Ron Blair
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Ron Blair (born Ronald Blair, September 16, 1948, in San Diego) was the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was the band's bass guitarist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002 he returned to the group after a 21-year hiatus, replacing his own replacement, the late Howie Epstein.
His father was a Navy man so the family relocated every few years throughout the U.S. as well as within Japan and Hong Kong. As a teenager in Japan, Ron was in a locally famous rock band. But it was the music scene in Macon, Georgia and Gainesville, Florida where Blair felt most at home. Before playing with Tom Petty, Blair was part of a band called RGF that was in major competition with another outfit, Mudcrutch, in Gainesville.
After Mudcrutch broke up, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench teamed up with Blair and Stan Lynch, whom they had known from the Gainesville music scene and started recording some demos together in Los Angeles when Petty asked if they would like to assume his recording contract with Shelter Records and start a band. (Denny Cordell, President of Shelter, had kept Petty under contract, seeing major potential in him). Blair went on to play on the band’s first four albums, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, You're Gonna Get It!, Damn the Torpedoes, and Hard Promises and a few tracks of Long After Dark before his departure in 1982.
He then re-joined them on March 18, 2002 to perform at the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The reunion led to Blair’s return to the group for their 2002 summer tour and helped finish up The Last DJ album, and has been present for all subsequent tours.
Aside from the Heartbreakers, Blair has designed albums for Barbara Morrison and Carlos Zialcita. He has also played on albums by Kirstin Candy, Stevie Nicks, Del Shannon, Slobberbone, and The Tremblers. Blair was also part of the original lineup of The Dirty Knobs, Mike Campbell's side-project band.
Tom Petty had the following to say about Blair: "It’s great having him [back] in the band. It reminds me of the old days just seeing him around...We hung out. We knew each other. And he was always the best bass player in town." (Orange County Register, August 26, 2002)
| Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers |
| Tom Petty | Mike Campbell | Scott Thurston | Ron Blair | Benmont Tench | Steve Ferrone |
| Howie Epstein | Stan Lynch |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | You're Gonna Get It! | Damn the Torpedoes | Hard Promises | Long After Dark | Southern Accents Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | Into the Great Wide Open | Songs and Music from "She's the One" | Echo | The Last DJ |
| Tom Petty solo albums: Full Moon Fever | Wildflowers | Highway Companion |
| Tom Petty with Traveling Wilburys: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 | Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 |
| Compilations: Greatest Hits | Playback | Anthology: Through The Years |
| Live albums: Pack up the Plantation: Live! | Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ |
| Production |
| Jimmy Iovine | Robbie Robertson | Jeff Lynne | Rick Rubin | George Drakoulias |
