Thomas Earl Petty was an American musician. He was the leader of the rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch. Petty was also a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, and had success as a solo artist.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair. In 1982, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, stayed with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist—mostly on rhythm guitar and second keyboard. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein's death. The band had a long string of hit singles including "Breakdown", "American Girl", "Refugee", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the debut album by the band of the same name, released on November 9, 1976, by Shelter Records. The album was recorded and mixed at the Shelter Studio in Hollywood, California.
"Needles and Pins" is a rock song credited to American writers Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. Jackie DeShannon recorded it in 1963 and other versions followed. The most successful ones were by the Searchers, whose version reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart in 1964, and Smokie, who had a worldwide hit in 1977. Others who recorded the song include the Ramones, Gene Clark, Petula Clark, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks.
Island Life is a compilation album by Grace Jones, released in December 1985, summing up the first nine years of her musical career. The album sits among Jones' best-selling works.
Dwight Twilley is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984). His music is associated with the power pop style. Twilley and Phil Seymour performed as the Dwight Twilley Band through 1978, and Twilley has performed as a solo act since then.
Pack Up the Plantation: Live! is the first official live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1985. It was primarily recorded at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles during their 1985 tour but also includes several tracks from previous tours. It was released as a double LP or single cassette and compact disc.
Warm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Grace Jones, released on 9 May 1980 by Island Records. The album features contributions from the reggae production duo Sly and Robbie and is a departure from Jones's earlier disco sound, moving towards a new wave-reggae direction.
"Refugee" is a song recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was released in January 1980 as the second single from their album Damn the Torpedoes, and peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song is in compound AABA form.
"I Need to Know" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in 1978 as the first single from their second album You're Gonna Get It!. It peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1978. This song as well as "Listen to Her Heart" was already being played live in concert as early as June 14, 1977, as is evidenced in a performance on Germany's music television show "Rockpalast".
Philip Warren Seymour was an American drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for the singles "I'm on Fire", his own solo hit "Precious to Me" and for providing backing vocals on Tom Petty's hits "American Girl" and "Breakdown." His solo work is revered among fans of power pop.
"Listen to Her Heart" is a song recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in August 1978 as the second single from their second album, You're Gonna Get It!. It peaked at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in October 1978. This song as well as "I Need to Know" was already being played live as early as June 14, 1977 as is evidenced in Germany's music television show, Rockpalast.
"A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" is a song recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in June 1981 as the second single from their album Hard Promises. It peaked at number 79 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever" and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era", the tune is a twelve-bar blues with a rippling Hammond M3 organ line by Booker T. Jones that he wrote when he was 17, although the actual recording was largely improvised in the studio.
The Great Lost Twilley Album is a compilation of songs from the Dwight Twilley Band and Dwight Twilley solo, recorded in 1974 through 1980 and released in 1993 on Shelter Records. The basic band consisted of Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour, and Bill Pitcock IV ; other musicians include Leon Russell, Tom Petty and Susan Cowsill. Most of the production is credited to Twilley and Seymour, although some other producers who worked on songs on the record include Jack Nitzsche, Leon Russell, Robin Cable and Chuck Plotkin.
"Don't Do Me Like That" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in November 1979 as the first single from the album Damn the Torpedoes (1979). It reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's only Top 10 hit. The single also peaked at number 3 in Canada. In the UK, despite airplay by Capital Radio in the summer of 1980, the track failed to make the Top 75 chart.
"Private Life" is a 1980 song written by Chrissie Hynde, and released by both English band The Pretenders, and Jamaican singer Grace Jones in 1980.
"Here Comes My Girl" is a song written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, their third single from their breakthrough hit 1979 album, Damn the Torpedoes. It peaked at number 59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on May 24, 1980.
"Walls (Circus)" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in July 1996 as the first single from their soundtrack album Songs and Music from "She's the One". The song features Lindsey Buckingham on background vocals. The song peaked at number 69 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was recorded at Sound City Studios by engineer Sylvia Massy. An alternate arrangement of the song, played at a faster tempo, was included on the soundtrack under the title "Walls (No. 3)". The song was later covered by Glen Campbell on his 2008 album Meet Glen Campbell and by The Lumineers on the first anniversary of Petty's death.
The Best of Everything is a 2019 greatest hits album with recordings made by Tom Petty, with his backing band The Heartbreakers, as a solo artist, and with Mudcrutch. It was released on March 1.
