30 Years in the Making, a Show Still Lean and Hungry
By Nate Chinen
The New York Times - June 22, 2006
When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their first album 30 years ago, they could hardly have known that they would become one of the biggest touring acts in rock 'n' roll. They probably had no premonition of playing a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, as they did on Tuesday night, or providing theme music for the broadcast of the N.B.A. Finals, which wrapped up the same evening. Those would have seemed like grandiose benchmarks for a band so scrappy and garage-like, so devoted to grease and grit.
But then again, the band's hunger was clear from the start. It's there in the bright swagger of "American Girl," the song that closed that first album (and, as an encore, Tuesday's concert). "She couldn't help thinking that there was a little more to life somewhere else," Mr. Petty sang on that track, with plainspoken insistence. Only a couple of years earlier he had left Gainesville, Fla., for Los Angeles, band mates in tow.
Petty delivers the hits and more
By Jonathan Perry
Boston Globe - June 23, 2006
MANSFIELD -- Somewhere along the line when we all weren't looking -- maybe we were paying attention to flashy stadium superstars or frothing over indie-rockers with cool haircuts -- Tom Petty became a rock 'n' roll institution. And yet somehow, that description seems too ossified, too staid for a twinkle-eyed rascal like Petty. Or maybe, it doesn't seem applicable to a rock dreamer who still so obviously, so fervently, believes in the dream.
This year, Petty and his brilliant band the Heartbreakers are celebrating their 30th anniversary as one of the finest, most enduring outfits in rock 'n' roll. Already in possession of a treasure chest filled with pop jewels about American girls and free-falling refugees, Petty didn't need a two-hour, 21-song set of classics to stump for the rich legacy to which he keeps adding pearls.
Petty not suing the Chili Peppers
CANOE - June 30, 2006
The Red Hot Chili Peppers can breathe easy -- Tom Petty won't be suing the foursome over recent plagiarism allegations.
Some media reports suggested that Petty contacted lawyers and was considering litigation over the close similarities between his song "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and the Peppers' hit single "Dani California."
However, Petty was singing a different tune to Rolling Stone.
Tom Petty opens closet
Phillippine Daily Inquirer - July 3, 2006
CLEVELAND -- It's not often a rock star opens up his bedroom closet to the world. Tom Petty did and the resutls are on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fae and Museum, which is showcasing Petty and the Heartbreakers in an exhibit that opened Friday.
When representatives from the Rock Hall visited Petty's Spanish-style ranch in Malibu, California, in April looking for artifacts, he invited them into his bedroom, then into his rather sizable closet.
Celebrating 30 years of Tom Petty
Melbourne Age - July 5, 2006
Cleveland -- It's not often a rock star opens up his bedroom closet to the world.
Tom Petty did and the results are on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is showcasing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in an exhibit.
When representatives from the Rock Hall visited Petty's Spanish-style ranch in Malibu, California, in April looking for artefacts, he invited them into his bedroom, then into his rather sizable closet.
Petty pulled out a flowered shirt he wore in the video for his biggest chart hit, Free Fallin', and the grey jacket he wore as a member of the esteemed Traveling Wilburys. He also produced a nylon bag of notebooks filled with handwritten lyrics.
"We left his house pinching ourselves," said Howard Kramer, the Rock Hall curator.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, inducted into the Rock Hall in 2002, are a classic American band, a blue-collar act that has always stuck to the basics.
Petty will rock O'Dome after 13 years
By Dave Schlenker
Gainesville Sun - Saturday, July 8, 2006
Tickets for the Sept. 21 concert, a part fo the band's 30th anniversary tour, go on sale July 22.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are coming home for their 30th anniversary. The Gainesville-bred band -- and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers -- will perform at the O'Connell Center on Sept. 21.
Tickets go on sale July 22 at TicketMaster outlets. Alternative rockers The Strokes are scheduled to open the show, according to Petty's publicist Heidi Ellen Robinson Fitzgerald.
"I can't wait," said keyboard player Benmont Tench, an original member who still keeps close ties to Gainesville. "I'm really, really happy about it. I'm so thrilled they finally announced it."
Heartbreakers plan for UF homecoming
By Kelsie Wilson
The Independent Florida Alligator - Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Legendary rock band will return to Gainesville roots.
Gainesville rock band Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will perform at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Sept. 21, according to a press release posted on the band's Web site.
The group will be stopping in its hometown as part of the Highway Companion Tour, a concert series commemorating the band's 30th anniversary.
However, an official at the O'Connell Center said the show has not yet been confirmed.
"We're still in negotiations, but we're optimistic about it," said Lionel Dubay, the O'Connell Center's facility director.
Read more: The Independent Florida Alligator - July 11, 2006
Tom Petty | Highway Companion | (American) | 4/5
By Dave Simpson
The Guardian - Friday, July 21, 2006
Tom Petty's iconic status in America, where he is viewed as a bridge between Bob Dylan and the Byrds, has never been reflected in Britain and, sadly, now never will be. He has announced his retirement from tours and interviews.
However, if the former Heartbreaker's third solo album proves to be his last, he has delivered one of rock's most eloquent goodbyes.
Tom Petty: Highway Companion | American/Warner Bros | 2/5
By Dan Cairns
London Times - July 23, 2006
A musician with classics such as American Girl and Refugee to his name commands respect. But he also creates a level of expectation he has his work cut out to meet. And it’s a fact as unavoidable as it is sad that Tom Petty, who has penned some of the greatest yearning, jingle-jangle songs in the American rock canon, hasn’t rescaled the peaks of his early years, seeming instead to set up base camp in the foothills, where he’s churned out pale imitations. Nothing here disgraces his justifiably high reputation (Jack and Turn This Car Around are both lovely), but nor do any of the 12 Jeff Lynne-produced tracks come close to touching the TP spots of old.