The Tom Petty Project

Latest Episodes:

Tommy Edwin Aug 30, 2023

Show notes

Today's episode is a conversation I had with the wonderful Tommy Edwin. Tommy and I connect over on Twitter months ago and I've been a fan of his music (and his personality) ever since. I love having conversations about Tom Petty's music with other musicians because, even when we're not talking directly about Tom. the ways in which he influenced people always shines through. Tommy Edwin is not exception. His feel for song structure and clarity always ring true for me. This was a fantastic hour and a half of my life that I was able to spend in the company of a truly lovely human being and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. As always, Tommy's answers to my ten questions will be available for you to listen to later this week! (Saturday to be precise!)

Please check out Tommy's (brilliant) website here: https://www.tommyedwinmusic.com and in particular, please give his latest single a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi0jhpe-K4c and if you're anywhere close to where he's playing, go out and support a guy who is making and playing music for all the right reasons!

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Depending On You Aug 23, 2023

Show notes

Something that my season seven guest Ivan Anderson said that stuck with me, was that “Listen to Her Heart” is a 'little' song. And by that, he wasn’t being dismissive. He was saying that it wasn’t covering a weighty topic and it was compact and accessible. I’d say exactly the same thing about this one. It’s neat and compact. It has a superb hook in the pre-chorus and the whole thing is imminently hummable. It’s a pretty perfect little pop song.

Today’s episode covers the third track from side two of Full Moon Fever, Depending On You.

You can listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/IjVGlKa2rL0

Check out the Skynyrd Reconsyrdyrd podcast here: https://twitter.com/skynyrdpodcast and the And Volume 4 All... podcast here: https://twitter.com/AV4APod

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yer So Bad Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

Yer So Bad could almost be the most important song in the entire Tom Petty canon. Almost. Probably not the most important, but it was the first song that Tom showed to Jeff Lynne and from there, the rest of Full Moon Fever and then The Traveling Wilburys dropped effortlessly into place. You have to think there was a little magic in the air that night. Tom tells Paul Zollo, “It was around this time that I showed Jeff one night that I had written the song ‘Yer So Bad’. But there was one little bit in the B section where I didn’t know where to go. He showed me this e minor chord and that kinda opened it all up to me.” The story concludes with Tom asking Jeff “Will you produce this?” and Jeff responding, “Sure, let’s do it. Where should we record it?” The rest, of course, is rock n roll history made via Mike Campbell’s spare bedroom.

You can listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/WdRViFCvvUo

And if you want to check out The Byrds' original, you can find that here: https://youtu.be/SgMCvfI5-l0

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feel a Whole Lot Better Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Every hardcore Tom Petty fan knows that when Tom took the record to the execs at MCA, they didn’t like it at all. When Paul Zollo asks Tom why in Conversations with Tom Petty, Tom replies “They didn’t hear a single!” One of the other issues with the record that it was only nine tracks long. So while Jeff Lynne, who coproduced the record, was out of town, Tom and Mike recorded the lullaby, Alright For Now, but they still needed more tracks, as the late 80s was the era of the CD and you could make much longer albums for the new format, which was appealing to the suits who have no idea about creativity. Tom tells Paul, “They wanted it to be a little longer. Then I cut the Byrds song ‘Feel a Whole Lot Better’ just to make the record a little longer.”

You can listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/tZxHLkA5EcU

And if you want to check out The Byrds' original, you can find that here: https://youtu.be/to-RVV_3anw

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Runnin' Down a Dream Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

In his fantastic memoir, Tom Petty and Me, Jon Scott calls Runnin Down a Dream “One of the greatest driving songs I’ve ever heard” and you get his point completely. It’s a juggernaut of a rock n roll song but isn’t overpowering sonically. Again Jeff Lynne leaves enough space for the song to breath but adds in enough flare to keep you interested all the way through. It’s an urgent and riveting song; almost as if it’s an hour and a half action movie packed into for glorious minutes of pop rock perfection.

You can listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/Y1D3a5eDJIs

And if you want to check out a version from the fantastic Live at the Fillmore album, you can find that here: https://youtu.be/oafLV5GU7tY

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Face in the Crowd Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

“I do like that song. I think it’s a really sweet song. A nice sentiment. Very simple. Extremely simple. It’s not complex in any way”

One thing I always find interesting in reading Paul Zollo's book is the way that Tom often seems to be looking at his own songs from the outside. The book came out in 2005 and in preceding decade, Tom had only played the song six times, so you can see why some of these songs he would have to go back to to think about. But I also get the sense sometimes that like a lot of artists, Tom doesn’t know where the inspiration or the words or the melodies come from, so he can look back at a piece that he wrote that he hasn’t heard for a while and grow a new appreciation for it almost as a third party.

Listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/ZuzinBBrkiE

Check out this great live version on Letterman here: https://youtu.be/4O7amyo0ABU

And check out this really tight cover by the band Spoon! https://youtu.be/yT1zPfh984k

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love Is a Long Road Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

Love is a Long Road is a really durable song and though I pointed out that it has a few rock tropes in it, they’re not overdone and not dated and I think this song really holds up well in its original recorded form. It’s another song with a very simple structure but with a couple of nice twists and turns in it.

Listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/2AilA-M6N5U

Check out this great live Sounstage version here: https://youtu.be/IZKXHkx_kec

If you want to listen to the very first live performance of the song, on January 29, 1990 in Charlotte, you can find it here: https://tinyurl.com/4feb2fj3

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Won't Back Down Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

As it does with so many people, this song resonates with me in many different ways and has become part of my general outlook on life. For me, it’s less a combative thing and more about holding firm to certain principles. Loyalty. Decency. Humility. All big words and and big ideas generally, but they are important and they’re important to me. Maybe this is not a unique association that I’m making, but it’s one I feel keenly and one that I think is expressed more concisely than in any other song I’ve ever heard.

Listen to the song here: https://youtu.be/nvlTJrNJ5lA

Check out Lucinda Williams' version here: https://youtu.be/S6ezmBtmvUs

Go watch Barnyard! But also, listen to Sam Elliott's version here: https://youtu.be/pdyRPjv-G14

If you wanna check out any of the podcasts I mentioned in the intro, you can find them here:

And The Podcast Will Rock: https://podcastwillrock.com/

Back Tracks: Aerosmith: https://twitter.com/BTAerosmith

Back Tracks: Theme Music: https://twitter.com/BTThemeMusic

Honest and Unmerciful: https://twitter.com/HonestUnmercifl

SeanGeek and FastFret: https://twitter.com/SeanGeekPodcast

The Misty Music Podcast: https://twitter.com/mistymusicpod

Weirdies: https://twitter.com/weirdiespod

Booked on Rock: https://twitter.com/bookedonrock

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Free Fallin' Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

“I'm gonna free fall out into nothin'. Gonna leave this world for awhile.” This is exactly what great music does to me. It takes me out of my body and out into the creative ether. It helps me let go of anxiety or sadness or anger or grief and just soar on the music. I know that not everyone has that experience with music but it’s like a drug in a lot of ways. It alters your mood, changes your perception and allows you to truly escape to a place that no-one and nothing else matters.

Today's episode covers the first track from the iconic Full Moon Fever; Free Fallin'

Check out the song here: https://youtu.be/1lWJXDG2i0A

The live version is here: https://youtu.be/VSKiosRdJ2k

John Mayer's excellent cover is here: https://youtu.be/20Ov0cDPZy8

The isolated bass is here: https://youtu.be/SnRpwbKvJkE

If you want to hear me chat about Van Halen, find that here: https://podcastwillrock.com/2023/06/29/episode-86-blood-and-fire/

And you can hear me on the SeanGeek and FastFret podcast here:https://tinyurl.com/4fb68dfu and here: https://tinyurl.com/2kcnez64

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Favourite Albums - Recap! Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

Hi folks. Technical difficulties and scheduling have prevented me from recording episode one for season eight, so I have compiled the first Twelve answers to my first quick fire question. It's interesting that there were so many different answers to what I imagined would be a pretty straight arm wrestle between Damn The Torpedoes, Wallflowers, and Full Moon Fever! But that's the beauty of Tom's cataloguel; there's something for everyone!

In order, the people answering the questions are; Dallas Heliker, Gwen Jones, Nic Apostoleris, Janet Lovell, Jeff Slate, Megan Volpert, Dan Spiess, Corey Morrissette, Katie Moulton, Michael Washburn, Ivan Anderson, and.... me!

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.