A lot of big name musicians have been dying recently, but this one really hits home for me. Not because Tom Petty is from Gainesville, Florida, which is just up the road from where I live, but because he was a true man of the people. I was the prime age for rock n roll when he had his big breakthrough album in 1979. He became a huge star with "Damn the Torpedoes" when I was in the 8th grade. I heard "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Refugee" on the radio and I was hooked. I saved up my lunch money and bought the 8-Track tape.
This high school drop out from a poor family proved that dreams really can come true. And he never forgot his roots. I saw him live in Gainesville on the last show of his tour in 1983 when he was on top of the world. He was too big a name for the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, but he came there for the local fans. I didn't know it until long after, but he was hurt because the place didn't sell out, but he didn't take it out on those of us that came. He played for 3 hours and 20 minutes, doing several encores. It was truly the best concert I ever saw, and I've seen a lot.
He's well known for going to bat against the establishment, including the recording company to which he was under contract. When the industry decided to raise the price of an album by a dollar, he refused to have his released at the new price...and he won. He did what he wanted, and he made some of the best music ever recorded. He got to work with some of the biggest names in the business. He worked with his own rock heroes, like Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roger McGuinn and many more. And sadly, he has now passed on before many of them. He had a huge hit with Stevie Nicks, who actually wanted to join the Heartbreakers. He went out of his way to try and revive the career of Del Shannon.
Tom Petty was a true rock legend, even while still alive. I know he had his faults, as we all do, but he was everything rock should be, and more. He made music for the people...his music. Because his music was our music.
I will miss him dearly.
