My Middle Name Is Earl - The Official ILM Track-By-Track TOM PETTY Listening Thread

Apparently Lynne does, lol.

Anyway, the drum parts on FMF are boring, that's one problem with them. I've got to assume that in the past Petty and the band would work on stuff together, but FMF was the first time that Lynch had been brought something played (boringly, by design) by someone else and told "do this." Regardless, unlike when, say, Tweedy fired Ken Coomer (who similarly had trouble playing what Tweedy wanted him to play) and got Kotche, who is undoubtedly a better drummer who brings a lot to the band, Tom went with Ferrone, who brought nothing but stability (see also: Mellencamp firing Kenny, Billy Joel firing Liberty). Like I mentioned earlier, the Heartbreakers had personality, but c. FMF Petty toned that down (and became an even bigger star in the process). Lynch's ego/attitude/personality was by all accounts equal to Tom's in the band, so no surprise he didn't get on board with being boring, especially after the slight of being the only Heartbreaker not on FMF.

Back to what else Stan might have disliked about Lynne's approach is that he by all accounts was into recording each drum/cymbal individually, in isolation. Snare, to the click. Bass drum, to the click, hi-hat to the click, etc (though I think the hi-hat on FMF might sometimes be programmed). That would probably drive some drummers nuts, especially dudes aiming for The Take.

I feel like there's an alternate timeline where Grohl decided he'd rather be a Heartbreaker than a Fighter and stayed on for more than the one tour.

catching up:

louisiana rain - basically a warren zevon song except no one dies.

casa dega - never heard this before, and at first i thought it might be a cover of "time of the season." (someone else mentioned "under the boardwalk," which also fits.)

it's rainin' again - i like hearing great bands fucking around having fun in the studio. this is kinda great.

the waiting - my favorite petty. first verse is one of the most perfect verses in the classic rock canon. i love how it goes from teen love song ("oh baby don't it feel like heaven right now? / don't it feel like somethin' from a dream?") to adult love song ("baby we know better than to try and pretend") in the space of three or four bars. it takes some songwriters three or four albums to make that leap. opening riff is the apotheosis of non-byrds byrds riffs.

a woman in love - "she laughed in my face / told me goodbye / said 'don't think about it / you can go crazy'" is another great opening lyric volley, which i'm not sure the rest of the ever song quite pays off, though i do appreciate the literary ambition and the discussions of said ambition above.

I listened to an interview with Iovine a couple years back and he was still trash talking Lynch - can’t play the same thing twice in a row, etc - all the shit that producers say to flashy Keith Moon types who make their band exciting

I can’t really listen to the Lynne produced albums because to me the drums have that plodding heroin beat that appeals to junkies

Nightwatchman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIp74acO1lM

surprising to me that they were doing this song live in the 21st century. sounds like a song that would have been forgotten.

had he been spinning 'toys in the attic'?

man, i watched some of a 2005 show online and tom couldn't move at all and he was in a really weird position. a pain position. it hurt just to look at him. he stayed that way the whole show. but then you go forward in time and he looks and moves better.

go ahead, sang freud, you can complain about the tempo, the length, AND the lack of power pop here. i won't stop you.

heh. i just have to acclimate myself to nu tom, that's all. i'll get better as things go on.

A failed attempt at a short story. "Something Big" on this same album will do better.

it is too long. but "groove song" was probably the concept, so you can understand the length.

this feels like a writing exercise gone horribly wrong. or just gone nowhere at all.

I will not tolerate this lukewarm response to one of the very best TP deep cuts, I love playing this as the bar because everyone recognizes that it is Tom but many people have not heard it

I love the slinky groove in the verses, that almost reggae thing

*at* the bar

Picked up the Live Anthology a couple weeks ago inspired by this thread. I think Benmont helps elevate this tune on that.

I listened to an interview with Iovine a couple years back and he was still trash talking Lynch - can’t play the same thing twice in a row, etc - all the shit that producers say to flashy Keith Moon types who make their band exciting

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, April 10, 2024 5:08 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm!

I like the core groove here but I agree it doesn't particularly go anywhere melodically or narratively. An OK album cut, sturdy enough but I can imagine the Blueshammer version of it and just the thought of that is a point against the song.

"Nightwatchman": fcc upthread described "Louisiana Rain" as a 'basically a warren zevon song except no one dies,' which to me is a more apt description of this one (and the next couple tracks as well...except there's certainly some death in tomorrow's track). Definite shades of stuff like "Meet Me In LA," "Midnight In The Switching Yard" etc.

"Nighttime In The Switching Yard" that is...

...and "Join Me In LA"

Don't get me started on "Dire Wolves Of London"

lol. i hear zevon in nightwatchman too. a different side of zevon than i hear in lousiana rain.

Something Big

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUZDwWOExcs

One of Dylan's favorite Petty songs. Here's where Petty's narrative instincts work (Speedball and the nightclerk!).

and I think that's Petty on electric piano

a nice dylanesque exercise, always coming back to the same line. this is the kind of workout where it's best to just rampage through the lyrics and leave some ambiguity and rough edges. here their studio preciseness maybe hurts them a little bit. this probably worked great in concert.

someone should make a compilation of these, e.g. robert earl keen's "the road goes on forever."

"Nightwatchman" - yeah, slinky groove... I like how the band open things out in the more country-flavored B section. I remember finding the lyrical conceit dopey (see also, James Taylor pretending he's a steamroller), but I think my real issue was just that "I'm the nightwatchman" is the only really clearly-spoken line. I wanna spend some time with this one... it's got more going on than I thought.

"Something Big" again making me think of R.E.M. --- like, deep cut on New Adventures R.E.M. Especially once we hit the organ break. Maybe "roots rock" is starting to displace "power pop" in the special sauce. Have Buck or Mills ever talked about Petty?

I feel like Petty's vocal has been slightly slowed/pitched down. Possibly the whole track, as discussed upthread. "Worrrrkin' on somethinn' BLEAHHHGHH."

he's developing what xgau has uncharitably called his "weird, self-pitying child-drawl."

...which he pretty much lost after Let Me Up.

I will not tolerate this lukewarm response to one of the very best TP deep cuts, I love playing this as the bar because everyone recognizes that it is Tom but many people have not heard it

I love the slinky groove in the verses, that almost reggae thing

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, April 10, 2024 10:07 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

could've written this post myself. love nightwatchman and that is exactly the situation in which i've most often put it on

here their studio preciseness maybe hurts them a little bit

more than dylan, this tragic story song with a couple details withheld reminds me of springsteen. it wouldn't sound out of place on nebraska, which springsteen was just beginning to conceive around this time, and which he'd famoisly realize he'd have to do alone, without the studio precision and formalities of his band (not that he and they didn't try, though).

i think i want to like this song more than i do. i love the effort put into the lyrics but its a little too vague for me. i'm also not a big fan of Nebraska. i just never thought those songs or lyrics were that great. not everyone is John Steinbeck. you can sue me if you want, Nebraska fans. i can give you the name of my lawyer.

I don't like Nebraska either, scott. Gimme Big, Big-Assed, Glittery Bruce.

don't need no lawyers, we can settle this right now with the baton i'm currently a-twirling on my front lawn.

(xp)

i keep telling myself i'll get around to nebraska. gimme wool-capped word-slinging bruce.

I like "Something Big." I even did an illustrated version of it for some 8th grade English assignment.

born in the u.s.a. might be my fave album when all is said and done. i just can't deny that damn "glory days". i just can't. i love how that song is written. every single country singer should encore with that. they would blow the roof off of the place.

the wool-capped live in London thing. on Youtube. i think its the whole show. that is a humdinger. can't remember what year its from. it will make someone a believer if they aren't one.

^^1975, Hammersmith Odeon, officially released on the Born To Run box, with the audio getting its own release later.

i saw him like a month after that -- the show where they taped "santa claus..."

i love nebraska and i love big assed glittery bruce and i love wool-capped word-slinging bruce and i loved living in new jersey but i've never had much use for "glory days."

they passed you by

i was walking in, they were walking out, if i recall
correctly

"Glory Days" is my least favorite of the BITUSA singles, but I understand its lasting popularity. Speaks to some universal experiences. Still bothered that he says "speedball."

you know what gets me is that "sir" he borrowed from woody or pete or whoever. i cringe every time he says "sir." that's why i'm afraid of nebraska.