Tom Petty has Passed Away

[jcyclonee]

This one hurts bad. So glad I saw him at the Well this summer. I saw him in the first ever concert the arena had after it opened. Both were fantastic.

It was eerie today when I heard the news, listening to random songs off my music library while at work. It was his song Rebels.

I love that on the Southern Accents album he wrote such great songs about two sides of Southern culture in Rebels and Southern Accents. In Southern Accents you can really hear his pride and just has such touching lyrics. The character he writes about in Rebels becomes so personal, deep (for a 3 minute song) and flawed that a movie could be made about him.

Tom Petty may be my favorite musician. The laid-back, yet still rocking tunes really hit a note with me. This is pretty sucky news. Thanks for your gifts, Tom. My prayers are with your family.

 

[Clonefan32]

Weird looking dude, less-than-traditional rock voice, but still one of the great rockers of our time. That says something about his lyrical abilities and the way his voice just seemed to resonate with people.

 

[isu2014]

Janny and I had tried to figure out his and Joe Walsh's ages during the concert this summer. It makes sense that he'd be that old, but it's also surprising. But think about it, the guy has had some level of success in each decade since the 70s.

Petty looked about 60, and Walsh looked about 95.

 

[Angie]

Petty looked about 60, and Walsh looked about 95.

Agreed. Walsh could still play like crazy, but his voice sounded old. Petty was never the guitar virtuoso, but he still sounded great.

 

[Mr Janny]

"See that drunk girl speedin' down the street?
She's worried about the state of public schools.
She likes to party! She likes to rock!
She prays that our schools don't run out of chalk."

This one hurts a lot. The first album I ever purchased was Full Moon Fever. I was 10 or 11, and Free Fallin' was all over the radio. I bought it for that song, but quickly realized that he had a ton more to offer than just that single. He's been relevant on the music scene for 40 years. That's pretty crazy. I was lucky to have been able to see him this past June. He put on a heck of a show.

 

[isu2014]

Agreed. Walsh could still play like crazy, but his voice sounded old. Petty was never the guitar virtuoso, but he still sounded great.

Totally agree about Walsh but I didn't really care, just to see a legend perform live was amazing. Life's Been Good was awesome, as well as Take me to the Limit.

I feel awful for his bandmates. They had all been together so long...I think they said the drummer was the newest member at like 26 years. To find out that your band is done and also lose a longtime friend in the same moment...

 

[WalkingCY]

RIP Tom Petty. Loved his music.

 

[Angie]

"See that drunk girl speedin' down the street?
She's worried about the state of public schools.
She likes to party! She likes to rock!
She prays that our schools don't run out of chalk."

This one hurts a lot. The first album I ever purchased was Full Moon Fever. I was 10 or 11, and Free Fallin' was all over the radio. I bought it for that song, but quickly realized that he had a ton more to offer than just that single. He's been relevant on the music scene for 40 years. That's pretty crazy. I was lucky to have been able to see him this past June. He put on a heck of a show.

My "classic rock and roll Mt. Rushmore" would change every so often, but I feel like a good approximation would be:

David Bowie
Prince
Tom Petty
Bob Dylan

I hope Dylan sticks around.

 

[jcyclonee]

My "classic rock and roll Mt. Rushmore" would change every so often, but I feel like a good approximation would be:

David Bowie
Prince
Tom Petty
Bob Dylan

I hope Dylan sticks around.

That's not good. Could you please take Dylan off that list and replace him with Drake or Bieber?

 

[madguy30]

Saw him 3 times in one summer mainly by coincidence (one at Bonnaroo, one at Summerfest, and one local show) and also was dating a girl who behaved in very petty fashion, i.e. changing FB statuses, passively verbally abusive, etc. Thus, that summer has always been known as 'Summer of Petty'.

One of my favorite and underrated albums. Need to revisit.

 

[MilehighClone]

It sucks getting old and seeing the heroes of your youth pass away. Fortunately I was able to catch the last tour and at Red Rocks no less. Petty was just a flat out cool dude and The Heartbreakers as a band are underrated.
I always thought he did a masterful job with his bridges(when there was one), such as The Waiting and in this one. RIP.

 

[jbindm]

I am not a crier - but i did watching a Vegas video this morning, and again listening to that line.

I am most definitely a crier. I was listening to Walls (Circus) this morning and it had me blubbering.

 

[jbindm]

"See that drunk girl speedin' down the street?
She's worried about the state of public schools.
She likes to party! She likes to rock!
She prays that our schools don't run out of chalk."

This one hurts a lot. The first album I ever purchased was Full Moon Fever. I was 10 or 11, and Free Fallin' was all over the radio. I bought it for that song, but quickly realized that he had a ton more to offer than just that single. He's been relevant on the music scene for 40 years. That's pretty crazy. I was lucky to have been able to see him this past June. He put on a heck of a show.

Nice Simpsons pull. I'd forgotten all about that.

"Did they ever find Tom Petty's toe?"

"What am I, the lost and found?"

 

[matclone]

Some of my favorite King of the Hill episodes involved "Lucky" (Tom Petty), including the one where he was pulling tree stumps and telling the story of his grandfather who got in a little trouble with the law.

 

[Al_4_State]

I'm a huge Petty fan. Have been literally as long as I can remember - I got in trouble for singing "Free Fallin'" on nursery rhyme day in pre-school. In the first grade I argued with my music teacher when she referred to Elvis as the King of Rock and Roll. I told her Tom Petty was the King of Rock and Roll, and I wasn't backing down (pun absolutely intended). His music has been part of my life's soundtrack from the beginning.

I finally got to see him and the Heartbreakers on my 25th birthday in Omaha, with my favorite modern band (Drive-By Truckers) opening. It was one of those "pick your perfect concert" kind of deals. It was an incredible night.

This has bummed me out more than any celebrity death. Tom was there for the good times and the bad, always around the corner. A familiar voice that always made me smile.

I haven't seen this song posted yet - it's from the first Mudcrutch album and was written way back in those days. It's become one of my favorite Petty songs over the past year or so.

 

[inCyteful]

My "classic rock and roll Mt. Rushmore" would change every so often, but I feel like a good approximation would be:

David Bowie
Prince
Tom Petty
Bob Dylan

I hope Dylan sticks around.

Most incredible concert I ever went to was Dylan/Petty in MSP. I can't even remember when, '86? I don't remember about 2 years around that but I remember that concert. Those two complemented each other so well.

Replace Prince with Freddy Mercury and I am completely with you.

 

[michaelrr1]

Totally agree about Walsh but I didn't really care, just to see a legend perform live was amazing. Life's Been Good was awesome, as well as Take me to the Limit.

I feel awful for his bandmates. They had all been together so long...I think they said the drummer was the newest member at like 26 years. To find out that your band is done and also lose a longtime friend in the same moment...

"New Guy" is what they still call him, as he explained at the concert.

 

[2020cy]

I have a sick sense of humor. Howard Stern on his Tom Petty tribute today said they decided to just go ahead and euthanize the Heartbreakers now. Somehow that struck me as funny.

 

[Cy94]

Me in the car.

 

[cyclones500]

Almost impossible to summarize Petty's career. A good chunk of his output seemed to fit well with nearly every pop music phase/trend as he went along, but he didn't accomplish that by mimicking what was trendy or hot. His music didn't evolve because of the direction of ock 'n' roll, it's like music evolved well alongside him.