2000s
The Petty Archives

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Go Listen: Petty gets nostalgic
By Dave Schlenker
Ocala Star-Banner - September 29, 2006

Post-Petty Wrap-Up
Speaking of Gainesville musicians...

Last week, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played a breathing-room-only, 30th-anniversary concert in Gainesville -- the band's hometown.

These guys, Petty included, returned home gracious and overwhelmed by the crowd (which included oodles of Ocalans, by the way). It had been 13 years since the band last played their hallowed hometown, and the media -- myself, included -- made a huge deal about the concert's historical and emotional significance.

It's Good to Be King
By Sean Manning
The Daily Californian - Monday, October 2, 2006

It must speak to the inherently intimate and persona-driven characteristics of rock music that so often a live performance can hinge on the mood and mentality of the performer. In a genre that's so fixated on the individual, the frontman, or the entity, musicians become not only entertainers but also a sort of MC for the evening's events. It's why no matter how good Dylan's band is, it's up to him whether he's still the spokesman for a generation or merely a pile of Zimmerman slumped over a piano, muttering incoherent musings to a flock of people who were born too late to catch the real deal.

Amidst this unpredictability, Tom Petty stands tall as one of the few sure-fire guarantees in the rock pantheon. For instance, if you go to see Tom Petty in concert, you can rest assured that the following will be true: Tom Petty will be happy to be there, the crowd will respond with equal enthusiasm, and yes, don't you worry, you will get your "Freefallin'."

Happily not retired
By Geoff Boucher
The Los Angeles Times - December 31, 2006

Damn the rumors, declares Tom Petty: 2006 was great, next year could even top it.
Tom Petty got plenty of mileage out of the Mad Hatter persona in the 1980s, but on a recent afternoon he staggered to answer his mansion door looking like a surlier version of the Scarecrow from Oz's cornfields. In denim and tattered flannel, and with a gimpy knee buckling beneath him, the 55-year-old rock star sized up the visitors on his porch, shrugged and handed off a lit cigarette to his wife. "OK, so where are we doing this photo?"

The photographer positioned the singer beside a tree that partially obscured him, and Petty, pleased by the notion of camouflage, held up his guitar for further cover. The reporter asked Petty if he loathes interviews. "It's part of the job," he answered, the way a miner might shrug and explain that yes, of course black lung is to be expected when you dig coal for a living. "And sometimes," Petty added, "people get things wrong or misunderstand."

  • 2007-01-05_The-Victoria-Advocate

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Petty insists he's not retiring
The Victoria Advocate - January 5, 2007

Rocker Tom Petty says he's not retiring, despite a Rolling Stone article in July that suggested otherwise. And, he added, 2006 was one of the most rewarding years in his career. Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, recently earned two Grammy nominations for their latest album, "Highway Companion." Their 30th anniversary tour was a sellout and included a triumphant homecoming to Gainesville, Fla., where the band formed in the 1970s.

Editor's Note: Is this quote even real? I've never actually found a source for it.

In My Opinion: All downhill from here?
By Joe Bailey
Oregon Daily Emerald - Wednesday, January 10, 2007

"You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..."  -- Tom Petty.

Perhaps no quotation is more prominent on Facebook profiles and dormitory walls than the words of Tom Petty. Petty's quote is not popular because it is a new thought -- there is nothing new about skipping class and drinking 'til sunrise -- but because it perfectly expresses a common attitude. There is a widely held belief that college is the best time of a person's life. As college students we do not speak from experience; instead, we say that college is the best time of life because that is what we are told. I understand that college grads reflect on these years nostalgically, especially when they compare the carefree, campus lifestyle with the demands of adulthood. But every time I am told that college is as good as it gets, I feel a little depressed.

The Best Albums Of 2006
By Martin Jones
Community Free Press - February 14, 2007

Tom Petty, "Highway Companion" -- Former Traveling Wilbury cohort and ELO giant Jeff Lynne does most of the producing and playing along with Petty and Mike Campbell, the only Heartbreaker along for the ride. This is a great sounding album. The recording is bright and Petty sounds energized for once. The songwriting is good, and it reminds you that Tom Petty can still turn out albums as good as "Full Moon Fever," with or without the rest of the Heartbreakers.

Wilburys CDs reissued with care
Melbourne Herald Sun - June 6, 2007

It was a rock album conceived by accident that no one thought would succeed, even though it was made by some of the biggest names of their time.
And it was the rock album plus a successor that disappeared for a decade despite the fame it achieved.

Now the two volumes of the The Traveling Wilburys  - Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty - are being reissued thanks to efforts made by Harrison's widow Olivia, bringing back to public notice what had started as a fantasy camp for rock stars.

Old friends Harrison, Dylan, Orbison, Petty and Lynne bumped into each other in Los Angeles two decades ago, and ended up in a home recording studio where they sat around a microphone singing and playing guitar. Over late-night beers and joints, they dubbed themselves the Traveling Wilburys and released the fruits of their labours on a 1988 album titled Traveling Wilburys Volume 1.

Wilburys set to travel again
By Matt Hurwitz
USA Today - June 11, 2007

Nelson, Otis, Charlie T. Jr., Lefty and Lucky were never household names on the order of, say, John, Paul, George and Ringo. But in 1988, the alter egos of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne (ELO), Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan were lighting up airwaves and sales charts as the Traveling Wilburys.

The supergroup's double-platinum-selling debut album, Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, reached No. 3 on the Billboard album charts and spawned two hit singles, Handle With Care and End of the Line. Then came the playfully titled Traveling Wilburys, Vol . 3 two years later. ("That was George's idea," says Lynne, who co-produced both albums with the former Beatle, who died in 2001. "He said, 'Let's confuse the buggers.' ")

The Traveling Wilburys
By Noel Mengel
Brisbane Courier-Mail - June 14, 2007

The Traveling Wilburys (Rhino) 2007
The Traveling Wilburys – Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne – happened by accident when Harrison was asked for a B-side. When he came back with Handle With Care featuring the all-star cast, the label knew they had a monster on their hands.

Even more miraculously, the first album, Vol 1, has a kind of innocent, easygoing charm that overcomes the expectations created by those taking part.

A second album, Vol 3, recorded after the death of Orbison, wasn't as much fun, but by that time Petty and Dylan were invigorated by their success and recording some of their best albums in years.