It was such a success that Dylan invited Petty and company to tour with him the following year, and the one after that. However, Dylan’s mention of struggling American farmers led to Farm Aid a couple of months later.Īs Dylan realized he needed a career boost, he invited Petty and the Heartbreakers to back him up for a short set at the first Farm Aid. Bad sound, broken guitar strings, and the distraction of the superstar finale set-up behind the performers, did not do much to help Dylan’s flagging reputation. Although Dylan’s set was the only one to directly address the cause at hand – starving children – it did not translate well. Perhaps hoping for a repeat of the sympathetic collaboration he experienced at 1971’s Concert For Bangla Desh, Dylan mistakenly invited two drunk Rolling Stones – Keith Richards and Ron Wood – to accompany him on out-of-tune acoustic guitars. In July 1985, Dylan had the honor and pressure of closing the U.S. To add injury to injury, he punched a wall in frustration and broke his left hand, and then his house burned down, reportedly a victim of arson. For Petty, although still a big concert attraction, album sales were down. Dylan was spinning his wheels, feeling like a 60s relic, the reluctant former voice of a generation lost in a haze of Reaganomics, MTV, programmed radio, and perceived nostalgia. In the mid-1980s, both Petty and Bob Dylan were at musical crossroads. He never stopped being a fan, even when standing next to such music giants as Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Roger McGuinn, George Harrison, or that Dylan guy. Luckily, he was never a “new Dylan.” (A new Byrd, maybe.) Petty always seemed like the kid in the room, churning out hit after hit. Like Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello, among others, he was weaned on mid-1960s popular music, yet he wasn’t a mythical anthemic songwriter from Jersey, nor a New Wave rocker, although he was sometimes lumped in with that crowd. Early on, he fought his record companies to keep the price of his records down. Recently, he expressed regret at using the confederate flag to promote his 1985 album, Southern Accents. riots, Petty released a single, “Peace in L.A.,” and quietly continued to support numerous charitable causes. Petty and the Heartbreakers appeared at the major charity concerts of his era, including No Nukes, Live Aid, Farm Aid, Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit, and 2001’s America: A Tribute to Heroes. A child of the 60s, he believed in the power of music. Under the radar, Tom Petty was also a collaborator, a supporter of young acts, and subversively political. He didn’t act like a superstar, although he certainly was qualified to do so. Tom Petty was more than just a Heartbreaker.
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