Sonic Youth Gossip - Tom Petty 1950-2017

Sonic Youth Gossip (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/index.php)

- Non-Sonic Sounds (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/forumdisplay.php?f=4)

- - Tom Petty 1950-2017 (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=115941)

Tom Petty 1950-2017

https://news.google.com/news/search/...%20petty?hl=en

What the FUCKING FUCK, is it 2016 all over again? :(

Covering "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", with a certain Prince on guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

A February 2008 entry from Carrie Brownstein's Monitor Mix blog:

Quote:

Giant

The Super Bowl is a uniquely American event. But this year it felt more symbolically American than other championship games in recent memory. It wasn't merely two teams competing, but also two American ideals pitted against each other: Perfection, as embodied by The New England Patriots; and overcoming doubts and obstacles to achieve greatness, as exemplified by The New York Giants. As much as we strive for, or claim to exalt, perfection, it was interesting how many people, including myself, were hoping for an upset by the Giants, for them to mar an otherwise flawless season by the Patriots.

Within this context—a battle between grit and glamor—Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were the ideal Super Bowl half time performers. There was little that Fox or the producers could do to super size or glamorize the performance. No amount of lights or camera trickery could produce action that wasn't there. Petty is no spectacle. He and his band looked like dads dressed up at their daughter's wedding. Petty played some of his best-known songs, from "American Girl" to "I Won't Back Down". The delivery was staid and earnest, with very little flash. The drama and movement of Petty's songs have always been in the lyrics themselves, or in the stripping down of the excess, the sudden emphasis on a perfectly constructed chord progression. "American Girl" sounds like it could have been written in recent years. (It almost was, by The Strokes on their debut album.). And "Free Fallin", a meditation on life, love, and loss, was sung by tens of thousands in the crowd. It was a more heartfelt moment of togetherness than the one conjured by American Idol's Jordin Spark's delivery of our national anthem.

Tom Petty came of age when the earnestness in music was beginning to wane, when disco, glam rock, mythic tales, and pretty boys were all the rage. What Petty's albums lacked in high concept they made up for in structure and solidity. With his modest looks and without gimmicks: no monsters to tame or to slay, no superfluousness at all really, he and his band made records that have outlasted his more outlandish peers. Springsteen is the other survivor from that era. But while Springsteen is a street preacher, with always an air of sacredness and rage to his songs, Petty is more of a street sweeper. His songs speak of what's been left behind or used up, and they put a polish on what we thought to be dull and dreary. His best songs are bursts of possibility born from dinginess, from nothingness; the guitars jangle, the choruses lift you up, and all the while Petty's voice is there to keep things earthbound.

Not many musicians can say that their tour started at the Super Bowl. Beginning yesterday in Glendale, Petty and his band will traverse across the US on and off until August, playing multiple nights at stadiums and amphitheaters. Maybe so many people love Tom Petty because he, like The Giants, is an underdog. With millions of records sold, he may not seem like one; but if you listen, his songs tell a different story.

Fucking sad.
RIP.

“Learning to Fly” and “Walls” are my favorite Petty songs. Also always liked “Time to move on,” which would make me cry if I listened to it now.

:(

Don't do me like that!

He made some great music. RIP

You Got Lucky is the best

If being an artist means being true to yourself regardless of the whims of people or the market or the culture, then Petty was a real artist. he did his music, how he liked it, with whom he liked. It was always Tom Petty music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Yeah. Well said.

I loved him when I was a kid. Just adored Tom Petty. Not so much the rocky stuff, but the George Harrison and Jeff Lynne-influenced ballads. And he even maintained a bit of an edge in the wake of alternative rock. I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I used to listen to “You Don’t Know How it Feels” and “Last Dance with Mary Jane” right alongside Nirvana and Beck and stuff in the mid-‘90s. So did a lot of my friends who had similar taste.

Also, I listened to “Time to Move on” and it did indeed make me cry. :(

Yeah, Rob. Good tribute. He always struck me as one of the "good guys"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severian

I used to listen to “You Don’t Know How it Feels” and “Last Dance with Mary Jane” right alongside Nirvana

He actually performed "You Don't Know How It Feels" with Dave Grohl on drums on SNL.

Runnin' Down a Dream is a personal fave of mine. I will be playing it on my show Saturday.

He also co-wrote my fave solo Stevie Nicks track https://youtu.be/6UD0c58nNCQ Stop Draggin My Heart Around

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

He also co-wrote my fave solo Stevie Nicks track https://youtu.be/6UD0c58nNCQ Stop Draggin My Heart Around

Sharon Van Etten's cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiH6Dtwz-aU
:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by evollove

He always struck me as one of the "good guys"

I am genuinely sad about his passing. Nowadays, 66 isn't all that old. But I lost interest in his music after the first three albums--same thing over and over again, and that's from someone who digs repetition in his music, as Mark E. Smith once said. And IMHO, his "man of the people" pose was mostly phony. I'll honor him this weekend, though, by listening to Johnny Cash's version of Won't Back Down, which surpasses the original.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

He actually performed "You Don't Know How It Feels" with Dave Grohl on drums on SNL.

I know. I remember. :(

It’s funny. I’m not a Petty “fan” really, but the guy’s music has been with me my entire life. I bought Wildflowers when it came out. Used to road trip with my father listening to Into the Great Wide Open. “Walls” was one of my favorite songs back in ‘95 or whenever that was. Sad indeed.

Petty was an early champion of Wilco — as early as A.M., if I'm not mistaken. A couple of hours ago the band posted their live cover of "The Waiting" on their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/wilcohq

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drjohnrock

And IMHO, his "man of the people" pose was mostly phony.

Really? I kinda bought it.

I feel like a dick, but I've been scouring his catalog the past few days, and I might be able to put together a nice forty minute compilation, but that's about it.

I will say that his 80s stuff could've really, really sucked, but the production is a bit more tasteful than his peers. Kudos for that.

Oh, and I can't find it anywhere, but he did a version of "Running Down a Dream" on SNL that can't be denied. Fucking rocks. Sick of the song but the band was on fire. Saw it awhile ago and it really stuck with me. Maybe listening to some live shows will grow my appreciation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by evollove

Well, no question, he’s not the kind of artist that fits easily into a taste palette that is based on/around Sonic Youth.
Definitely a “best of” artist, but still... one of the good ones. Had a couple genuinely great songs, and a whole lot of really meh ones, but he was true blue.

He also voiced a character on King of the Hill — I forget the name now — which is one of his greatest achievements.

LUCKY! It was Lucky!

Lucky. that was his character on king of the hill.

Lucky's favorite song was 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severian

Well, no question, he’s not the kind of artist that fits easily into a taste palette that is based on/around Sonic Youth.

Let's derail this thread with a fight.

I listen to a lot of things. I consider myself a Bruce fan, for example.

I'm a complex listener. Not a cliche.

Petty had some good songs. Can't find many masterpieces. That's all.

Dick.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Lucky. that was his character on king of the hill.

Lucky's favorite song was 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago.

Uh... yah. N’duh. I caught myself. See ^^^ up there? I ‘membered it!

He was fucking hilarious on that show.
Deeply underrated show, King of the Hill. Or maybe it’s actually overrated. I don’t know. Never hear anyone talk about it. BUT, I can honestly say that Tom Petty kicked that show into a whole new gear for me. So glad he stayed on as a regular character.

I’ve had “Time to Move On” stuck in my head all day. Goddammit. Sad fucking shit!!

According to Peter Wolf hosting a show on Tom Petty radio on Sirius, Tom had been living life in agonizing pain. Peter Wolf was the opening act during a portion of this last Tour and according to Peter, Tom had to be golf carted around from the tour buss to side stage. Most of the pain was caused by an issue with his hip and according to Peter, Tom was considering hip replacement.

However, once Tom made his way to the stage, those in the audience never knew Tom was suffering so. Either with the aid of pain meds or just the sheer adrenaline of performing live, Peter said Tom still put on one hell of a show!

My very first Tom Petty purchase was the "Change Of Heart" 7" on candy apple red vinyl. Heartbreaker's Beach Party was the B-side......because you can't have too many songs about potato salad!!!

Yeah, holy shit, a loooooong list of drugs in his system. That fentanyl is ....