Tom petty refugee7/6/2023 What do you remember about opening it up on that Christmas Day? Your parents bought your first guitar, a Stella acoustic. I didn’t have an idea of playing until I saw the Beatles, and then I thought, “This might be something I can do.” I was about 11 years old, and the music was five or six years past its prime, but I started finding old records. Through that experience, I got some records and really got interested in ’50s rock. Well, it got me interested in the music, but it didn’t make me want to play guitar. What was the effect of seeing him in that setting? And even years before the Beatles played on “Ed Sullivan,” your aunt took you to a movie set, where you saw Elvis. Rock and roll without it would be kinda sad, wouldn’t it? 1964 Fender Stratocaster in Shoreline Gold (left), ’64 Fender Jaguar in Sonic Blue, and a ’66 Fender Electric XII.Ībsolutely. The Beatles were a big deal, and in 1964 everyone wanted a guitar. When I was little, cowboys played the guitar, Elvis played the guitar, and the Beatles and Stones played the guitar. The guitar has always been the archetypal thing, to me. Well, they all make a different sound, you know? So sometimes you pick one up and it feels friendly, and sometimes it doesn’t.ĭo you think the guitar, more than any other instrument, has propelled your success?Ībsolutely, yeah. How much does the guitar influence the way you write songs? Highway Companion I think I wrote entirely on guitar. You write songs primarily on guitar right? But I think we’re still powered by the same engine basically, you know? It’s been rebuilt a few times, but it’s basically the same. That question has been put to me a lot lately. Tom Petty: (laughs) What goes through my mind? Well… a lot. Vintage Guitar: What goes through your mind when you think about the fact that the first Heartbreakers album is 30 years old come November? And speaking of reverence, one listen to Petty and Campbell as they discuss vintage guitars and amps, and it’s obvious these are two guys who make no bones about what has inspired them. Together, the two have been the key to an unmistakable rock and roll sound created by one of pop music’s longest-lasting entities. We recently caught up with Petty and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, with whom Petty has been working since the earliest days of the band. Petty’s third solo album, Highway Companion, was released last month, debuting at #4 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart, and he and the Heartbreakers spent the summer on the road in support of it. This ’64 Strat was the first one owned by Mike Campbell and has been played on many albums and tours since the ’70s. The “Red Dog” early-’70s Fender Telecaster. And he’s one of the few rock stars who has actually been quoted in print saying, “I don’t think we need that much money.” This 1950 Fender Broadcaster (left) is one of Mike Campbell’s live mainstays. His tours are not sponsored by corporations, and his songs are not used in advertising. And amongst fans, he’s a hero who, while keeping them entertained through parts of four decades, has battled to hold down the retail prices of his albums and concert tickets. Fellow songwriters from Stevie Nicks to Bob Dylan have waxed fervently on what Petty songs mean to them. Today, nearly 50 years beyond “Love Me Tender” and “Love Me Do,” he is the personification of the rock star “created” by the Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” And 30 years after his band, the Heartbreakers, formed in Gainesville, Florida, he is still making an impact, still being a force in a medium famous for devouring all but the biggest of its “stars.” The laconic raconteur of rock very much appreciates that his style never goes out of style, and in selling some 50 million albums he has pandered to nobody – not fans, not managers, not record labels.Īmongst his peers today, Petty is revered. Photos by Rick Gould Remember the first time you strummed a D chord or fumbled your way oh-so-slowly through “Walk Don’t Run”? Chances are you wanted to be in the Beatles, or you wanted to be Elvis, with the flat-top and the hips.
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