Tom Petty on the artist who “gave us the courage we never had”
Tom Petty was never one to back down when it came to any challenge. Whether it was the record company breathing down his neck or the critics that wanted to lump him in with the biggest acts of the new wave movement, Petty would stand by his beliefs and go out with guns blazing if he had to. Although Petty kept that fearless spirit throughout his career, he considered one artist responsible for incentivising the band to become better than they could ever be.
By the end of the 1970s, though, there was no other rock and roll band that could touch what Petty was doing. Compared to the sounds of acts like Ramones and The Clash that were storming the charts at the same time, Petty was happy to celebrate the rock and roll sounds that he grew up on, creating songs that were reminiscent of acts like The Byrds on ‘Refugee’ and ‘Here Comes My Girl’.
Even though he had to deal with various label disputes to get his masterpiece Damn the Torpedoes off the ground, the rest of the 1980s would also bring its fair share of challenges, starting with the replacement of bassist Ron Blair with Howie Epstein. Although Petty struggled through the recording of Long After Dark and broke his hand while recording the next album, Southern Accents, it wouldn’t be until he got on the road that he was lost, having to take his family on tour after an unknown assailant burned his house down.
While Petty may have gone through a good chunk of bad luck, his fortune was about to change when he started to become friendly with Bob Dylan. Coming out of his evangelical period, Dylan was getting back in touch with his rock and roll roots and would ask Petty to support him on his first massive tour.
With the Heartbreakers serving as his backing band, Dylan would build his persona back up, providing a cultural shock whenever the other musicians played live. Compared to other shows with a certain rhythm from start to finish, the band recalled being on their toes for most of the performances, with the frontman occasionally deciding to play the tune in a different key on the fly.
Although Petty had to put himself through his paces throughout the tour, he admitted that Dylan was responsible for strengthening the band during that time as well. When speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Petty recalled the Dylan tour being an enormous educational experience, saying, “He gave us a kind of courage that we never had, to learn something quickly and go out on stage and play it. You had to be pretty versatile because arrangements could change, keys might change, and there’s just no way of knowing exactly what he wants to do each night. You really learned the value of spontaneity.”
Even though Petty would fly solo for a while following the release of the next Heartbreakers album, Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), the band’s subsequent live shows would reflect their time working with Dylan. As showcased by songs on The Live Anthology, The Heartbreakers had turned themselves into a living musical animal, constantly stretching songs out onstage while possessing a certain telepathy regarding where the track was going. Dylan may have just been following his muse, but by having world-class musicians behind him, everyone was playing to the best of their abilities.
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