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Why is Tom Petty so revered?

#41
Tom Petty doesn't rank anywhere near my top 10 favorite artists.

That being said, playing any Tom Petty song in a room full of drunk girls is bound to get the stage mobbed by a room full of drunk girls.

Love him or hate him, the guy writes a good song.
 
#42
+1,000 - songs are deceptively simple, unpretentious, and often insanely catchy.


MakiSupaStar said:
I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you why I really like him. First off, after writing my own songs, I really admire him as a songwriter. He does a great job of creating something really catchy, but at the same time it has the appearance of being really simple (that is until you really breakdown what he's doing). It's similar to reggae in many ways. On the surface it appears simple, but when you break down all the parts and pieces, and the overall song's construction, you see the genius of it. It's orchestration with all those parts, yet presenting such an open inviting feeling, the beauty of his songs. Bands can easily put together his music, but most bands are NOT putting these songs together. As a musician it's really easy to sit back and say, 'Pfft, I can play that, and I can make a song like that', but most musicians don't.

Then there are his lyrics. They get in your head. They don't come off as pretentious and heady. They fit their deceptively simple structure. I have a ton of his stuff, and I always smile and enjoy it when I listen, even though this is not the general genre of music that I play.
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#44
elgecko said:
Petty is not a "great" songwriter. His songs aren't "deep" or overly poetic, but I think that's why so many people can relate to them... I don't think many go to a Petty show expecting musical "pyrotechnics"...but it's solid and tasty.
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This kind of sums it up for me. TP and the HB's are a southern band, practicing the fine art of RnR that is accessible and groove oriented.
 
#45
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If you haven't listened to them, please do. Listen to them both. A couple of times. Won't take long, they're only about a half hour each.

Great, pure rock & roll. There may have been better rock & roll songs than American Girl and I Need To Know but not many.
 
#46
Simple. He writes songs people can sing. whether in public or tooling down the road in the car. If you write songs people can sing (poorly or not) you're going to be popular.

And they're easy to cover (incorrectly most of the time) in a band. And the crowd sings along.
 
#47
Some great early albums like Damn the Torpedos. Huge hits throughout his career. Fantastic band in The Heartbreakers. His new album Mojo is really fantastic imo. I also like his last one Mudcrutch. It was the band before The Heartbreakers. They got those two guys in and recorded an album some 30+ years later. Not only was it good, but I thought really cool to bring those forgotten guys back for their chance they never got. He played bass on that record.
He was also in the Travelling Wilburys with George Harrison, etc.
 
#49
NOLA Bass said:
Some great early albums like Damn the Torpedos. Huge hits throughout his career. Fantastic band in The Heartbreakers. His new album Mojo is really fantastic imo. I also like his last one Mudcrutch. It was the band before The Heartbreakers. They got those two guys in and recorded an album some 30+ years later. Not only was it good, but I thought really cool to bring those forgotten guys back for their chance they never got. He played bass on that record.
He was also in the Travelling Wilburys with George Harrison, etc.
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I've been meaning to pick up Mudcrutch. I didn't realize that he played bass on this. This puts it higher up on my list of albums to get.
 
#50
I always respected Petty, but wasn't a big fan until I saw him live. I went on a whim and he played 35 songs in a row that made me say "Oh cool, I love this song." They are a great live band, very compelling and it's virtually a vintage guitar show. He and Mike Campbell play a different guitar worth the price of my house on every song.

To me, his zen- like simplicity is his greatest strength. To keep writing great 3 chord songs after 15 albums is a major achievement.
 
#53
MakiSupaStar said:
I've been meaning to pick up Mudcrutch. I didn't realize that he played bass on this. This puts it higher up on my list of albums to get.
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It is a really good record. I highly reccomend it and his latest with the Heartbreakers, MOJO.
 
#58
I don't own any of his recordings, but IMO he is a deft songwriter, with an elevated sense of how to create a cool pop/rock tune in a simple, even elegant way. His guitar playing is uncomplicated, but polished. I like many of his tunes, but I'm not what you'd call a fan.

I've seen a few interviews, and what I like about him most, is his attitude towards the music biz, and that he is very intelligent, and gives credit to all the folks around him. He obviously doesn't take himself very seriously, but approaches what he does with conviction and feels a great responsibility for all those that support him. At the same time he has no problem enjoying the fruits of his labor, but he isn't narcissistic or a sloth. I like him more for this than his music.

FTR and IMHO, he isn't very good looking, I don't care for his voice, but, ironically, I share his last name. Because I play the bass, people are always asking if we're related. :hmm:

Maybe we're distant cousins. :eek:
 
#60
I would say it is mostly because they adhere to the K.I.S.S. principle. Keep It Simple Stupid. Their formula to success is based on writing extremely simple, catchy, hook laden songs with a few chords. No flashy time signature changes or multiple segments. Petty is not the greatest singer in the world and he is the only lead singer in the group, which limits their range vocally and they stay within his abilities. They also don't do much in the way of vocal harmonies.

However, the musicians are really, really good. They are very tight in concert albeit not the most exciting live show I have ever seen. Over the last few years, many of the songs sound the same and are slow plodding type tunes and not much in the 3 chord rockers they used to do. With that said, I do like a lot of their songs and my band plays a couple of them including Running Down A Dream, You Wreck Me, and we plan on doing Free Falling. Bands always get a great response when they play Petty songs and we get lots of requests for them.
 

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