From joining Mudcrutch in 1973, then co-founding Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with his musical brethren of Petty and Mike Campbell a year later, Benmont Tench may have had a later start to songwriting.

Though he didn’t write for the Heartbreakers, Tench’s credits still spanned more than four decades, from playing on and working on a track from Stevie Nicks‘ 1981 debut Bella Donna to co-writing two more with Don Henley, and other artists, aloong with his decades-long runs as a session player for Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, John Prine, and Elvis Costello, among many others.

Benmont Tench performs in support of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 30th Anniversary Tour and Petty’s “Highway Companion” release at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Corbis via Getty Images)

In 1985, Tench also teamed up with Petty to co-write “Never Be You,” featured in a 1984 crime drama and later recorded by Rosanne Cash, and two more tracks for the newly reunited Mudcrutch’s two albums.

Here’s a look behind the songs Benmont Tench wrote since that first one for Nicks and on through the Heartbreaker years.

[RELATED: Benmont Tench Returns With First Solo Album in More Than a Decade]

“Kind of Woman,” Stevie Nicks (1981)

Written by Benmont Tench and Stevie Nicks

Pre-Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks wrote “Landslide” while in Aspen, Colorado, and another song, “Kind of Woman,” a song she said was about Lindsey Buckingham.

“‘Kind of Woman’ I wrote about Lindsey [Buckingham] when he went on the road with the Everly Brothers, and I was sure he was gonna meet somebody because it says, ‘Temptation falls in your path / No hesitation why you ask / You have another waiting at home / And yes she matters to you,’” said Nicks of the song. “That was me, right? And … it says, ‘You didn’t mean to meet her, you cried / Oh, but the sun goes down every night / She came to you and you were alone / And yes she matters to you / It’s the kind of woman that’ll haunt you.’”

Nicks added, “So it’s like, which is the kind of woman? Was it me, or was it the woman that he would meet? I didn’t know. And then I’d never been on the road, or I had no idea. I mean, I had the same thoughts that probably every little girl in the world thinks when a rock and roll band comes into town. As Joni Mitchell would say, ‘Don’t count on your plans with a rock and roll man.’”

Bella Donna also features Nicks’ hits “Edge of Seventeen, and the Petty and Campbell-penned “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” along with her other duet with Don Henley, “Leather and Lace.” The Heartbreakers’ Petty, Campbell, and Stan Lynch also played on Bella Donna, along with Tench, who helped Nicks finish “Kind of Woman,” contributing its bridge.

“Not Enough Love in This World,” Don Henley (1984)

Written by Benmont Tench, Don Henley, and Danny Kortchmar

Tench played Don Henley’s 1982 I Can’t Stand then returned again for his second solo album, Building the Perfect Beast. For the album, Tench also co-wrote two tracks, “Sunset Grill,” which went to No. 7 on the Rock chart, and “Not Enough Love in This World.”

“Among the people who I can tell you are the most difficult and, in many ways, rewarding to work with, number one is Don Henley,” said Tench. “I love him. He’s a hell of a songwriter. But he wants better, and if he writes things himself on the piano, it’s not easy for me.”

“Never Be You,” Rosanne Cash (1985)

Written by Benmont Tench and Tom Petty

In 1983, Maria McKee recored the Petty-and-Tench-penned “Never Be You” for the soundtrack tot he 1984 neo-noir crime drama Strees of Fire, starring Willem Defoe and Diane Lane. A year later Rosanna Cash covered the song on her album Rhythm & Romance. Once released, “Never Be You” marked Cash’s fifth No. 1 on the Country chart, and remained on the charts for 16 weeks.

“This is a Good Street,” Mudcrutch (2008)

Written by Benmont Tench

Thirty-two years after disbanding, Mudcrutch releaed their first album, a self-titled one, which was recorded during August 2007. Formed in 1970, the band never relased an album until they reunitedi n 2007. Mostly penned by Petty, Mudcrutch also fetures tracks by Campbell, Leadon, and another contributed by Tench, “This is a Good Street.”

“Welcome to Hell,” Mudcrutch (2016)

Written by Benmont Tench

Tench contributed on emore song to the band’s second and final studio album by the band and was released a year before Petty’s death at age 66. Along with Leadon’s “The Other Side of the Mountain” and Campbell’s “Victim of Circumstance,” Tench also penned and sang lead on “Welcome to Hell.”

Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Corbis via Getty Images