Tom Petty Q&A

By Melinda Newman
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Tom Petty just laughs and shakes his head when he looks at the 26-year-old smirking back at him from the cover of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' 1976 self-titled debut album.

They "were just boys," he says. "It was just too much fun."
And thankfully, he adds, it still is.

In the 29 years since that first release, Petty has racked up worldwide sales of more than 50 million albums, with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. He has won four Grammy Awards; been part of the Traveling Wilburys with his heroes George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison; and journeyed on too many sold-out tours to count.

For those accomplishments and more, Petty is this year's recipient of the Billboard Century Award, to be presented December 6 at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. The honor acknowledges the creative achievements of an artist whose musical contributions are ongoing.
He formed the Heartbreakers with Benmont Tench (keyboards), Mike Campbell (guitar), Stan Lynch (drums) and Ron Blair (bass), and from the start, the group offered an appealing blend of lean rock 'n 'roll laden with influences from '50s rockers and '60s British Invasion groups -- all wrapped up in three-minute nuggets.

"You get in there, you get the job done and you get the hell out," Petty says of his songwriting style.

During the last few years, Petty has expanded his resume to include actor, DJ and author. He is the voice of Lucky on the animated TV series "King of the Hill," a recurring character who lives on disability payments after slipping on urine in Costco.

He is in his second season of hosting "Tom Petty's Buried Treasure," a weekly, 60-minute show on XM Satellite Radio that combines classic songs, obscure cuts and live tracks.
Additionally, Omnibus Press has just released "Conversations With Tom Petty," a career-spanning tome by Paul Zollo.

In an interview in his home studio in the Los Angeles beachfront community of Malibu, Petty is a low-key, gracious host. Accompanied by a steady stream of cigarettes and coffee, he recounts his career with humor and grace. At 55, he is young enough to still rock 'n' roll, but old enough to know he is one of the lucky ones

Q: Early singles, like "Breakdown" and "I Need to Know," set the tone for your career. Why didn't you put more of your really beautiful love songs and ballads out as singles?

A: Something that irritated me later on was that (my labels) always went with something that was uptempo and had an electric guitar on (it). In the last days of FM before it just died, it used to drive me nuts; if there wasn't a guitar solo, they didn't want it. So something like "Angel Dream," which has got to be one of my 10 best songs ever, was completely overlooked. But, you know, this is life in the big city, what can you do?

I don't think we had a hit ballad ever until "Free Fallin'." And I remember with that, there was some question. I went on "Saturday Night Live," and the single at the time was "I Won't Back Down," and I played "Free Fallin'," and MCA was just furious at me. But my thinking was, "'I Won't Back Down' is already a hit, let's play something they don't expect." I'm sure it helped the record later. Sometimes you just gotta do what you think is right.

Q: Do you see your songwriting ability as a gift?

A: Yes, absolutely. It has to be a gift, because why would I be able to write a song instead of someone else? After a while, you come to realize, "I've really been blessed. I can write these things and it makes me happy, and it makes millions of people happy." It's an obligation, it's bigger than you. It's the only true magic I know. It's not pulling a rabbit out of a hat; it's real. It's your soul floating out to theirs.

Q: With your album "Hard Promises," MCA decided to raise the price to $9.98, up $1 from the standard price. You refused to release it at the higher price, leading to a very public battle with the label. Why did you take that stand?

A: I did it because it was going to be the first $9.98 record, and I was going to be the guy through the door who raised the whole thing, and I thought, "You're not doing it to me, do it to Olivia Newton-John or somebody. (laughs) And then it became a bigger crusade than that, and the press got interested in it and so, you know, we saw it through and got our way eventually.
The music has to be affordable. It's the common man that keeps it going, and if you price it out of his realm, it becomes a thing of the elite.

Q: It is staggering how many people you have lost, from your mom and dad to people you have worked with like Roy Orbison, Del Shannon, Michael Kamen, George Harrison and Howie Epstein. Do you think that affects your writing?

A: Well, it could. I think it probably affects the way you live, you know. It makes you realize you really don't want to miss a day. George devastated me. I didn't think George could die. It so ripped my heart out that I still can't think about it. I remember when Roy Orbison died, I thought at the time if anybody had been prepared to go, it was him, because he was in such a good place mentally and spiritually. But then you see people who aren't ready to go. ... That makes you just say a) I'm lucky to be here, and b) I better appreciate being here.
The biggest one, the one that bothers me the most, is my mother. She could have had everything that she'd ever dreamt of and she didn't get to do it, and that one seems the worst to me because you just didn't get the payoff, you know.

Q: You keep your record and ticket prices down. You do not accept corporate sponsorship or let your songs be in commercials. Does it seem odd that some people consider you heroic when you are just doing what you think is right?

A: It's not heroic. Like you said, I'm just doing what seems right. I've never consciously done it. I'm certainly not a Robin Hood, I'm not that way. I just do what seems like the logical thing to do.
Like with the tickets, you know, it's been brought to our attention again and again and again: "You could be making twice the money you're making." We turn it down, I don't think with an eye toward being Robin Hood, I just think with an eye of, I want this trip to go on. I don't want to come through, burn everybody for $200 a ticket and then they can't afford to come see me again. Plus, I just don't think it's right. I don't think we need that much money.

Q: Why don't you let your songs be used in commercials?

A: Because I didn't write them to be orange juice commercials. Sometimes I feel like maybe it's a dumb move because I don't know if anyone cares, but I care immensely. I don't like it. I think it made (rock music) common and irrelevant. I think I'd get hives if I turned (the TV) on and saw my music playing behind the Gap. That would probably put me over the top.

Q: Your buddy Bob Dylan is doing it.

A: That's his business, you know. I have a lot of friends who do it. They're comfortable with it. That's fine if they see it that way. But I don't see it that way, so I just can't do it.

Q: And no tour sponsorships either. Same principle?

A: It's our band, you know. We started it from nothing and we own it, and I want people to trust it. It's not for sale.

Q: What can we expect from your next solo album, "Highway Companion," when it comes out next year?

A: It has a lot to say about time and the passage of time. It's not so much love songs, it's not going to be what anybody expects from me, I'm sure of that. But it's good music, it's really good music. ... I'm more interested in what I'm going to leave behind me now than in making a big hit record. I've refined what I do for a long time. If getting better at it means it goes over the heads of those who only wanted to party, then so be it.