(Credits: Ирина Лепнёва)
Sat 27 December 2025 20:30, UK
The magic of rock and roll was never lost on someone like Tom Petty.
As much as people might have liked his spin on heartland rock, his habit of becoming friends with some of the greatest American musicians of all time made him feel like one of the younger brothers of every single rock and roll star in the world. But even when working with the biggest stars in the world, some of the opportunities that he went through almost felt like living in some sort of musical fairytale half the time.
Then again, part of Petty’s appeal was being one of the most easygoing people in the music industry. He knew when to hunker down when he was crossed by his record label, but given how much he cared about the craft of songwriting, he was much more likely to be in the good graces of the kind of people who loved making music rather than wondering about whatever new trend everyone needed to follow. He was there for the pure love of rock and roll, and that was noticeable right out of the gate.
His original producer, Denny Cordell, already felt like he was one of the purest rockers that he had seen in a long time, and since he was already working with people like Leon Russell before he even had a record deal, it wasn’t like he didn’t have a decent circle of friends to learn from throughout his career. But once he made his way up the totem pole, that list of famous friends started to get a lot bigger when he started hanging out with people like Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn.
Petty always knew to pay tribute to all the giants of rock and roll, but after going on tour with Dylan, getting a call from George Harrison would have stunned any casual rock and roller. He had been friends with Harrison for a while, but after getting the idea to put together a group, the fact that got so many legends together for the Traveling Wilburys felt like a complete goof that somehow manifested its way into existence.
But maybe the reason why it worked so well is because they didn’t have a lot of egos in the room. Anyone in Roy Orbison or Bob Dylan’s position would have gladly decided to close up shop the minute that they didn’t like where things were going, but since all of them were close friends, it was a lot easier for them to leave their egos at the door and strum away on their guitars all night long.
And for Petty, the idea of seeing Dylan, Harrison, and Orbison write with Jeff Lynne beside him was practically a dream come true, saying, “I enjoyed that a great deal, having a group. It was just too good to imagine. It was so much fun and felt so at home in a way. I would hear the music at the end of the day and think ‘this is too much. It’s too good.’” But when you have that many legends in one place what’s there to complain about?
To their credit, the decision on the record company’s part to make a whole album of songs after ‘Handle With Care’ is one of the single best decisions any label head ever made, and Petty managed to actually hold his own among his bandmates. No one was looking to make any future classic or anything, but hearing Petty’s typical drawl against Harrison’s guitars on ‘End of the Line’ or hearing everyone sing on ‘Handle With Care’ was the rock and roll equivalent of The Avengers coming together for a few songs.
Petty may have been the one with the least amount of years under his belt at the time, but that didn’t seem to matter to those who were paying attention. Sure, he didn’t have any kind of seniority rule over the rest of his bandmates, but most people who have been around in the business long enough can tell when someone isn’t full of shit.
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