To say that the last two years have been harrowingly replete
with musician deaths would be the mother of all understatements. I commented at
a gig the other day that I could play two or three hours of only the music of artists
who’d recently died. I Googled the stats, and this is just a list of artists whose
music had a profound effect on me. I’m leaving out a HUGE number of artists who
were influential in their respective genres. Here’s my truncated list: David
Bowie, Chris Cornell, Prince, Gregg Allman, Chuck Berry, Glenn Campbell, Walter
Becker, Allan Holdsworth, J. Geils, James Cotton, Glen Frey, Leon Russell,
Merle Haggard, John Wooten, Butch Trucks, Greg Lake
Bowie, Prince,
Cornell, and Gregg Allman all really hurt. But damn! Tom Petty? While I’m
writing this I’m listening to the first album: “Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers”.
Of the ten songs on that album, four are under three minutes and there’s not
one that’s four minutes long. That’s economy at its finest. And guess what,
songwriters? That’s why people want to play them over and over again. The old
adage “leave them wanting more” was originally supposed to be the eleventh
Commandment, but there’s that economy thing in action again. Brevity is a
beautiful word (although it should be shorter)!
The Beatles were
masters of the short form and Tom Petty was a virtuoso of restraint. The two
obvious standouts from a view of commercial success are “Breakdown” and “American
Girl”. Yes, they’re both on his FIRST album. In his career he sold more than 80
million albums which makes him one of the top-selling artists in the history of
music. Not just ROCK, but MUSIC.
One of my
favorite stories about Tom Petty (besides his notorious fights with record
companies and refusals to ever back down) was when he was asked how he felt
about the fact that some musicians slam him for writing three chord hit songs.
Petty (and I paraphrase) said “If it’s so easy why isn’t everyone doing it?” He
also said that if you can’t pick up an acoustic guitar and play your song, then
it’s really not a song at all. As a musician who has been fortunate enough to
make a living primarily as a solo acoustic act, I agree wholeheartedly. You
take away all of the bells and whistles (noooo, not the whistling! I like the
whistling) and if there isn’t a song there, then really what’s the point? It
all has to start somewhere. You can play the world’s greatest guitar solo, or
piano solo or pan flute solo or harmonized syncopated riffs that you shred
behind your back while riding on flaming unicorns, but if you can’t strip it
down you’re just pissing in the wind, buddy.
Petty’s longtime
guitarist and collaborator Mike Campbell played fewer and fewer notes in his
solos as their career progressed, to the point that I think several of his last
solos might have been him thinking the note rather than playing it. But it all
made sense within context and proves it’s not how many notes you play as long
as they’re the right ones.
In the past few
weeks, every night people have been yelling at me to play Tom Petty
songs. Go back up to that list that begins this story. Yes, many people did and
still do request songs from the first few artists on my list. But the Tom Petty
thing ain’t goin’ to end anytime soon. His catalog was enormous and his gift
for writing catchy songs that make you smile or dance or yell or sing is
undeniable. He also had a deft hand with lyrics and every song has some clever
one liners that stick to the craw. I thought about it and I think in my
long-ass career I’ve probably played over twenty Tom Petty songs. I’m not a Tom
Petty Tribute Idiot, but I guarantee (with the possible exception of The Beatles) that’s the most music by any artist I’ve
ever played. And I didn’t even realize until now, that I was that big of a fan.
Thank you sir, for decades of great music. In your own immortal words: “Buy me
a drink, Sing me a song, Take me as I come ‘cause I can’t stay long”. Cheers!