Talk:Tom Petty

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Contents 1 American Girl 2 Birth year 3 movie left out? 4 Memories 5 Principal authors need to address these topics 6 Shelter? 7 fan comment 8 Plagiarism 9 1981 Tour 10 Shouldn't Tom Petty and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers be different articles? 11 Dave Grohl as a Heartbreaker 12 Work with Johnny Cash 13 Roger McGuinn 14 Sales in the U.S.

[edit] American Girl

As a student at the University of Flordia, I have heard many rumors circling around the song "American Girl". Can anyone confirm that this song is about a young woman who jumped off a balcony at Beaty Towers (a dormatory at the Univeristy of Florida in Gainesville)? Tom makes a reference to "441" which is the highway that runs in from of these buildings, but from my observations, it doesnt look like Beaty Towers has any balconies...

• Reply - I have removed the "trivia" section because the above statement is not true. Petty, in at least one interview has explained what the song is about, and is not related to any of the above info. Also, the fact his daughter likes Smashing Pumpkins has no relavance to this page and just serves as clutter. -- Mudcrutch

[edit] Birth year

I went to Howard Bishop Jr. High and Gainesville High school with Tom(my) and my wife's family grew up next door to him. He was our age, and we both were born in 1950. mccislcm.

Was Tom Petty born 1950 or 1953? Google doesn't help, giving many sources for each version. Dbenbenn 01:47, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I did some checking, and there are a lot of sources saying that he was born in 1953, as well as in 1950. However, there are more than a few sources which agree with the below that he graduated from high school in 1968, but I couldn't find any suggesting that he graduated 1970-1972. This seems like pretty good evidence that 1950 is right, unless we find something that says he graduated three years early. - Nat Krause 19:33, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

=== Tom Petty was born === in 1950. Tom graduated in 1968 one year ahead of my sister Carolyn and me from Gainesville High School. My sister was born in 1951 and I was born in 1952. My sister and I were in the same grade because I skipped third grade. My mother and I did a radio talk show in Gainesville, Florida for ten years on 97X radio station called "Down The Street". We had the pleasure of interviewing Tom's father Earl Petty several times. We also went to school with Tom's two cousins Sadie and Norma Darnell.

Tom is a wonderful person and an incredible muscian and songwriter. Always has been, always will be.

Bonnie Mountain ==

[edit] movie left out?

he also starred in the postman.. didnt see that mentioned anywhere. not sure if its significant tho.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119925

• • I've added the two movies he appeared in, plus a link to his imdb page. Phileas 07:02, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Memories

T.P. is my all time favorite singer. His best song was Rebels. I went to the True Confessions tour in '86 when he, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead were featured. That was my first and only encounter with the "dead heads". The albums done post-"Pack Up The Plantation" just weren't my cup of tea.

[edit] Principal authors need to address these topics

I was impressed with the article overall- I went through it and made some minor corrections -- spelling, syntax, a minor fact here and there.

Topics that are conspicuously absent from the article:

• The departure of Stan Lynch from the Heartbreakers in 1994.
• Didn't Tom do the soundtrack for a movie - the songs Zero from Outer Space and (She makes me feel like an) Asshole- are on there. I can't think of the name of the movie, but that seems significant and should be mentioned in the article.
• A sentence or two on the death of Howie Epstein.

Hokeman 05:33, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

For the second point, Tom did the soundtrack to She's the One. To be honest, this article seems to omit a lot of his late 90s-2000s musical work (awards and TV appearances notwithstanding). I'll try and add some stuff. Phileas 01:19, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I've added what I know, but if anyone has any more details on these more recent albums it would make the end more beefy. Reading it back, the article seems to lack a decent structure, though. Maybe the 'Biography' section needs to be split up further, into a section on Tom's history, the progression of the band and Tom's TV appearances. What do other people think? Phileas 01:43, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Shelter?

The second paragraph says: "Shortly after its release the band was dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records, Shelter's mother company, was sold to MCA Records."

My question is, what's Shelter?? The article doesn't say. Is Shelter Petty's record company? This needs some explanation in the article. Dismas|^(talk) 19:31, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

• Shelter is a record company but is not Petty's company. -- Mudcrutch 21:15, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] fan comment

I just want to say that as an abused child living in a dysfunctional group home in New York, Tom Petty's songs were a salve to a shredded soul. I never heard a more truer rendition of what such a person feels, as they are trying to make their way in a mad world. and that's all, and I hope some day he can read this, and know that his songs gave hope to one without hope.

I have Full Moon Fever and love it, can anyone recommend another album? Thunder Cat 11:56, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Thunder, I think the soundtrack to "The Brothers McMullen" is highly underrated. I absolutely love love love it. A also love love love Into the Great Wide Open. I'm not sure it's better than Full Moon Fever-it might be perhaps that that album had so many hits and so there's the notion that it's overplayed. But I probably listen to Great Wide Open More now too. And Damn the Torpedoes, although i don't have the first two albums, is just a fantastic collection of excellent rock 'n' roll songs.

[edit] Plagiarism

Shouldn't we include something about Red Hot Chilli Peppers stealing from him? I think there's quite a bit of infomation on the internet. Thunder Cat 09:21, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

• I found the quote I was looking for -- Petty tells PageSix.com, "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike. Ask CHUCK BERRY. THE STROKES took AMERICAN GIRL (for their song LAST NITE), and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you'.

"If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe (I'd sue). But I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous law suits in this country without people fighting over pop songs." -- Mudcrutch

• Why is the bit in there about Roger McGuinn's wondering at first if "American Girl" was one of his? I know it might be a comparison of another instance of plagiarism, but, well, if Tom doesn't believe the RHCP ripped him off, why should that be in there? Indeed, one (apparently unwarranted) suspicion of plagiarism certainly doesn't justify another anyway. -Wikitoddia 06:39, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

• (With huge respect towards Roger I would like to say...) Roger McGuinn has written TONS of material, and was even paid by a record company to sit and make songs that emulate "popular" songs of the times. (You can hear him discuss this on his own album "LIVE from Mars.") The fact he mentioned American Girl is a testament of how Petty does sound similar to McGuinn himself in many songs. I feel that line should be removed. -- Mudcrutch

[edit] 1981 Tour

The Split Enz radio documentary Enzology contains a bit of information about touring with Tom Petty during 1981, & contains quotes from band members about some of the difficulties that came from touring with Petty.

• The entire Enz information blurb seems completely unecessary and argumentative. It seems some Enz fan just added it as petty (no pun intended) bickering. I am considering deleting those lines soon unless anybody can give me some solid reasoning as to why to keep it. Simply stating TPATH/Split Enz toured in '81 seems to be enough. -- Mudcrutch
• No, I just added what was quoted in the radio documentary Enzology pretty much word for word. Personally I like Tom Petty's music, but this was information I obtained that can be backed up by listening to the program (episode 7 I believe had this information). If you want to edit it please feel free. Yes I'm an Enz fan but I'm not trying to cause an argument or even be "petty"... what reason would I have to do that anyway? I just felt it was relevant information coming from an official radio program, but if you disagree then get rid of it. - Dizrythmia
• I understand your point, but it looks like somebody else took it off... -- Mudcrutch

[edit] Shouldn't Tom Petty and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers be different articles?

While looking through the article, it seems it's an amalgamation of Tom Petty info as well as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Shouldn't the band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, be split out into its own article? I mean, Dave Matthews Band and Dave Matthews are different articles, is that really much different? Joltman 14:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

• I definitely agree. I think the general fan may see them as being the "same" but I think as more and more information gets added, we may need to divide up the two. (Basically if not now already, then very soon.) -- Mudcrutch

I think the whole article needs a cleanup. Right now the 'biography' section contains everything. I think it should be separated into a biography, music career, filmography, that sort of thing. Phileas 00:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

I AGREE T P & TP HEARTBREAKERS SHOULD BE 2 ARTICLES

THERR ARE A LOT OF BAND ARTICLES JUST LIKE THIS ONE

[edit] Dave Grohl as a Heartbreaker

• I have removed him under the list of former Heartbreakers. If everybody that played with the band was considered a "Heartbreaker" then that would be a long list. Yes, he did play with the band a number of times (notably on SNL around the release of "Wildflowers") but I see no basis to consider him a Heartbreaker. -- Mudcrutch

• How about considering him a Heartbreaker because he was asked to join the band. That's why he appeared on SNL. It was after that that he decided to leave and form the Foo Fighters. While he never recorded with the band, he was a Heartbreaker (just very breifly) KitHutch 02:00, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

• He was asked to join. He declined. He was never a Heartbeaker. There is no reason for him to be on the list. If there is an interest is starting a "musicians who played with the band" then by all means start one. In recent memory: Jacob Dylan and the rest of the Wallflowers, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nix, Bob Dylan, etc. etc... Mudcrutch

[edit] Work with Johnny Cash

I am concerned we are missing an important part Petty played in the resurgence of Johnny Cash's carrer on American Recordings. Also, the new Anthology - Through the Years is not mentioned. -- DanMcScience

[edit] Roger McGuinn

Greater detail re: TP's musical relationship to Roger McGuinn would seem to be in order. Alas, I'm not the guy to do it. The tribute "Feel a Whole Lot Better," the joint recording "King of the Hill," and TP's general stylistic homage to RM strike me as topics worthy of addition.

[edit] Sales in the U.S.

Are there any U.S.-Sales about Tom Petty´s records? Maybe some newer ones since the start of the Nielsen Soundscan era.