The Tom Petty Project

Latest Episodes:

Echo May 14, 2025

Show notes

This is a very grown up song and as we discussed on Wildflowers, it’s a song that wouldn’t resonate as much with a person in their teens or early twenties as it would with someone who has lived and lost. You need that weight of experience to truly feel the bone-weariness that Tom projects at times and the hesitant accusations he ends with. It’s a collage of emotions and narrative dissonance that perfectly fleshes out what a broken relationship feels like even when a new, healthy one is coming into focus.

Song: https://youtu.be/OjC1Idf9w_4

Live at the Fillmore '99: https://tinyurl.com/2wtkm3jd

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Margaret "Cookie" Donnelly Obituary. You can read her full obituary here: https://tinyurl.com/28dr58p7

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.

Accused of Love May 07, 2025

Show notes

In Conversations with Tom Petty, author Paul Zollo tells Tom that he finds the song has “kind of a British, early Beatles sound” to which to Tom replies “Yeah. It’s funny how you see these influences go round and round, because I was thinking of Don Everly, that sort of melody. But it does have a mid-Sixties British sound. And he was obviously influencing them.” Paul then observes “Like one of those old songs, it’s very short—under three minutes.” and Tom tells him “Yeah. It’s great when you can get it all in, in that amount of time”

Song: https://youtu.be/cu9-BjUAvNY

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.

Swingin' Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

Lyrically, we get this short story, in typical Tom fashion where he’s just giving us the outlines and parts of a narrative. We start out standing by the highway in boots and silver spurs. And we end on the interstate across the Georgia line, which is maybe a teeny nod back to Tweeter and the Monkey Man. In fact, here’s an idea, maybe the protagonist of this song is actually Jan! I can imagine her heading south after the fiasco in Jersey, but it sounds like she found trouble again in Nevada and headed back east! It’s an incredible lyric to come up with on the spot, as I say and it’s obviously gone on to be a lesser known single that is adored by Pettyheads. It’s a song that lends itself well to themes of not going down without a fight while at the same time depicting a somewhat desperate character who is going down anyway! Fabulous writing. Or in this case, ad-libbing!

Song: https://youtu.be/ew6Cg6pUApE

Official Video: https://youtu.be/I4vJM4L2D2U

Links mentioned:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - A Face In The Crowd (Live) : https://youtu.be/qD37E7rtxbs

Sammy Davis Jr drums : https://youtu.be/i3FqyPeUaDE

Refugee (album version) : https://youtu.be/YbWDV72oQlo?t=50

Refugee (live version, 2012) : https://youtu.be/2sW4msX2q_E?t=114

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.

Lonesome Sundown Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

I love the line “She’s a sweet young thing. Brings me dreams in a box she made for me”. That’s a very Petty-esque little piece of imagery that he throws in early to add to the very dreamy quality of the piece. In Conversations with Tom Petty, Tom tells author Paul Zollo that “The words changed several times in that song. But I finally got it to where I liked it. I think I worked on that one a lot more than any of the others.” And where we were talking about Free Girl Now sounding much more spontaneous lyrically, this one does have that quality of being a more considered lyric. I don’t think many people would come up with “Brings me dreams in a box she made for me” off the cuff.

If you want to listen to the track before listening to the episode, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/-IIX0nGyfyA

You can find my appearance on the Booked on Rock podcast here: https://youtu.be/Gkea4Xc_2uQ

You can find Megan Volpert's wonderful book, "Why Alanis Morissette Matters" here: https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477330876/

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 Girl Now Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

The song is a powerful push back against an abusive relationship on behalf of the woman Tom loved. The way the lyrics are organized, with the verses describing the abuse in the past tense and the uplifting chorus being in the present tense really drives home that idea that “No longer will you be a slave. No longer will you have to crawl”. It’s a celebration of liberation and freedom that is specific to a personal situation but again has that anthemic universality that would make a stadium full of people who might not know its origins sing along in full-throated support!

If you want to listen to the song before you listen to the episode, you can find it here : https://youtu.be/vxfQun7sfok

And if you want to hear the live version from the Fillmore in '99, you can find that here : https://youtu.be/1p7e5MgqkcI

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.

Counting on You Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

Sonically, you could definitely hear this one sitting happily on Mojo. But I also sometimes feel that this is the most Wildflowers-sounding of all the songs on Echo. If you found out that it was another of the songs that hadn’t been included on that album, it wouldn’t really surprise you. In Conversations With Tom Petty, the only thing that Tom tells author Paul Zollo about this song is that “That’s great. That should have been a single. I don’t know why they didn’t put that out as a single”.

If you want to listen to the song before you listen to the episode, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/eA7YT103Ocw

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.

Room at the Top Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

I, along with I’m sure many of you Pettyheads, consider this one of Tom’s finest works. It’s an absolute masterpiece in songwriting, lyrical precision, and arrangement. As Tom tells Paul Zollo, “It was a great example of The Heartbreakers at work. On my own I would have never arrived at that arrangement of the song. But they really took it somewhere that I would have never got to by myself.” The mixture of light and shade the contrast of hope and despondency, of cynicism and vulnerability make this track a powerhouse of pure emotion. It’s one of those where every single note is placed to perfection, every musical decision supports the construction and delivery of the song and the sum of its incredible parts gels into this perfect five minutes of music that moves me as much today as it did the first time I listened to it!

If you want to listen to the song before you listen to the episode, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/nQFCF9KESic

And make sure you check out Richard Hearn's brilliant website Paragraph Planet here: https://www.paragraphplanet.com

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.

The Same Sad Echo Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Like Songs and Music for She’s The One, somewhere around half of the songs on Echo were never played live. Tom tells Paul Zollo “I was kind of glad to get to another place after Echo. I was kind of glad to get somewhere else. I don’t know why, but I kind of felt like we came back into the sun after that.”

And this idea of a darkness hovering over this period in Tom’s life definitely permeates through elements of this record.

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.

Songs and Music from She's The One (with John Paulsen) Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

After a little bit of a false start, John and Kevin settle into a fun chat about soundtrack composition, how Ed Burn managed to lock in Wildflowers era-Tom Petty to be his musical director, why Tom took over the project wholesale and why this may just be the most underappreciated album in Tom's catalogue! Do we need two versions of two different songs? What about the covers? Tune in to find out!

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.

Airport Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

Airport is a tight little bundle of keyboard virtuosity from Benmont Tench with a lazy, groove-soaked accompaniment from Howie Epstein and Chris Trujillo in the rhythm section. This piece is hugely interesting in two different, very interesting ways. First of all, I’m pretty sure (given the credits in the album liner notes) that Tom didn’t play on it. Second, given that the melodic contributions would almost certainly have come spontaneously from the mind and fingers of Benmont Tench, it’s really curious to me that he isn’t at least co-credited on this one!

If you want to check out the song ahead of the episode, you can find the official video here: https://youtu.be/P5RbW82PVqs

If you want to check out Benmont Tench's fantastic new album, The Melancholy Season, you can find that here : https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kRJEygrs-WJ4ZzS39uwMLTJSUGArR8qDo

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.

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