![]() At the age of 17, he dropped out of school to join Mudcrutch, which also featured guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench. His willingness to experiment with the boundaries of classic rock & roll helped Petty sustain his popularity well into the 21st century.īorn and raised in northern Florida, Petty began playing music while he was still in high school. Throughout his career, Petty & the Heartbreakers never departed from their signature rootsy sound, but they were able to expand it, bringing in psychedelic Southern rock and new wave influences they were also one of the few of the traditionalist rock & rollers who embraced music videos, filming some of the most inventive and popular videos in MTV history. While his slurred, nasal voice may have resembled Dylan and Roger McGuinn, Petty's songwriting was lean and direct, like the simple, unadorned style of Neil Young. The Heartbreakers were a tight, muscular, and versatile backing band that provided the proper support for Petty's songs, which cataloged a series of middle-class losers and dreamers. Instead, they celebrated it, culling the best parts of the British Invasion, American garage rock, and Dylanesque singer/songwriters to create a distinctively American hybrid, recalling the past without being indebted to it. As time progressed, it became clear that the band didn't break from tradition like their punk contemporaries. Compared to the heavy metal and art rock that dominated mid-'70s guitar rock, the Heartbreakers' bracing return to roots was nearly as unexpected as the crashing chords of the Clash. ![]() Upon the release of their first album in the late '70s, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were shoehorned into the punk/new wave movement by some observers who picked up on the tough, vibrant energy of the group's blend of Byrds riffs and Stonesy swagger. ![]()
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