Wildflowers

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free
– Tom Petty

October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017

I didn’t know that evening under the stars would be the last time I would see him and it’s not the first time I’ve whispered the phrase. And it’s not the only October I’ve said a final goodbye, or when I least expected it, met a man again in a far off place. It’s not the sole happening in my birthday month that marked a new beginning or a final act, a reunion or an inexplicable loss. And it all crisscrosses time and space, spans oceans and continents, twines birth and death. And it’s about Tom Petty and his music and it’s about another man whose memory endures. It’s about the sorcery of creativity and love. It’s about giving life and taking it away. Like sailing a boat on a cobalt sea when a prism of visions blends into eternity. It’s about the blackness of night and the glint of the moon. It’s about the spirit of the tides. 

Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life. There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.
– Tom Petty

Born in Gainesville, Florida, Petty suffered a physically and verbally abusive father. At the age of 10, in the summer of 1961, his uncle took him on a shoot of Elvis Presley’s Follow That Dream in Ocala. Tom’s Elvis sighting, coupled with the acquisition of his first guitar, awakened his calling. “Here’s a way out of this situation I’m in.” He left high school at 17 to pursue his music and formed his first band Mudcrutch. When they split up, not long after, Petty and Mike Campbell collaborated with Benmont Trench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch to form the initial Heartbreakers. Over the years the lineup changed but not the essence of the music. In 1988, Petty joined George Harrison’s group, the Traveling Wilburys along with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. In 1989 he made his first solo album Full Moon Fever. For the title song of his second solo album Wildflowers,” I just took a deep breath,” he said, “and it came out. The whole song. Stream of consciousness: words, music, chords. Finished it.”

I don’t know, my music has always just come from where the wind blew me. Like where I’m at during a particular moment in time.
– Tom Petty

True to his Libra sense of harmony and justice, Petty believed in creative control and freedom. In 1979, disillusioned with the terms of his contract with ABC’s Shelter Records, he refused to allow the release of his next album when industry giant MCA Records acquired ABC. Unwilling to be transferred to another label without his consent, he ended up filing for bankruptcy. MCA agreed to free him from the existing contract, then turned around and re-signed him to a new label. In 1981, when MCA’s Backstreet Records decided they would release his new album Hard Promises at superstar pricing like they had for other artists, Petty voiced his objection to the hike of $1.00 over list price, in favor of his fans. Once again MCA backed off.

In May 1987, the day after Petty won a legal battle over one of his songs used without his permission, an arsonist set fire to his house in Encino, CA, and everything went up in smoke, including his signature top hat. Soon after, he wrote his anthem, “I Won’t Back Down”. And he never did. He overcame severe damage to his left hand when he smashed it into a wall in a fit of frustration, and he kicked an addiction to heroin in the 90s. He credits his practice of Transcendental Meditation to seeing him through.

He’s just a badass.
– Dave Grohl

To me, he’s just one of the nicest people cause he’s not full of shit, as they say.
– George Harrison

One of the best-selling music artists of all time, Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide. In 2002 Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In February 2017 MusiCares Person of the Year honored Petty for his contributions to music and for his philanthropy. To immerse yourself in Petty’s musical journey, spend an evening watching the 2007 documentary by Peter Bogdanovich, Runnin’ Down a Dream. It’s like a 4 hour Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert spliced with insights.

He defies any kind of category. He’s just Tom Petty.
– Johnny Depp

On September 22, I rocked out to Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers at the Hollywood Bowl for the final Friday night of his 40th anniversary tour. That evening when he walked onstage, he absorbed the spirit of the crowd as if in an infinite corridor of time. In that space before he launched into his opening song, “Rockin Around (With You)”, I sensed on some mystical plane, he knew something we didn’t. On October 1, Petty went into cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu and died October 2. On October 16, family and his closest friends held a private memorial at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, the spiritual site of his friend George Harrison’s funeral in 2001.

Although Petty’s lyrics may appear straightforward, the complexities of their simplicity endure on many levels. As a songwriter it’s as if he channels his music. So on that note, the hat below belonged to the man I alluded to above, but it reminds me of Tom Petty and the famous hat he lost in the fire. If only I could use my magic this October to make everything appear again. I think I’ll start with Full Moon Fever, wend my way to the stripped down sound of Wildflowers – and take it from there.

You and I will meet again, When we’re least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won’t say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again.
–Tom Petty

ALBUMS

1976  Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
1978  You’re Gonna Get it
1979  Damn the Torpedoes
1981  Hard Promises
1982  Long After Dark
1985  Southern Accents
1987  Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)
1988  Traveling Wilburys 1
1989  Full Moon Fever (solo)
1990  Traveling Wilburys 3
1991  Into the Great Wide Open
1993  Greatest Hits (certified 12x’s platinum)
1994  Wildflowers (solo)
1999  Songs & Music from “She’s the One”
1999  Echo
2002  The Last DJ
2006  Highway Companion (solo)
2008  Mudcrutch
2010  Mojo
2014  Hypnotic Eye
2016  Mudcrutch 2
+ Videos

ESSENTIAL SONGS

“Free Fallin'” (Full Moon Fever, 1989)
“American Girl” (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976)
“Don’t Do Me Like That” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
“Learning to Fly” (Into the Great Wide Open, 1991)
“Listen to Her Heart” (You’re Gonna Get It!, 1978)
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” (Southern Accents, 1985)
“Wildflowers” (Wildflowers, 1994)
“A Face in the Crowd” (Full Moon Fever, 1989)
“The Waiting” (Hard Promises, 1981)
“Refugee” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
“Accused of Love”(Echo, 1999)
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” (Greatest Hits, 1993)
“Change of Heart” (Long After Dark, 1982)
“Breakdown” (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976)
“You Don’t Know How It Feels” (Wildflowers, 1994)
“Fault Lines” (Hypnotic Eye, 2014)
“I Won’t Back Down” (Full Moon Fever, 1989)
“Ain’t Love Strange” (Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), 1987)
“You Got Lucky” (Long After Dark, 1982)
“Room at the Top” (Echo, 1999)
“Rebels” (Southern Accents, 1985)
“Don’t Do Me Like That” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
“You Wreck Me” (Wildflowers, 1994)
“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976)
“I Won’t Back Down” (Full Moon Fever, 1989)
“Runnin’ Down a Dream” (Full Moon Fever, 1989)