Sad news once more for international music. The last few months have seen the loss of many idols and legends. Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and country stars Glen Campbell and Don Williams. Plus the shocking suicides of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell and Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington.
Now, American musician Tom Petty is no more. Clearly one of the best songwriters in rock history, he leaves us with an array of tight, magical and memorable songs. Petty, who died on Monday of a cardiac arrest, was 66, and the news came as a setback to fans worldwide.
Petty is remembered for his work with Mudcrutch in the early 1970s, and then with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, with whom he released a string of successful albums. In late 1980s, he became part of the famed supergroup Traveling Wilburys, along with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison.
Known for his long-haired look, nasal voice and crisp compositions, Petty used a sound that blended mainstream rock, southern rock, blues, pop and country. Guitars and keyboards played a special role, and his band's guitarist Mike Campbell was often considered an underrated genius.
Music marketers tried to brand Petty's music in various ways - heartland rock, roots rock, southern rock, country rock or simply rock ‘n’ roll. What remained constant, however, was the accessibility of his songs, and naturally, many became radio hits and driving favourites. The fact that he sold 80 million records speaks volumes about his popularity.
His fans were a devoted bunch. Ask them to name top 10 favourites and chances are each will have a different list, with perhaps a few common hits. But ones that regularly feature are ‘I Won't Back Down’, ‘Free Fallin’, ‘Mary Jane’s Last Song’, ‘Don't Come Around Here No More’, ‘In The Great Wide Open’, ‘American Girl’, ‘Breakdown’, ‘Refugee’, ‘Learning To Fly’, ‘Shadow People’ and ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’. It's an endless list, actually.
Petty’s albums, solo or with the Heartbreakers, were admired for their coherence. He was also known for some very classy videos, examples being ‘Don't Come Around Here No More’, ‘Free Fallin’ and ‘Learning To Fly’.His songwriting skills were top-class. As a fan commented on Facebook, “He probably had the best first lines on the scene. And he could describe half the world in one sentence.”
Let’s take the opening of ‘I Won't Back Down’, his hit from the 1989 album Full Moon Fever. It goes:
Well, I won't back down
No, I won’t back down
You can stand me at the gates of hell
But I won’t back down
No, I’ll stand my ground
Won’t be turned around
And I’ll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground
Goodbye Tom Petty, the quintessential rocker. You belong among the wildflowers... You belong somewhere you feel free.