Robbie Robertson’s favourite Tom Petty song
At the start of the 1970s, rock and roll had started to turn towards a more rustic sound. Whereas many artists were trying to make the most feral music imaginable as part of the psychedelic scene, more attention was paid to acoustic-oriented rock, with Bob Dylan introducing the world to what could be done by combining acoustic and electric instruments under one roof. While The Band would be birthed from Dylan’s experimentation, Robbie Robertson found another phenomenal artist a few years after they hit it big.
Initially working under the moniker of The Hawks, Robertson was known to be on his toes whenever he played with Dylan. Since the songwriter wasn’t one for rehearsing, some of his best moments onstage came from what he did naturally, occasionally stopping the band when he felt a song was going in the right direction and moving into a more mellow groove.
When Robertson began work on what would become Music from the Big Pink, the musicians already had their sound down to a science. After a few token appearances by Dylan in the songwriting credits, songs like ‘The Weight’ offered a more mellow take on the traditional rock formula, playing songs that felt decidedly more homespun than usual.
It’s not like the rest of the rock world wasn’t taking notes, either. Outside of the band’s local scene, it’s easy to see The Beatles being influenced by The Band during the last few years of their career, considering the more organic groove of ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and George Harrison evoking the feeling of the group for his album All Things Must Pass.
While The Band would start to shift towards the end of the 1970s, another rockstar was coming to fruition with the same homespun appeal. Idolising the sounds of 1960s rock, Tom Petty would emerge out of Gainsville to form the basis of heartland rock, singing about the struggles of everyday Americans while playing music informed by artists like The Band, Bob Dylan and the Byrds.
When discussing his favourite songs of all time, Robertson would also single out the Petty song ‘The Best of Everything’ as something he was still proud of. Though Petty had become a superstar by the time he had begun work on the song, Robertson would add his signature magic to the song, helping arrange the song with various horn sections and fellow Band-mate Levon Helm adding backing vocals to a version of the track.
That wouldn’t be the last time Petty had a similar experience as Robertson, eventually working as a surrogate backup band for Dylan when he decided to go out on tour in the 1980s. Just like his rock and roll ancestors before him, Petty followed Dylan’s every move, crafting songs out of thin air and having to stop on a dime to go in different directions, depending on Dylan’s mood.
While Petty wouldn’t have fond memories of recording the accompanying album Southern Accents, he would single out ‘The Best of Everything’ as one of the finest songs that he would ever write. Although no songwriter can claim to be perfect, Robertson adding his arrangements to this Petty classic is practically like getting anointed by a rock and roll prophet.
