The modern artist loved by Tom Petty: “He’s gonna be around a long time”
By the mid-1990s, artists like Tom Petty started to be considered passé by some sections of the mainstream audience. Having been one of the leaders of heartland rock in the late 1970s, Petty’s brand of rootsy rock and roll felt closer to dad rock territory when artists started to turn towards alternative music in the wake of Nirvana. Although Petty was heartbroken when Kurt Cobain couldn’t go the distance, he still kept his ear to the ground about newer alternative acts.
Despite his penchant as an ageing rock star, Petty was embraced by the new school of artists. Adopting a similar role to that of Neil Young, Petty became one of the godfathers of grunge, even giving one of his trademark Rickenbacker guitars to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam around that time.
Although Petty could have rested on his laurels, he wanted to expand his craft. Working with producer Rick Rubin, Petty’s album Wildflowers featured the strongest tunes he had ever written since his prime, with a rootsy approach to production with the help of his fellow Heartbreakers.
While Petty had the idea of making Wildflowers a double album experience, his decision to cut it down to a single album resulted in too many songs getting left on the cutting room floor. Whereas most artists store those tracks in their songwriting vaults, Petty got to dust off that material when scoring his first soundtrack.
Working on the movie She’s the One, Petty assembled an entire album based on songs that would work for the movie, including tracks from the Wildflowers sessions like ‘Hung Up and Overdue’ and ‘California’. That didn’t translate to a complete body of work, though, so Petty put a handful of covers onto the final product.
While a few covers from Lucinda Williams fit within Petty’s wheelhouse, his decision to cover ‘Asshole’ by Beck was a particular highlight. When discussing the new school of artists, Petty always held Beck in high regard, telling Paul Zollo, “I think he’s one of the few who have come along that’s really going to be around a long time. He’s got a lot of range. And a lot of integrity, I think”.
Despite being known as one of the more adventurous names in alternative music, Beck’s origins fit perfectly with Petty’s style. Before delving into every genre under the sun, Beck had gotten his start in folksy music, occasionally performing at bars playing Hank Williams songs on acoustic guitar.
Petty had even started honing his country chops around the Wildflowers era, working with Johnny Cash at the time for one of his many comeback albums, Unchained. Even though the trademark weirdness of Beck is apparent throughout ‘Asshole’, Petty’s sardonic voice is what sells the song, being the perfect soundtrack to a man who can’t seem to figure out why his girlfriend makes him like a jerk over and over again.
Even after venturing into new musical territories on albums like Midnite Vultures, Beck would still be honing the singer-songwriter hidden inside him, making Sea Change based around the fallout of his marriage. Though Beck and Tom Petty may be from two walks of life, their attitude towards music is cut from the same cloth.
