Hard Promises

Hard Promises
Studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Released	May 5, 1981 (1981-05-05)
Recorded	1980–81 at Sound City, Van Nuys, Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, CA and Goodnight, LA
Genre	Heartland rock
Length	39:33
Label	Backstreet
Producer	Jimmy Iovine, Tom Petty
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology
Damn the Torpedoes (1979) Hard Promises (1981) Long After Dark (1982)
Singles from Hard Promises
"The Waiting" Released: April 20, 1981 "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" Released: June 29, 1981

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Robert Christgau	B[3]
Rolling Stone	(Positive)[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Hard Promises is the fourth album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released in May, 1981.

History

Its original working title was Benmont's Revenge, referring to the band's keyboard player, Benmont Tench.^[6] The album features guest vocals from Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac on the duet "Insider." The Heartbreakers also recorded the hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" for Nicks' album Bella Donna around the time Hard Promises was recorded.

This was the second Tom Petty album on the Backstreet Records label. The album's release was delayed while Petty and his distributor MCA Records argued about the list price. The album was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan's Gaucho and the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu soundtrack. This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98.^[7] Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album or naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.^[8]

During the recording of the album John Lennon was scheduled to be in the same studio at the same time. Tom Petty was looking forward to meeting him when he came in. The meeting never occurred; unfortunately, John Lennon was murdered before he could ever make it into the studio. In order to pay tribute to one of their influences the band decided to etch "WE LOVE YOU JL" on the master copy of the album. To this day "WE LOVE YOU JL" is seen on every Hard Promises first issue US non-masterphile vinyl copy pressed.^[9] The album's title comes from a line in the chorus of "Insider."

Track listing

All songs were written by Tom Petty, except where noted.

Side one

1. "The Waiting" – 3:58
2. "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 4:22
3. "Nightwatchman" (Petty, Campbell) – 3:59
4. "Something Big" – 4:44
5. "Kings Road" – 3:27

Side two

1. "Letting You Go" – 3:24
2. "A Thing About You" – 3:33
3. "Insider" – 4:23
4. "The Criminal Kind" – 4:00
5. "You Can Still Change Your Mind" (Petty, Campbell) – 4:15

Personnel

The Heartbreakers

• Tom Petty – lead vocals, 12 & 6 string guitar electric & acoustic guitars, bass guitar & electric piano on "Something Big"
• Mike Campbell – 12 & 6 string guitar electric guitars, auto-harp, accordion, harmonium, bass guitar
• Benmont Tench – organ, piano, background vocals
• Ron Blair – bass guitar
• Stan Lynch – drums, background vocals

Additional Musicians

• Phil Jones – percussion on all tracks
• Stevie Nicks – harmony vocals on "Insider", background vocals on "You Can Still Change Your Mind"
• Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass guitar on "A Woman in Love"
• Sharon Celani – background vocals on "You Can Still Change Your Mind"
• Alan "Bugs" Weidel – piano on "Nightwatchman"

References