Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology

Tom Petty Live

Introduction

Because of the unexpected passing of Tom Petty this inserted article by means of the impressive livebox The Live Anthology.

Tom Petty

Today the family confirmed that Tom Petty had died at the age of 66.

On behalf of the Tom Petty family, we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty.

He suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu in the early hours of this morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived. He died peacefully at 8:40PM EST surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.

Tony Demitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Yesterday, around the time first reports were made public that Petty was hospitalized after heart failure, it was fairly quickly followed by the message that he had died. The singer was found unconscious at his home and hastily transferred to the hospital. After statements of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), both CBS News and Variety reported that Petty had been pulled off life support.

However, some time later CBS and LAPD tweeted that “no information about the passing of singer Tom Petty” could be reported and that information was “inadvertently provided”. Both apologized for the confusion.

Unfortunately, confirmation followed later anyway.

Short biography

Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever

Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida on October 20th, 1950. He had a tough childhood, filled with poverty, violence and an alcoholic father. After he had met Elvis Presley he got interested in music. At 17 years of age he dropped out of school and started his first band, Mudcrutch. Two members of the band were also part of the later Heartbreakers. After some time Petty joined up with The Heartbreakers in 1975. In 1976 the debutalbum Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers was released. At first the album did very little, but after success abroad, America caved. From that time onwards the band released albums on a regular basis. Their music is usually categorized as being in the same vein as Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Tom Petty – Wildflowers

In 1988 Petty joined the Traveling Wilburys, a band that also consisted of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne. In 1989 Petty released his solo-album Full Moon Fever, which holds the glorious Free Fallin’. In 1994, together again wih The Heartbreakers, the album Wildflowers was released, the biggest success of the band.

In 2008 Petty participated on the album Mudcrutch, recorded by the original band.

The last Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album was released in July of 2014: Hypnotic Eye. In 2017 the band went on an elaborate tour in honour of their 40 year anniversary. One week after completing the tour, in the early hours of October 2nd, Petty suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu and died in the Santa Monica hospital in Los Angeles.

The Live Anthology

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology

On November 23rd, 2009 The Live Anthology was released. It is a live box by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

The box set appeared on Reprise Records and was available in a number of formats, including the standard set consisting of 4 cd’s and 48 songs. The box contains live recordings dating from 1978 to 2007. During his career Petty recorded as much shows as possible. Petty: “I’m glad we did it. I think this is one of the great live rock & roll bands. And you really understand us once you’ve heard this set. It was a lot of fun to put together”.

The album cover and packaging were designed by Shepard Fairey.

On January 16th, 2010, I bought the (standard) box. The Greatest Hits album didn’t suffice. It’s a superb box and a fitting testament to a great songwriter and rock artist. If you find it anywhere, get it, right away.

Songs

Tom Petty – Live In London 2017

In closing

There were some rumours that Petty, besides one European concert in London, was coming to Europe to do his final tour here as well. In 2012 he played The Netherlands for the last time. Unfortunately I couldn’t be there. It’s a pity I never got to see him live. Tom Petty will be missed.

What do you think of Tom Petty? Let me know, it is highly appreciated!