As Benmont Tench explains in the liner notes to this four CD
collection, there was much more to Petty than Free Fallin' and Refugee
and Runnin' Down A
Dream, and his friends and family want the world to hear it. Compiled by
Petty's longtime bandmates Mike Campbell and Tench, plus his daughter
and wife, the set is all about love. I'm not being trite about that, the
liner notes and track-by-track comments make that perfectly clear. The
goal is to allow fans to find new sides to Petty, and to focus on
exceptional music that has perhaps been glossed over by most in favour
of the hits.
To do that, the group (essentially
his family) has chosen tracks from several different sources. Of major
note is the inclusion of a handful of previously unreleased tracks,
completed songs that for minor reasons were left off albums. Without a
doubt, each of these is of the high quality expected of Petty albums.
There are no throw-aways and certainly no duds. That includes the
powerful opener Surrender, a long-time live favourite first recorded in
1976, that was used to open the group's early concerts. Again quoting
Tench about why it never made an album, "I don't know what we were
thinking." More such cuts follow, including an unissued single from the
pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch, and songs from sessions for albums
such as Long After Dark, Echo and Hypnotic Eye. There's about an album's
worth of such material here, and if that alone had been released, it
would be considered a major addition to Petty's legacy.
There
are plenty of new live tracks included, again from all over his career.
These have been chosen for their intensity, emotion, and for radically
different arrangements. One of the very first live versions of Listen To
Her Heart comes from a radio station, small audience recording, and
it's a treat to hear the group still having to fight to prove
themselves. I Won't Back Down is offered in an acoustic stage version,
highlighting the harmonies. Insider, from 2006, features guest vocals
from Stevie Nicks, who had joined the tour. There are lots of live Petty
albums, EP's and tracks out there already, but these different versions
add a lot to appreciate his varied stage shows.
In
addition to unused studio cuts, Petty and the group also tended to work
through songs in more than one arrangement, finally settling on the one
to make the final list. There are quite a few alternate versions,
including the track Don't Fade One Me from Wildflowers, here presented
with Mike Campbell doing a lot of fingerpicking throughout. Rebels, in
an early version, has a bigger sound, more drums and a more rocking
take. A string section on You're Gonna Get It is moved up in the mix on
the version here, making it quite different in the Petty catalogue. And
some wrongs have been righted from the '80's, as several cuts with
added, dated effects like drum samples have been stripped off, returning
the songs to the more organic band versions first cut.
Lastly,
the compilers picked a bunch of album cuts from over the years to
highlight, definitely not the well-known numbers, but examples of what
they believe feature the very best qualities, especially focusing on
Petty's songwriting. Yes, fans will own them already, but they really
fit the flow, and remind us all of the ongoing excellence, especially
from the later, lesser-heard records. Money Becomes King from 2002's The
Last DJ is a great example of his storytelling, how he'd take a
character and tell a wise tale, giving us a good look at his morals and
true heart. While these songs have gone under the radar in his career,
their excellence shines in this format.
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