Southern Accents | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 26, 1985 | |||
Recorded | 1983–1985 | |||
Studio |
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Length | 39:54 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Producer | ||||
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology | ||||
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Singles from Southern Accents | ||||
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Southern Accents is the sixth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on March 26, 1985, through MCA Records. The album's lead single, "Don't Come Around Here No More", co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Southern Accents" was later covered by Johnny Cash for his Unchained album in 1996.
Originally conceived as a concept album, the theme of Southern Accents became somewhat murky with the inclusion of three songs co-written by Stewart, and several others originally planned for the album left off. Songs cut from the track list include "Trailer", "Crackin' Up" (a Nick Lowe cover), "Big Boss Man" (a Jimmy Reed cover), "The Image of Me" (a Conway Twitty cover), "Walkin' from the Fire", and "The Apartment Song". The first two were released as B-sides, while the two remaining covers (and a demo version of "The Apartment Song") were later released on the Playback box set. A studio version of "The Apartment Song" appeared on Petty's first solo album, Full Moon Fever , released in 1989. "Trailer" was later re-recorded and released in May 2016 by Petty's other band Mudcrutch, on its second studio album, 2. [1] "Walkin' from the Fire" was eventually released on the posthumous box set An American Treasure in 2018. The song "My Life/Your World" from Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) included several of the song's lyrics rewritten.
While mixing the album's opening track, "Rebels", Petty became frustrated and punched a wall, severely breaking his left hand. Subsequent surgery on his hand left him with several pins, wires and screws holding his hand together.
The album cover features an 1865 painting by Winslow Homer titled The Veteran in a New Field .
The album would prove to be the last album to have any involvement of bassist Ron Blair until 2002.
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Blender | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [5] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Essential Rock Discography | 6/10 [7] |
MusicHound | 4/5 [8] |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) [9] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
In a three-out-of-five star retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented that while "occasionally, the songs work" and "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" expand [the band's] sound nicely", the record was too often "weighed down by its own ambitions". [11]
In the Los Angeles Review of Books , Connor Goodwin said the album is "deeply embedded in nostalgia for the Lost Cause." [12]
All tracks are written by Tom Petty, with additional writers noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Rebels" | 5:21 | |
2. | "It Ain't Nothin' to Me" | Dave Stewart | 5:12 |
3. | "Don't Come Around Here No More" | Stewart | 5:07 |
4. | "Southern Accents" | 4:44 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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5. | "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" | Stewart | 4:23 |
6. | "Spike" | 3:33 | |
7. | "Dogs on the Run" | Mike Campbell | 3:40 |
8. | "Mary's New Car" | 3:47 | |
9. | "The Best of Everything" | 4:03 | |
Total length: | 39:54 |
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Additional musicians
Production
Chart (1985) | Peak position |
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New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [13] | 25 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [14] | 10 |
UK Albums (OCC) [15] | 23 |
US Billboard 200 [16] | 7 |
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.
Full Moon Fever is the debut solo studio album by American musician Tom Petty, released on April 24, 1989, by MCA Records. It features contributions from members of his band the Heartbreakers, notably Mike Campbell, as well as Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and George Harrison, Petty's bandmates in the Traveling Wilburys. The record showcases Petty exploring his musical roots with nods to his influences. The songwriting primarily consists of collaborations between Petty and Lynne, who was also a producer on the album. Full Moon Fever became a commercial and critical success, peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified 5× platinum in the United States and 6× platinum in Canada.
Wildflowers is the second solo studio album by American musician Tom Petty, released on November 1, 1994. The album was the first released by Petty after signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records and the first of three albums produced by Rick Rubin. The album was certified 3× platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Hard Promises is the fourth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released on May 5, 1981, on Backstreet Records.
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.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1993. It is Petty's best-selling album to date and was certified 12× Platinum by the RIAA on April 28, 2015. The single "Mary Jane's Last Dance" became one of Petty's most popular songs, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The other new song on the album is a cover of the Thunderclap Newman hit "Something in the Air". The album contains no songs from 1987's Let Me Up . However, three songs from Petty's 1989 solo album Full Moon Fever were included.
"Rebels" is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It appeared on the 1985 album Southern Accents and was released as a single in the same year. Although it only reached #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, it fared much better on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at #5.
Playback is a box set compilation by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1995. It contains popular album tracks, B-sides, previously unreleased outtakes, and early songs by Petty's previous band Mudcrutch.
Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) (styled on the cover with quotation marks) is the seventh studio album by the American band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on 27 April 1987. It features the most songwriting collaborations between Petty and lead guitarist Mike Campbell on any Petty album. It is the first album without then-former bassist Ron Blair on any tracks, as well as the first not produced by Jimmy Iovine.
Rock a Little is the third solo studio album by American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks, released on November 18, 1985, by Modern Records.
Anthology: Through the Years is a double compilation album featuring the best of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It contains a new song, "Surrender," written by Petty in 1976 and recorded during sessions for the band's first album but left off the record, recorded again in 1979 but left off "Damn The Torpedoes," and finally recorded again in 2000 for this release. "Surrender" is also the last studio recording of Howie Epstein before his death in 2003. The 1976 version of the song was included on the 2018 box set An American Treasure.
Pack Up the Plantation: Live! is the first official live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1985 by MCA Records. It was released as a double LP and, in slightly truncated form, a single cassette or compact disc. A concert film of the same name was released on home video in 1986. Stevie Nicks sings on two songs, including the US single "Needles and Pins", which reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mudcrutch was an American musical group from Gainesville, Florida, whose sound touched on southern rock and country rock. They were first active in the 1970s and reformed in 2007, and are best known for being the band which launched Tom Petty to fame.
Keep the Fire is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, released in 1979. It is perhaps best known for the hit single "This is It". The song was co-written by Michael McDonald, who also performed on the track. Michael Jackson sings backup vocals on the track "Who's Right, Who's Wrong".
A Spanner in the Works is the seventeenth studio album released by Rod Stewart on 29 May 1995. It ended a four-year gap since his previous studio album, Vagabond Heart. Although he did release the live album Unplugged...and Seated in 1993, as of 2024, this remains Stewart's longest break between studio albums. It was released on Warner Bros. Records in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Five singles were released: "You're The Star", "Leave Virginia Alone", "This", "Lady Luck", and "Purple Heather".
Runnin' Down a Dream is a 2007 documentary film about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The 4-hour documentary chronicles the history of the band, from its inception as Mudcrutch, right up to the 30th-anniversary concert in Petty's home town of Gainesville, Florida, on September 21, 2006, at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, University of Florida. The film features interviews with George Harrison, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, Dave Grohl, Jeff Lynne, Rick Rubin, Johnny Depp, Jackson Browne and more. Petty's solo career is also touched on, as is his time with The Traveling Wilburys.
Born to Rock and Roll is a compilation album by the ex-Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, released on Columbia Records in August 1991. It was issued following the success of McGuinn's comeback solo album Back from Rio earlier that same year. Born to Rock and Roll contains songs from all five of McGuinn's solo albums of the 1970s, released after the final breakup of The Byrds in 1973. It was the first time that material from these albums had been released on Compact Disc.
Blink of an Eye is the fourth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, released on August 3, 1993, by Reprise Records, three years after his previous studio album, Take It to Heart (1990).
An American Treasure is a 2018 compilation album and box set of Tom Petty, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch released by Reprise Records on September 28, 2018. The set includes several rare and unreleased songs alongside more obscure album tracks that showcase Petty's songwriting. The majority of the content is Heartbreakers material but there are also several solo songs and some recordings by Mudcrutch. Critical reception has been positive.
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.