Tom Petty is pretty cool. I don't think he's the greatest musician that ever lived, but he's produced a solid body of work over his long career. Not everyone can be a serious ground-breaker. Petty just writes good rock-n-roll tunes. Nothing wrong with that.In 1989 Tom Petty released "Full Moon Fever," billed as his first solo album. A lot of people don't realize that it IS a solo record because it doesn't really sound that different from his other records. That's most likely because FMF features guitarist Mike Campbell, whose sound is so recognizable from The Heartbreakers. A few of the other band members appear on the album too, so I'm not too sure why it was considered a solo project in the first place. Whatever... I digress.
I've always liked the song "I Won't Back Down" because now and then you just need a good "Fuck You" tune. Petty's stubbornness is well-documented. He fought back when his record contract was sold from one company to another. He fought back when his label tried to hike the price on one of his releases under what they called "Superstar pricing." He fought once again when someone tried to use his song in a commercial without his permission. "I Won't Back Down" is kind of a tribute to his indomitable spirit.
"I Won't Back Down" is from the album "Full Moon Fever." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
Petty put out a disc in 2000 entitled Anthology Through the Years. I'd check it out. It has some of my favorite songs like Rebels and a great live song called So you want to be a rock n roll star.
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