When Tom Petty got into a fight at a Roger McGuinn session
Before he reached his 40s, Tom Petty was already becoming an honourary member of the living legends of rock and roll. From gaining the attention of ELO’s Jeff Lynne for solo albums like Full Moon Fever to later becoming lifelong friends with Bob Dylan and George Harrison, Petty had reached a level of fame that most classic rock fans can only hope to achieve. However, just because he was welcomed by rock legends didn’t mean he stopped speaking his mind.
From day one, Petty was always looking to live life on his own terms, from his cutthroat battle with his own record label during Damn the Torpedos to eventually going to war with retailers for raising the cost of his album. As he moved into the world of production, Petty found himself at odds with big business again when working with Roger McGuinn.
Since Petty had been an avid fan of The Byrds since his youth, he was more than happy to work with McGuinn on his new record, featuring a co-write called ‘King of the Hill’. When the label thought the record didn’t have a single behind it, Petty got into an intense argument on camera with one of McGuinn’s advisors.
Being one of the younger suits at the label, Petty fought against McGuinn’s people about the lead single they wanted him to put out. Throughout the documentary Runnin’ Down a Dream, Petty chastised the suits for not getting McGuinn’s style, remembering, “The A&R guy that showed up to help was very young. I don’t think he understood the legacy of who he was working with.”
When combing through the lyrics of the song, Petty is being as passive-aggressive as possible, pointing out some of the cliches in the lyrics, saying, “It says ‘now I’ve got both feet on the ground’. I could smoke a joint and come up with a better line than that.”
Even when trying to compromise by changing some of the lyrics, Petty is still unwilling to go along, continuing, “You getting some kickback or something off of this? This is a bad song.”
Looking back on the session, Petty was a slightly ashamed of how he acted in front of one of his idols, recalling, “That was the first time I walked out of the studio and said ‘I never talked that way in a session before. I was really out of line.'” Despite Petty’s hang-ups, his going against the business side of the industry was exactly what McGuinn needed to hear.
After years of being out of the spotlight, McGuinn saw Petty as his voice of reason and elected not to go through with the single, thinking it would stain his legacy trying to sell out. Even though the album wasn’t nearly as successful as most other 1960s rock renaissances, McGuinn remained proud of what he and Petty had worked on together.
Since Petty had been listening to The Byrds for over half his life, it only makes sense that he would be the one who knew what the artist should sound like in the studio. If nothing else, Petty challenging that A&R man was part of his life philosophy: never be inauthentic.
