The Longest Music Epinion Ever!

It’s almost inevitable that a band with a long and successful career will release a box set. This six disc offering from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is their fulfillment of that prophecy. Playback, released in 1995, chronicles the band’s career on MCA records. Fifty songs from the Heartbreakers’ 1976 self-titled debut through their 1993 Greatest hits compilation can be found here. That’s just the first three CDs. The fourth disc features fifteen B-sides of singles. The final two CDs contain previously unreleased tracks and studio outtakes, including some songs recorded by Mudcrutch- the first lineup that would become the Heartbreakers. There isn’t much point in any further introduction, so I’ll jump right into the music:


Disc One – The Big Jangle

The Big Jangle covers the Heartbreakers first four albums: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976), You’re Gonna Get It (1978), Damn the Torpedoes (1979), and Hard Promises (1981). The original lineup of the band is present, with original bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Blair would leave the group following Hard Promises. Here we can find the Heartbreakers defining their sound as they clawed their way up from humble beginnings to the platinum success of Damn the Torpedoes.

Two classic rock staples, “Breakdown” and “American Girl” can be heard as the first two tracks of the box set. The slow and bluesy “Breakdown” is instantly recognizable as one of Petty’s best songs, but it is the rocking “American Girl” that really shows the band doing what they do best. These are two of the best songs from an otherwise uninspired first album. “Hometown Blues” is a carryover from the Mudcrutch days. It features Duck Dunn on bass, who would later play with the Blues Brothers. “Anything That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll” is the song that landed the band on the charts in England, although I think it is a generic song. Regardless, it is an important track in Heartbreakers history.

On the band’s second album, You’re Gonna Get It, they found a formula that really worked for them. Abandoning the radio friendly pop sound of their debut, they open up and just plain rock on that album. You can hear damn near the whole album on this first disc of the box set. Two big FM radio hits from the album, “I Need to Know” and “Listen to Her Heart” can be found here. “I Need to Know” is one of my favorites by the Heartbreakers because of the fast guitars that give the song an almost punk rock feel. “Listen to Her Heart” is a fine song that features some great guitar interplay between Tom Petty and Mike Campbell.

“When the Time Comes” is one of the better songs from You’re Gonna Get It. The straightforward rock beat of the song really showcases the attitude of the album. “Too Much Ain’t Enough” is a great, fast rock song similar to “I Need to Know”. The rhythm sounds really cool, and Mike Campbell adds one of his best guitar solos. “No Second Thoughts” is an interesting track because it is mostly acoustic guitars set to a drum loop. Tom Petty does is best Bob Dylan impression on this tune, because you can’t understand a single word. Petty gives a strong vocal performance on “Baby’s a Rock ‘N’ Roller”, but the poor production makes this song difficult for me to like.

Damn the Torpedoes produced four hit singles: “Refugee”, “Here Comes My Girl”, “Even the Losers”, and “Don’t Do Me Like That”. “Refugee” rivals “Free Fallin’” or “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” as the band’s most popular song. It’s the in your face organ sound that really makes this song stand out and not the band’s guitar playing. I’ve always liked “Here Comes My Girl” for its odd chord progression and the way Tom Petty speaks the lyrics over it. The song builds up to an incredible chorus and bridge section and is a testament to Petty’s songwriting skills.

“Even the Losers” should be Petty’s theme song. He always writes songs from the point of view of the underdog. On this song he speaks in a manner that anyone can easily understand. “Even the losers get lucky sometimes,” he defiantly states in chorus as if to say that he didn’t plan his career’s success. One of the little known songs from Damn the Torpedoes is “Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)”. This is a great song that definitely deserves a listen. The fifth song from that album that is heard on the box set is the keyboard driven “Don’t Do Me Like That”. This song misrepresents the attitude of the album, but is nonetheless a great song as well as being the Heartbreakers first big hit nationally.

One of my favorite Heartbreakers albums is Hard Promises. It takes the edge and feel of their previous two records and goes in a different direction. This was Petty’s attempt to free himself of the formula that everyone expected him to follow. The result is an album full of music with balls. The only song that most people know from that album is the stellar “The Waiting”. As the opening track on that album, it sets you up for an intense musical journey. An even better song is the heart wrenching “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)”. Petty gives one of his best vocal performances of his career, and the lyrics are some of his most honest:

“Time after time,
night after night
She would look up at me
And say she was lonely
I don’t understand the world today
I don’t understand what she needed
I gave her everything
She threw it all away on nothin’

She’s a woman in love
And he’s gonna break her heart to pieces
She don’t wanna see
She’s a Woman in love,
But it’s not me”

Another fine song from Hard Promises is the haunting “Something Big”. It is just so dark and brooding that it sounds unlike anything the band had ever tried before (but that was the whole point of the album). “A Thing About You” is much more lighthearted than the previous song. It is one of the fast pop songs that Petty is so well known for. “Insider” is an incredible song that features Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks (of Fleetwood Mac fame) doing harmony vocals. Another deeply emotional song from that album is the beautiful “You Can Still Change Your Mind”. Oddly enough it was mostly written by guitarist Mike Campbell, who’s best known for composing such rocking tracks as “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and not one of the group’s best ballads.

Song Selection:
1. Breakdown (from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
2. American Girl (from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
3. Hometown Blues (from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
4. Anything That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll (from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
5. I Need to Know (from You’re Gonna Get It)
6. Listen to Her Heart (from You’re Gonna Get It)
7. When the Time Comes (from You’re Gonna Get It)
8. Too Much Ain’t Enough (from You’re Gonna Get It)
9. No Second Thoughts (from You’re Gonna Get It)
10. Baby’s a Rock ‘N’ Roller (from You’re Gonna Get It)
11. Refugee (from Damn the Torpedoes)
12. Here Comes My Girl (from Damn the Torpedoes)
13. Even the Losers (from Damn the Torpedoes)
14. Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid) (from Damn the Torpedoes)
15. Don’t Do Me Like That (from Damn the Torpedoes)
16. The Waiting (from Hard Promises)
17. A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me) (from Hard Promises)
18. Something Big (from Hard Promises)
19. A Thing About You (from Hard Promises)
20. Insider (from Hard Promises)
21. You Can Still Change Your Mind (from Hard Promises)

Top picks: I Need to Know, Even the Losers, A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me), You Can Still Change Your Mind, Refugee



Disc Two – Spoiled & Mistreated

Spoiled & Mistreated covers the band during its most experimental, but also their most problematic time of their career. Howie Epstein was hired to replace original bassist Ron Blair. Epstein’s backing vocals have really added a lot to the albums that he’s contributed to. There was a three year period (1983-1985) where the band was having difficulties creatively and the result was Tom Petty broke his hand during the recording of the Southern Accents album. This was also a period of time of a relative lack of commercial success for the group.

Long After Dark was a fairly successful album, although it is one that Petty himself is not fond of. I rather like it, myself. It manages to be dark and moody like Hard Promises, but the band managed to regain some of their pop roots. The melodic synthesizer driven fanfare of “You Got Lucky” was the only hit single from the album. One of the better guitar parts of that album can be heard on “Change of Heart”. The band doesn’t really hit their stride on Long After Dark until “Straight Into Darkness”. Everything about this tune is great from Petty’s vocals to the jangly guitars. “The Same Old You” is a fairly standard Heartbreakers tune similar to the vibe of their first two albums. This group of songs isn’t quite a fair representation of the album, as two of the best songs from Long After Dark, “Deliver Me” and “Wasted Life”, aren’t included.

Tom Petty had originally planned for Southern Accents to be a solo album. It was also meant to be a two LP set. However, he was unable to get the sounds in his head to appear on the tape the way they were supposed to. Unable to get a satisfactory mix on “Rebels” is what pushed him over the edge and made him punch the wall. He went back to what made the original demo of the song so good, and the simpler approach to playing is what makes this song so great. To hear the band at their most eccentric, check out “Do Come Around Here No More”. A hugely successful single, this song was co-written with Eurhythmic Dave Stewart.

The reason Southern Accents sounds so schizophrenic is that Petty was being pulled in so many directions at once. He was working on his solo album, a Heartbreakers album, and even wrote a song for a movie soundtrack. The song “The Best of Everything” was never used on the soundtrack, but Robbie Robertson’s production on the tune was what lead to other songs such as “Make It Better (Forget About Me)”. The best song from Southern Accents is the emotional title track. Most of the song consists of Petty’s vocals and piano accompanied by a string section. After Petty’s hand smashing incident, the best songs from all the various studio sessions were combined into one album. That meant a lot of great songs weren’t included (such as “The Apartment Song” that was later found on Full Moon Fever), but you can hear many of those songs on later discs in the box set.

The same year the band released Southern Accents a live album was also released. Pack Up the Plantation consisted of only a few of Petty’s popular singles. Instead, it contained various cover songs. The first of those tracks is the Byrds’ “So You Want To Be a Rock & Roll Star”. The band really sounds excellent on this live recording, but the song is fairly weak. Petty owes a lot of his sound to the Byrds, but everything the Heartbreakers play is much better than anything the Byrds could ever do. A heavy version of the Animals’ “Don’t Bring Me Down” is the other representative of Pack Up the Plantation on the box set. This is a much more fitting cover song for the band to play, although it doesn’t really stand out as much as some of the other songs from the live album.

The band makes up for those two bland live tunes with a collection of great songs from their most underrated album, Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough). Although the band’s least successful album, it is one their rock oriented offerings. That album’s opener, “Jammin’ Me”, is included here. This ranks right up there as one of my favorite Heartbreakers songs. It was co-written with Bob Dylan, the beginning of a long association between the band and Dylan. “It’ll All Work Out” takes a much subtler approach than the guitar intensive previous track. Mike Campbell gives a grand performance on acoustic guitar and mandolin on this song.

“You got me in a corner
you got me against a wall
I got nowhere to go
I got nowhere to fall
Take back your insurance
baby nothin’s guaranteed
Take back your acid rain
let your TV bleed

You’re jammin’ me
You’re jammin’ me
Quit jammin’ me
Baby you can keep me painted in a corner
You can walk away, but it’s not over

Take back your angry slander
take back your pension plan
take back your ups and downs
of your life in raisin-land
take back Vanessa Redgrave
Take back Joe Piscopo
Take back Eddie Murphy
Give ‘em all some place to go”

“Mike’s Life/Mike’s World” is an interesting forty-second instrumental. It was originally an unnamed interlude between “It’ll All Work Out” and “My Life/Your World” on the Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) album. Another great rocking tune from that album is “Think About Me”. Here you can hear the band at their most free and unrestrained. “A Self-Made Man” is a Heartbreakers folk song of sorts. Although I think “Runaway Trains” would have been a better song from the album to include here than this song, it has a fun quality about it that I can’t quite describe. The closest comparison I can draw for this song would be Petty’s “Spike” from the Southern Accents album.

Song Selection:
1. You Got Lucky (from Long After Dark)
2. Change of Heart (from Long After Dark)
3. Straight Into Darkness (from Long After Dark)
4. The Same Old You (from Long After Dark)
5. Rebels (from Southern Accents)
6. Don’t Come Around Here No More (from Southern Accents)
7. Southern Accents (from Southern Accents)
8. Make It Better (Forget About Me) (from Southern Accents)
9. The Best of Everything (from Southern Accents)
10. So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (from Pack Up the Plantation)
11. Don’t Bring Me Down (from Pack Up the Plantation)
12. Jammin’ Me (from Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)
13. It’ll All Work Out (from Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)
14. Mike’s Life/Mike’s World (from Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)
15. Think About Me (from Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)
16. A Self-Made Man (from Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)

Top Picks: Rebels, Don’t Come Around Here No More, Jammin’ Me, It’ll All Work Out, Straight Into Darkness



Disc 3 – Good Booty

Good Booty is a journey through Petty’s best (Full Moon Fever), worst (Into the Great Wide Open), and most successful (Greatest Hits) albums. Full Moon Fever was actually Petty’s first solo album and was among the finest albums he ever recorded. His work on that album and with his other group, the Traveling Wilburys is why Into the Great Wide Open failed to capture that Heartbreakers magic. Jeff Lynne’s Beatles-influenced pop production doesn’t lend itself very well to the Heartbreakers as much as it did to Petty’s solo work. After the guys teamed up with producer Rick Rubin for the sessions that produced the two new songs on Greatest Hits, it was clear the Heartbreakers were back. Those sessions were the last with drummer Stan Lynch, but Rubin stayed on through the incredible Wildflowers, She’s the One, and Echo albums.

1989’s Full Moon Fever produced three enormously successful singles: “Free Fallin’”, “I Won’t Back Down”, and “Runnin’ Down a Dream”. The three chord pop of “Free Fallin’” has become Petty’s signature song. I don’t think I have met anyone who didn’t like this song. This song helped introduce Petty to a younger audience because one of the strengths of his music is the universal appeal of his songs. George Harrison played acoustic guitar on the anthemic “I Won’t Back Down”. This showcases Petty’s gritty optimism that he always manages to display in his lyrics. Mike Campbell’s incredible guitar riff and solo of “Runnin’ Down a Dream” contribute to one of the best songs in the entire Tom Petty catalog.

There are a number of other stellar songs to be found on Full Moon Fever. Three additional tracks from that album can be heard on this disc. “Love is a Long Road” is a fine example of how the band is able to seamlessly blend rock and pop into a song anyone can enjoy. The great drum and synthesizer performances give Petty and Epstein plenty of room for their incredible harmony vocals. Petty and Campbell’s 12-string guitar attack of “Yer So Bad” help this song to be the band’s most obvious Byrds and Beatles influenced song of their career. The ballad “Alright For Now” features only Petty, Campbell, and their guitars. This is similar to “Don’t Fade On Me” from Wildflowers in that respect, but this song is much better.

Into the Great Wide Open was released in 1991 and was well received by the public. However, this album was merely an extension of Petty’s solo aspirations that he has achieved with Full Moon Fever. As a result, most of the songs sound like Jeff Lynne’s songs and not the band’s. Only a few of the songs really stood out, including the two hit singles “Learning to Fly” and “Into the Great Wide Open”. “Learning to Fly” sounds much like the tracks from Full Moon Fever in that it features a catchy chord progression, but not the usual rock and roll stylings of the Heartbreakers. Stan Lynch adds a few measures of great drumming at the end, which really saves this pop song in my opinion. Petty and Campbell’s acoustic and slide guitars on the title track make it the best song from that album.

“Eddie waited till he finished high school
He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo
He met a girl out there with a tattoo too
The future was wide open

They moved into a place they both could afford
He found a nightclub he could work at the door
She had a guitar and she taught him some chords
The sky was the limit

Into the great wide open
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open
A rebel without a clue

The papers said Ed always played from the heart
He got an agent and a roadie named Bart
They made a record and it went in the chart
The sky was the limit

His leather jacket had chains that would jingle
They both met movie stars, partied and mingled
Their A&R man said ‘I don’t hear a single’
The future was wide open”

“All Or Nothin’” and “Out in the Cold” are a couple of solid rockers from Into the Great Wide Open. Both of these songs contain some of Mike Campbell’s signature guitar riffs. I like “Out in the Cold” a little more than the other song, but that’s because it is one of the few songs from that album that really rock. It shows that the band wasn’t afraid to branch out from the radio-friendly pop rut that they found themselves in. “Built to Last” is one of the weakest tracks I have ever heard the band play. The song has a decent chorus, but never gets much past mediocre in my opinion.

The Heartbreakers included two new songs on the Greatest Hits album. Actually, they were contractually obligated to do so, but it’s a good thing they were. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” is one of the best written songs in the band’s history. This immensely cool song gained the band a lot of attention on FM radio and became one of their most successful and popular singles. The final song of this disc is an interesting little ditty composed by Tom Petty titled “Christmas All Over Again”. This was originally included with the Jimmy Iovine produced A Very Special Christmas II. At the end of the song, Petty reminds Santa that he wants a new Rickenbacher guitar, two Fender bassmans, a Chuck Berry songbook, and a xylophone.

Song Selection:
1. Free Fallin’ (from Full Moon Fever)
2. I Won’t Back Down (from Full Moon Fever)
3. Love is a Long Road (from Full Moon Fever)
4. Runnin’ Down a Dream (from Full Moon Fever)
5. Yer So Bad (from Full Moon Fever)
6. Alright For Now (from Full Moon Fever)
7. Learning to Fly (from Into the Great Wide Open)
8. Into the Great Wide Open (from Into the Great Wide Open)
9. All Or Nothin’ (from Into the Great Wide Open)
10. Out in the Cold (from Into the Great Wide Open)
11. Built to Last (from Into the Great Wide Open)
12. Mary Jane’s Last Dance (from Greatest Hits)
13. Christmas All Over Again (from A Very Special Christmas II)

Top Picks: Free Fallin’, Runnin’ Down a Dream, Out in the Cold, Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Into the Great Wide Open



Disc 4 – The Other Sides

The Other Sides is a collection of songs that were released as B-sides to singles. Most of the songs are studio outtakes or tracks that were intended for release on an album, but got left off at the last minute. Five of the tracks were recorded live and are an interesting look at the band playing material in concert that had never been released on an album.

Written during the Damn the Torpedoes era, “Casa Dega” captures all the greatness of that era. This is a great song that should have been on an album. The bass and drums have an almost R&B feel to them, while the guitars and vocals remind me of the song “Amanda” by Boston. The hilarious calypso styled “Heartbreaker’s Beach Party” is one cool song. The band shows their sense of humor here, as well as their ability to allow themselves to not take their music too seriously. Originally slated to be on the Southern Accents album, “Trailer” is one of the best songs on this disc. The country twang of the guitars and Petty’s harmonica playing make this song sound a lot like something Neil Young would write.

The band did a cover of Nick Lowe’s “Cracking Up” that was released as a B-side. This is a good rock song, with a guitar riff that reminds me of CCR. Drummer Stan Lynch gets to expand his role in the band by singing lead vocals on the band’s live version of Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction”. Lynch’s vocals sound surprisingly strong and he is backed up by a very solid performance by the entire band. The band sounds very tight throughout the various tempo changes of the song. Another fine live song from that same night is Van Morrison’s “I’m Tired Joey Boy”. Usually Van Morrison annoys me, but the Heartbreakers do a fantastic rendition of an otherwise generic song.

The third live track from the Too Good to Be True EP is Charlie Rich’s rockabilly tune “Lonely Weekends”. The Heartbreakers have an uncanny ability to make this irritating sh*tkicking song sound good. Another rockabilly tune that Petty wrote during the Hard Promises era is “Gator on the Lawn”. This forgettable track was inspired by a gator eating a dog that was owned by one of Petty’s friends in Florida. One of the best of the B-sides included on this disc is “Make That Connection”, a fantastic blues song leftover from the Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) studio sessions. “Down the Line” is the funky B-side of “Free Fallin’”. It has a lot of the same vibe from the Full Moon Fever album, but this track offers nothing substantial.

“Peace in LA” is a track that was written during the LA riots. Four hours after it was written, it was getting played on the radio. The remix heard on this disc features a lot of sound samples and other extras not heard on the ‘A-side’. What’s most interesting to note is Howie Epstein and his girlfriend are sampled describing smoke and fire over the phone to the band. “It’s Raining Again” is a minute and a half blues number that is essentially a soundcheck improv recorded during the Damn the Torpedoes sessions. One of the better songs heard on this disc is a live version of Eddie Cochran’s “Somethin’ Else”. This great rock song was recorded during the band’s first rise to stardom back in 1978.

“I Don’t Know What to Say to You” was recorded during one of the first Heartbreakers sessions following the breakup of Mudcrutch. This song demonstrates Petty’s ability to improvise lyrics without making it sound like he’s making it up. John Sebastian plays a baritone guitar part on this track. He’s best known for composing the theme to Welcome Back, Kotter. The final B-side to be heard is a live acoustic version of Into the Great Wide Open’s “King Highway”. I prefer this mellow version to the rock version heard on that album.

“When the time gets right I’m gonna pick you up
And take you far away from trouble, my love
Under a big ol’ sky, out in a field of green
There’s gotta be something left for us to believe
Oh, I await the day, good fortune comes our way
And we ride down the Kings Highway

No you can’t hide out in a six gun town
We wanna hold our heads up, but we gotta stay down
I don’t wanna end up in a room all alone
Don’t wanna end up someone that I don’t even know
Lover, I await the day, good fortune comes our way
And we ride down the Kings Highway”

Song Selection:
1. Casa Dega (B-side of Don’t Do Me Like That)
2. Heartbreaker’s Beach Party (B-side of Change of Heart)
3. Trailer (B-side of Don’t Come Around Here No More)
4. Cracking Up (B-side of Make It Better (Forget About Me))
5. Psychotic Reaction (live) (from UK EP Too Good to Be True)
6. I’m Tired Joey Boy (live) (from UK EP Too Good to Be True)
7. Lonely Weekends (live) (from UK EP Too Good to Be True)
8. Gator on the Lawn (B-side of A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me))
9. Make That Connection (B-side of Jammin Me)
10. Down The Line (B-side of Free Fallin’)
11. Peace In LA (Peace Mix) (B-side of Peace in LA)
12. It’s Raining Again (B-side of Refugee)
13. Somethin’ Else (live) (UK B-side of Even the Losers)
14. I Don’t Know What to Say to You (B-side of Listen to Her Heart)
15. Kings Highway (live) (German B-side of Something in the Air)

Top Picks: Trailer, Psychotic Reaction (live), Make That Connection, Peace in LA (Peace Mix), Kings Highway (live)



Disc 5 – Through the Cracks

Through the Cracks contains fifteen previously unreleased tracks. The first five songs were recorded by Mudcrutch, the band that Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, and Benmont Tench headed to Hollywood with. Two of the songs were recorded between Mudcrutch and the Heartbreakers, which are essentially Tom, Mike, and several studio musicians. The rest of the tracks are outtakes from several of the band’s 80s albums. This disc is much more consistent and enjoyable than the disc of B-sides.

The first track from this disc is a Benmont Tench composition titled “On the Street”. This was recorded live with no overdubs at all, so you can tell that the band was exceptionally well rehearsed in their early days. This was on the demo tape that won Mudcrutch their record deal. The only record that Mudcrutch ever released was a single called “Depot Street”. This is another good example of Petty’s budding talent from way back in 1974. “Cry to Me” is a brilliant blues number that was recorded in Oklahoma as the guys were moving out west to make it big. In fact, I like these Mudcrutch songs better than some of the tracks that made it onto the Heartbreakers’ first album.

One of the Heartbreakers’ biggest hits from their third album, Damn the Torpedoes, was “Don’t Do Me Like That”. This song was actually written and recorded five years before that album came out, during the Mudcrutch era. The version that Mudcrutch recorded is every big as good as the one that would be released years later. “I Can’t Fight It” is the most rocking Mudcrutch tune included on this disc. At this time, Petty was still developing his song writing style and it shows. But, this song has every bit of Petty’s usual attitude in great amounts.

After Mudcrutch broke up, Petty worked with some studio musicians before the Heartbreakers formed. There were several famous musicians that he worked with, including Donald Dunn (of the Blues Brothers and Booker T and the MGs), Al Kooper (worked with a number of musicians, including Jimi Hendrix), and Jim Gordon (who co-wrote “Layla” with Eric Clapton). Two songs from those sessions are including here. The first, “Since You Said You Loved Me” is a sappy ballad, but is nonetheless a great song. “Louisiana Rain” is another song that would resurface on Damn the Torpedoes. It has always been one of my favorite Heartbreakers songs, but this version is even better. It has a rough quality to the recording that gives the song a live feel, and the original lyrics fit the song a little better.

Well it was out in California
by the San Diego sea
that was where I was taken in
by a aging boardwalk queen
And She nearly drove me crazy
with all those charming toys
but I know she didn’t really
mean a thing to those sailor boys

South Carolina
stuck out its arms for me
right up until everything went black
somewhere on Baker Street
It was just some mean old poison
that I took up my nose
thank god for the lovely mother
who had angels at the door

Louisiana rain is falling just like tears
Running down my face washing away the years
Louisiana rain is soaking through my shoes
I will never be the same when I reach back for you”

“Keeping Me Alive’” is an unused song from the Long After Dark sessions. This is a really good song that is reminiscent of the Everly Brothers. Another song from that era is “Turning Point”. This song is a sort of Buddy Holly meets 70s rock hybrid and manages to be a decent song in the process. If you’ve heard “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” with Stevie Nicks singing, you’ll want to hear the original version with Tom Petty singing it. It is still a great song, but Petty’s vocals are much more emotional and honest. One of the best outtakes on this disc is the original version of “The Apartment Song” which was first recorded for Southern Accents, but never used until Full Moon Fever in 1989. Stevie Nicks also sings harmony on this song.

The band recorded a version of Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man” during the tumultuous Southern Accents sessions. This is perhaps the best version of this song that I’ve heard, except for maybe the Steve Miller Band’s. What’s most interesting about this track is that the band’s usual bassist Howie Epstein is playing acoustic guitar. Benmont Tench, who usually plays keyboards for the band, is manning the bass. “The Image of Me” is an old Conway Twitty song that was also recorded for Southern Accents. The band sounds really good here, although I’m not a big fan of country music. “Moon Pie” isn’t really a song, it’s just a minute’s worth of the band screwing around in the studio while waiting for someone to plug in a wire. In 1986 the band recorded “The Damage You’ve Done” for Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough). The version included here is original incarnation of this song, which is yet another country song. Oddly enough, I like this better than the studio version.

Song Selection:
1. On the Street
2. Depot Street
3. Cry to Me
4. Don’t Do Me Like That (Mudcrutch version)
5. I Can’t Fight It
6. Since You Said You Loved Me
7. Louisiana Rain (original version)
8. Keeping Me Alive
9. Turning Point
10. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (demo)
11. The Apartment Song (demo)
12. Big Boss Man
13. The Image of Me
14. Moon Pie
15. The Damage You’ve Done (country version)

Top Picks: Don’t Do Me Like That (Mudcrutch version), Louisiana Rain, Big Boss Man, Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (demo)



Disc 6 – Nobody’s Children

The sixth CD of the set includes twelve other previously unreleased songs. Most of them are rocking recorded between 1986 and 1993, although one of the tracks is from the Mudcrutch era.. Two of the songs were later given to other artists, and one was recorded with the Bangles on background vocals. This disc is split between hard rocking tunes and country songs. The rock songs are among Petty’s best, but I don’t really like country music. Although there are some great moments on the CD, it is probably the weakest overall disc of the set.

The 1986 outtake “Got My Mind Made Up” is the original version of the song that the band eventually gave to Bob Dylan. It is typical of the band’s rock songs, complete with Tom Petty harmonica solo. “Ways to Be Wicked” is one of the best tracks on the disc. This version was recorded in 1986, although the song was originally written for Damn the Torpedoes. This song was also given to another band; this time it was Lone Justice. “Can’t Get Her Out” is a fantastic song that should have made the Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) album. The band sounds incredible here, especially Mike Campbell’s guitar solo and Benmont Tench’s organ playing. Stan Lynch also delivers a fierce drumming performance.

The Bangles sang on “Waiting For Tonight”. Recorded during a break in the Full Moon Fever sessions, this is one of the best non-album Tom Petty tracks I’ve heard. It would have been a fine addition to the Full Moon Fever album, and it’s a shame this song was relegated to the box set. “Travelin’” is another dive into country music that I really could do without. The band does manage to play a country song and make it sound good, but it’s just a genre that I don’t care for. “Baby, Let’s Play House” is an Elvis cover tune. This was from the same session that produced “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”.

“Wooden Heart” is another Elvis cover. This is a much better song than “Baby, Let’s Play House”. It manages to be a pretty decent ballad. Although I don’t really care for Elvis’s music, the Heartbreakers manage to make this song sound great. “God’s Gift to Man” is a fantastic improvised outtake recorded before Petty began work on the Wildflowers album. This song has one of Mike Campbell’s trademark guitar riffs. It is an all-around solid song. Another incredible outtake from the same era was “You Get Me High”.

“Come On Down to My House” is a fast and heavy song that was influenced by Nirvana. Petty had begun to feel that the band was in a rut and wanted to do something a little wild. This is definitely a little wild. It’s also a great song that should have been released on an album, but it was played quite a bit on tour. Lenny Kravitz worked on “You Come Through” nine years after it was originally recorded. I’m not a big fan of Kravitz, although the funky vibe of this song does sound pretty cool. The last song of the box set is an old Mudcrutch song, “Up In Mississippi Tonight”. It was the first song Mudcrutch ever recorded in the studio. Although it was recorded three years before the Heartbreakers ever played together, Petty and Campbell’s talents were evident.

Song Selection:
1. Got My Mind Made Up (original version)
2. Ways to Be Wicked
3. Can’t Get Her Out
4. Waiting for Tonight
5. Travelin’
6. Baby, Let’s Play House
7. Wooden Heart
8. God’s Gift to Man
9. You Get Me High
10. Come On Down To My House
11. You Come Through
12. Up In Mississippi Tonight

Top Picks: Come On Down To My House, God’s Gift to man, Waiting For Tonight, Can’t Get Her Out


This box set is an extensive look at an undeniably great rock and roll band. This set contains all of their best songs and a few surprises as well. The unreleased tracks and B-sides make it a must own for Tom Petty fans. More casual fans of the band would probably be better off with Greatest Hits. However, this box set can usually be found at a great price. Through the band’s website www.tompetty.com, I found Playback for thirty bucks. Considering that’s about the price of two regular CDs, I’d say I got a good deal.