The Tom Petty album that “pissed off and hurt” Benmont Tench
Half the reason why Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers exist is because of Benmont Tench. Long before Petty became the heartland rock icon that people know today, Tench’s touch behind the keyboard got the ball rolling in Petty’s original outfit, Mudcrutch. Although Petty’s name might be on the marquee every time they enter a venue, Tench isn’t afraid to air his opinion.
Throughout their time together, Tench often talked about how he isn’t afraid to speak his mind whenever hearing a song, recalling in Runnin’ Down a Dream, “It doesn’t feel like I’m a musician for Tom Petty. I feel like I’m in a band with the guy. We’re not the same configuration as a band like U2, but I’ve got an opinion, and he may be sick of hearing it.”
One of the few hangups came towards the start of the 1980s when working on the album Long After Dark. When recording the breakout hit ‘You Got Lucky’, Tench wasn’t too pleased with having to play a synthesiser instead of his traditional piano or organ setup. Then again, some of the rougher patches in his career came when Petty decided to go solo.
While working with the Traveling Wilburys, Petty began writing songs alongside Jeff Lynne, which would turn into solid gold on tracks like ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’’ and ‘Free Fallin”. Despite having help from fellow Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, Tench never felt comfortable coming in to work on the album.
When talking about the production, Tench talked about how stifled he felt at the session, explaining, “I called the office asking when we were going to work because I assumed we’d get started during the week. And they said, ‘Uh, they’re making a solo record, just Tom and Mike’. I was told to come down and just go ‘ding-ding-ding’, and the vibe of the record was so strange that I couldn’t even do that very well.”
Looking back on those times, Tench thought Petty’s success spelt the end of the group, telling Rolling Stone, “I was pissed off and hurt. I was also worried that he’d split up the band because there was conflict within the group at the time. Stan [Lynch] was always worried that Tom would go solo, so when he did that, that’s how it felt.”
While the morale of the band was at an all-time low, Tench does credit the album for saving his life indirectly, continuing, “I was a very high man and deeply troubled with drugs and alcohol, so I thank Jeff Lynne. I had nothing to do with Full Moon Fever, so I got to go to rehab, and it saved my life. Also, hell, I’d been doing session work for years by that time. Why the fuck shouldn’t Tom go out and play with someone else?”.
Though Tench may have been able to make peace with it, drummer Stan Lynch wasn’t so compassionate, becoming more resentful about Petty pulling away from the band before he eventually got fired from the group for not liking Petty’s material on Wildflowers. Tom Petty might be behind most of the songs, but the other musicians making the magic happen weren’t ready to be hung out to dry.
