Tom Petty, MLB teaming up

July 28, 2006

Musician's latest solo album available on MLB.com
By Doug Miller / MLB.com

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are on the road this summer, marking their 30-year anniversary by selling out halls all over the country and attracting big-name special guests and opening acts.
But that doesn't mean Petty doesn't have time to continue creating timeless American rock n' roll music.

He's done it once again with his third solo album, Highway Companion, and early reviews indicate it's among the best of his career.

As part of the celebration, Petty and Major League Baseball are teaming up to make Highway Companion available at MLB.com.

Petty and the Heartbreakers also performed the first single, "Saving Grace," for broadcast on rehearsals.com, the state-of-the-art behind-the-scenes Web site powered by the famed Southern California rehearsal space CenterStaging and MLB Advanced Media.

And all of this is being observed by famed film director Peter Bogdanovich, who is working on a full-length documentary about Tom and the Heartbreakers' classic tale of rock success.

"It's a great story that's very American, as I say, and the material, the music, continues to be terrific," Bogdanovich said in a recent interview with rehearsals.com. "Over 30 years, and I don't know how many hits they've had, but many."

There figure to be quite a few more from Highway Companion, which was produced with Jeff Lynne and features Petty playing many of the instruments, including drums.

"Saving Grace" has become more and more of a show-stopper on the summer tour.
At a recent tour stop in St. Paul, Minn., Petty introduced the number by saying "I really like this one," and he wasn't the only one.

From the John Lee Hooker-esque lead guitar riff that takes you back to Petty's Gainesville, Fla., rock roots to the cryptic lyrics, including the pivotal line, "You're confident but not really sure," it's a song that creeps into your subconscious the more you hear it.

The same goes for many of the other tracks on Highway Companion, including the plaintive ballad "Square One" and "Down South," a moving number that has some of Petty's most introspective lyrics in years.

"Create myself down south/Impress all the women/Pretend I'm Samuel Clemens/Wear seersucker and white linens," Petty sings.

"Chase a ghost down south/Spirits cross the dead fields/Mosquitoes hit the windshield/All documents remain sealed."

"I just think it's a classic," Bogdanovich says of "Down South." "It's moody, reflective, it's got a beautiful tune and it's a very personal song, I think. He started in the South, his roots are there, and it's a beautiful ballad. I think it's very personal to him. I think it means a lot to him."

What also means a lot to Petty is the reception he's been getting on the road for his Highway Companion Tour.

He's been pulling out a good portion of his ever-growing hit catalog, with almost-nightly performances of classics "Listen To Her Heart," "You Don't Know How It Feels," "I Won't Back Down," "Free Fallin'," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," "Learning To Fly," "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Refugee," "Runnin' Down A Dream" and "American Girl."

Stevie Nicks has been and will be a special guest for much of the tour, contributing her legendary vocals to rare live songs "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Insider" and "I Need To Know."

And the opening acts have been eclectic and brilliant, with former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio and Pearl Jam already having supported Petty, and the Allman Brothers Band, the Strokes, John Mayer, the Derek Trucks Band and Frank Black to come.

In other words, three decades after he started, it's still an exciting time to be a Tom Petty fan.
"Tom has been successful for 30 years because he's got an enormous amount of talent and an extraordinary determination, and a great sense of morality and ethics," Bogdanovich said.
"His music stands the test of time because it ... appealed to a lot of people from a lot of different places, a lot of different walks of life."