The concert Stevie Nicks forced Tom Petty to play: “You’re not going to cancel”
Not every musician has to accept every opportunity that comes their way. While it’s often good PR to make the best of every situation, there are times when it’s perfectly acceptable to decline an extra interview or resist adding another gig to an already gruelling year-long tour. Sometimes, it’s simply not worth the stress. However, Tom Petty found himself strong-armed into playing with Bob Dylan, thanks to some persuasive help from Stevie Nicks.
In theory, this should have been Petty’s wildest dream. He had spoken extensively about how ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ set his soul on fire when he first heard it, so when Dylan asked the Heartbreakers to play with him, it should have been a no-brainer. After all, Petty’s voice sounded like Dylan’s if he had taken some vocal lessons, but Petty wasn’t exactly in the best frame of mind.
After getting back from the tour for Southern Accents, Petty awoke one night to smell of smoke and had to rush everyone outside when someone set his house on fire. Despite avoiding an assassination attempt, Petty thought that he should continue living life and try his best to get back on the road to support his family.
When Dylan asked him to do a few tours over Europe, Petty seemed reluctant, according to Nicks. Ever since the arson incident, his marriage had been on the rocks with his first wife, Jane, and it wasn’t clear if things were going to get better, so Nicks offered to go on tour with Petty to make sure he didn’t crack under the pressure.
Recalling in Gold Dust Woman, Nicks remembered having to force Petty to accept the call, saying, “I told him, ‘Oh yes, you are going. You are not cancelling on Bob fucking Dylan.’” While the idea of Petty having marital troubles and then going out on tour with Nicks sounded like a recipe for disaster, it couldn’t have gone better, with Nicks being at his side to have someone to talk to and occasionally duet with him on songs like ‘Insider’.
And when the Heartbreakers backed Dylan, it was like watching musical magic unfold. Not every song sounded the same, and there were normally a few times when things went off the rails, but that type of chaos is what Dylan always thrived on, and it ended up giving the group a second wind as players.
All through the tour, Petty said that Nicks saved him from going too far off the track, saying, “Having [her] along was very good for me. It changed the channel. Stevie was lighthearted, and she so loved music. She figured out before I did that we had a real blend as singers. She also knew more than most that I was in a very delicate mental spot.”
While Petty would eventually get on the upswing professionally, the marriage didn’t last, with his masterpiece Wildflowers practically detailing the breakup and fans eventually witnessing the fallout on his album Echo. Whereas Fleetwood Mac had only themselves to work with when mending their broken hearts on Rumours, part of the reason why Petty could make it through the darkness of his marriage collapse is because of what Nicks did for him.
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