The one Tom Petty song co-written by Bob Dylan
At the end of the 1970s, it looked like Tom Petty had pulled off the impossible. With his label breathing down his neck over royalties, the heartland rocker led The Heartbreakers to success with Damn the Torpedoes, giving them their strongest hits and launching the band to the top of the rock world. For all that success happening at once, the bubble burst for Petty halfway through the 1980s.
When working on the album Southern Accents, the sessions were fraught with tension over everyone getting blitzed on drugs. After turning down classics like ‘Boys of Summer’ and not getting anywhere with his newer material, Petty would eventually need surgery to repair tendons in his hand from hitting the wall in frustration.
When he seemed to be on an even keel, Petty was dealt the shock of a lifetime when a nameless arsonist tried to burn down his house. While Petty and his family survived with their lives, they would continue making the best of a bad situation on the road, with the entire family coming on tour while they rebuilt the house.
Despite the massive setbacks, Petty would get a new circle of friends while on the road. Becoming friendly with rock legends like Roger McGuinn, Petty’s birthday on the road was celebrated with George Harrison, McGuinn, and Bob Dylan. Before The Traveling Wilburys existed, though, Petty had already begun his collaboration with the voice of the 1960s.
After returning to touring life, Bob Dylan asked the Heartbreakers if they would serve as his backing band on the road, which turned into a massive joint tour. Playing a mix of Dylan and Petty songs, the band learned their chops on the road, playing different songs from all over each band’s catalogue.
Though Petty was about to start a new renaissance in his career, the first album since the tour, Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), was not what he hoped it to be. While Petty did have a massive hand in putting everything together, he admitted that the songs began to suffer, thinking that the title said it all for the project.
For all of the headaches of the past few years, Petty did get Dylan’s blessing on one of his new songs. The only single from the record, ‘Jammin’ Me’, would be a co-write with the rock legend, pointing out the different aspects of life that were getting in his way. Featuring a rockabilly approach to the guitars, the song is the most indicative of what the Heartbreakers were going for around this time.
Petty would eventually rub off on Dylan, contributing the song ‘Got My Mind Made Up’ for the album Knocked Out Loaded. Any artist would consider it a privilege to work with Dylan, but that was just the start of the crazy coincidences Petty was dealt at the time.
Before working with Jeff Lynne on Full Moon Fever, Petty was working with one of George Harrison’s guitars when the former Beatle asked him for his help for a prospective B-side. Operating out of Dylan’s studio, Petty collaborated with Mr. Zimmerman on the bridge to the song ‘Handle With Care’, the debut single from The Traveling Wilburys. Though Petty may have been the new kid on the block by comparison, he already had the respect of a rock and roll legend.
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