onstage mannerisms to the odd sense of humor he flashed on songs like “Spike" and "Yer So Bad."

Blessed with one of those distinctive voices that let you know exactly whose record was playing the first time you heard it, Petty also found success as a member of the Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup whose ranks also featured Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne of ELO.

Tom Petty in February 2017 in Los Angeles.

The Hits, Super Bowl and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Following the 1988 success of the triple-platinum "Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1" and a single called "Handle with Care," the Lynne-produced "Full Moon Fever" became the most successful album of Petty's career, a five-times-platinum smash that sent three singles to the top of Billboard's rock charts.

When he headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2008 at University of Phoenix Stadium, his four-song set included all three of those "Full Moon Fever" hits – "I Won't Back Down," "Runnin' Down a Dream" and "Free Fallin'."

The other songs he played that day was "American Girl," a track from his first album that had been covered by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, whose chiming guitars would prove a lasting source of inspiration for Petty.

He even covered the Byrds; "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" on "Full Moon Fever," having previously tackled "So You Want to Be a Rock N' Roll Star" on 1985's "Pack Up the Plantation: Live!"

Petty's sound was steeped in rock tradition – much like Bruce Springsteen and John Cougar Mellencamp, two other rock legends who launched their careers in the '70s.

But he filtered those echoes of icons like the Byrds and Dylan through his own peculiar vision and undeniable pop sensibilities, leaving behind a legacy that more than explains his 2002 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And he did it all with charm and personality to spare, especially in concert, where his showmanship completed that connection with the fans.

Among my life's most cherished concert memories is my second Petty show, in 1986, where he and Dylan traded verses on "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," a Davis Sisters song I'm almost sure they introduced as having been by Johnny Cash, who to be fair, had also done a version.

Dylan was among the first celebrities responding to the unconfirmed reports of Petty's passing, telling Rolling Stone, "It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him."

It's doubtful anyone whose life was by Petty's music could forget.

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