Frogtoon Music

Playback (Album) by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Artist Biography For Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Was A Rock Band Formed In 1976 From Gainesville Florida USA And Led By Tom Petty. Petty Was Supported By His Band The Heartbreakers For The Majority Of His Career. He Has Occasionally Released Solo Work As Was The Case With His 2006 Album Highway Companion On Which He Performed Most Of The Backing Instrumentation Himself. However Members Of The Heartbreakers Have Played On Each Of His Solo Albums And The Band Has Always Backed Him When Touring In Support Of Those Albums. After The Petty's Previous Band Mudcrutch Disbanded Petty Never One To Give Up Enlisted Mudcrutch Members Tench Keyboards And Mike Campbell Guitar Along With Gainesville Musicians Ron Blair Bass And Stan Lynch Drums To Form The Now Famous Lineup That Was Dubbed Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. They Released Their First Album Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers In November 1976. In 2006 The Band Celebrated The 30th Anniversary Of That Release. This Lineup Stayed Intact For Four Records And Was Responsible For Some Of The Most Infectious Songs "American Girl" "Breakdown" "Listen To Her Heart" "Refugee" "I Need To Know" "Don't Do Me Like That" And One Of The Most Critically Acclaimed Albums "Damn The Torpedoes" Of All Time. Their Tremendous Success Catapulted Them From Club Band To Arena Rockers Seemingly Overnight. Bassist Blair Split The Band In 1982 And Was Replaced By Howie Epstein A Protege Of Seminal Rocker Del Shannon. Epstein's Solid Playing And Soaring Backing Vocals Further Complemented The Band's Live Attack. Without Missing A Beat They Headed Back Into The Studio To Record A String Of Successful Albums Including The Classic "Long After Dark". In 1994 Stan Lynch Left The Heartbreakers To Pursue Other Musical Challenges And Steve Ferrone Well Regarded For His Work With The Average White Band And Eric Clapton Soon Became The Heartbreakers' Chosen Drummer. Most Recently At A Time When Many Of Their Contemporaries Have Long Since Grown Complacent Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Have In 2002 Released One Of Their Finest And Most Controversial Efforts - Featuring Some Of Petty's Most Moving Songs. Recorded Both Before And Following The Group's 2002 Induction Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame "The Last DJ" Reflected Petty's Strong Views About The State Of The Music Business And The Culture Generally. With The Departure Of Howie Epstein "The Last DJ" Marked Another Notable Return After Two Decades Away Founding Heartbreaker Ron Blair Returned To The Band's Rhythm Section. In 2010 The Heartbreakers Released The Well Received Album "Mojo". Petty Died On 2 October 2017 Following A Cardiac Episode Earlier That Day At His Home In Malibu California. Although Some Media Outlets Incorrectly Reported His Death Following An Erroneous Police Report His Death Was Confirmed Later That Day By His Publicist And Manager.

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Playback

Coming Along In 1976 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Were Part Of A Movement Back To Basic Pop-Oriented Rock & Roll That Has Proven To Be The Most Lasting Legacy Of A Decade Otherwise Given Over To Such Stylistic Flameouts As Disco And Punk. Never Getting Too Mellow To Be Mistaken For A Sensitive Singer/songwriter Or Rocking Too Hard To Be Thought Of As A Heavy Metallurgist Petty Spun Out A Series Of Mid-Tempo Hits Patterned On Bob Dylan's Classic Blonde On Blonde Sound In Which The Guitars Play Off The Keyboards While The Singer Sings Lyrics Steeped In Attitude In A High Nasal Whine. No Wonder The Heartbreakers Spent Part Of The '80s Backing Dylan. Petty's Only Musical Development Occurred Upon His Encountering Former Electric Light Orchestra Leader Jeff Lynne Who Helped Write And Produce His Later Records Updating Them To The Sgt. Pepper's Pop Sound Of 1967. Of Course The Consequence Of Petty & The Heartbreakers' Affection For The Music Of The Mid-'60s Was That In Essence They Were A Singles Band A Fact Driven Home On The First Three CDs Or Cassettes Of This Six-CD Or Cassette Box Set. Even When Abbreviating Each Of Their First Nine Studio Albums To Four-To-Six Cuts And Throwing In A Few Stray Tunes From The Live Album The Hits Album And A Christmas Compilation The Songs Break Down Into The Hits And The Also-Rans. To Be Fair There Are Quite A Few Of The Former 23 Singles-Chart Entries 22 Of Them Here In Fact And Some Of The Latter Are Could-Have-Beens. And Since Petty Is More A Song Maker Or More Precisely A Track Cutter Than An Album Artist His Work Is More Amenable To Compilation. Still Three Discs Are More Than Enough And Then Come Three More Discs Of Rarities And Outtakes. The First Of These Contains Non-LP B-Sides Most Of Which Are Pleasant Throwaways The Drummer Singing "Psychotic Reaction " Etc. Though One "Trailer " Suggests That Petty's Failed Concept Album Southern Accents Could Have Been A More Of A Success If It Had Been Included. The Last Two Discs Present Early And Alternate Histories Of Petty As His Pre-Heartbreakers Group Mudcrutch Searches For A Sound And Later As He Tries Out Different Approaches That Never Made It Onto His Regular Albums. Some Of This Material Will Be Of Interest To Hardcore Petty Fans. To Justify The Length And Price Of The Box However There Would Have To Be Real Lost Treasures Here And Tom Petty Simply Is No Bob Dylan. Not Surprisingly Then Playback Is A Box Set That Would Have Been Twice As Good At Half The Size Though It Can Be Thought Of As Economical In The Sense That It Can Be Purchased In Lieu Of Buying Petty's Entire 1976-1993 MCA Catalog.