TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
That is FRESH AIR. I am Tonya Mosley. Should you’ve been watching the Apple TV+ collection “Unhealthy Monkey,” you’ve got heard some nice covers of Tom Petty songs, like this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I WON’T BACK DOWN”)
SHARON VAN ETTEN: (Singing) Effectively, I will not again down. No, I will not again down. You possibly can stand me up on the gates of hell, however I will not again down. No, I will stand my floor, will not be circled. And I will maintain this world from dragging me down. Going to face my floor. And I will not again down. Hey, child. There ain’t no simple approach out. Hey.
MOSLEY: That is Sharon Van Etten. Tom Petty led the band the Heartbreakers, whose different hits embody “American Lady,” “Hear To Her Coronary heart,” “Working Down A Dream” and “Breakdown.” The band’s basic 1982 album, “Lengthy After Darkish,” was not too long ago reissued. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame the primary 12 months they had been eligible, in 2002. As a member of the band the Touring Wilburys, from ’88 to ’90, Petty carried out with a number of artists he admired, like Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy Orbison. Tom Petty died in 2017 on the age of 66. Let’s take heed to a portion of the interview Terry recorded with him in 2006, when he had launched a solo album of songs known as “Freeway Companion.” On the time, he was internet hosting his personal present on the XM Satellite tv for pc Radio community, and Terry requested him what radio meant to him as a child.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TOM PETTY: Every thing. You realize, I nonetheless see it as this actually magical factor, and it was fantastic. I did not have the cash to have an enormous report assortment. So I realized every thing, actually, from the radio. And within the – you recognize, within the mid-’60s, AM radio – pop radio – was simply this unimaginable factor that performed all types of music. You realize, simply – you might hear Frank Sinatra proper into the Yardbirds, you recognize, to the Beatles into Dean Martin. It was simply – it was this superb factor.
And I miss it, in a approach, as a result of music has grow to be so compartmentalized now. However in these days, it was all proper in a single spot. And that is – you recognize, we used to study – you recognize, after I was 15 or 16, enjoying in teams, we used to take a seat within the automotive and attempt to write the lyrics down because the track was enjoying. And we might assign every individual a verse. You realize, I will do the primary one, and also you go for the second. After which typically, you’d wait an hour for it to return on once more, you recognize, so you might end it up. However…
TERRY GROSS: What’s a track you probably did that with?
PETTY: I will let you know, the toughest one was “Get Off Of My Cloud” by the Stones. It had so many phrases.
GROSS: Oh, and quick, too (laughter), yeah.
PETTY: Oh, and yeah, and it took us an excellent three hours to get that one written down. But it surely was that form of factor. It was a good friend, you recognize? We – and it was one thing that was there. You did not actually give it some thought that a lot. However trying again on it, it was such a musical training.
GROSS: Effectively, I wish to play one other monitor out of your new CD, “Freeway Companion.” And this can be a track known as “Down South.” Is there a narrative behind the track?
PETTY: Yeah. This was a – I had a – a very long time in the past, I had completed a conceptual report concerning the South known as “Southern Accents.” And this one was impressed by a guide by a fellow named Warren Zanes – had written this guide concerning the South. And I learn it, and I used to be actually impressed by it. After which I began considering, effectively, you recognize, what if I – you recognize, I have not been again there in an extended, very long time. I lived there, you recognize, 35 years in the past and grew up there. However I went – you recognize, simply form of went again in my thoughts, and a narrative began to form of develop and seem.
And I am not likely positive who that character is, however I am – I do know a part of it is me. And I wrote it – God, I wrote it form of rapidly. I wrote it – I wrote the lyrics out first earlier than I did the music, which is uncommon for me. And I – then I searched for a very long time to search out music that created the fitting tonal form of factor with the lyric and the – and I – and needed to discover a melody that went with it. So it took a short time to tug the entire thing collectively, nevertheless it’s one which I am most happy with from the report.
GROSS: Effectively, why do not we hear it? That is “Down South” from Tom Petty’s new CD, “Freeway Companion.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DOWN SOUTH”)
PETTY: (Singing) Heading again down South, going to see my daddy’s mistress, going to purchase again her forgiveness, going to repay each witness. Another time down South – and promote the household headstones and drag a bag of dry bones and make good all my again loans. So if I come to your door, let me sleep in your ground. I will offer you all I’ve and a bit extra. Sleep late down South…
GROSS: That is “Down South” from Tom Petty’s new CD, “Freeway Companion.” I wish to ask you about a few traces in that track. You stated you are not fairly positive who the character is in it, however the track has, headed again down South, going to see my Daddy’s mistress, going to purchase again her forgiveness. Did you return dwelling to see your father’s mistresses? Is that a part of the character you?
PETTY: (Laughter) My father’s had many mistresses. I by no means made a selected journey to satisfy them. However my dad was – he was hell on wheels, you recognize? He was fairly a personality. And he was a kind of folks that was – someway remained likeable, although he was actually a cad, you recognize? However…
(LAUGHTER)
PETTY: However I – you recognize, I do not actually know the place the – I suppose the road simply popped into my head, and it appeared a great way to begin it.
GROSS: One thing I wish to point out concerning the monitor that we simply heard – you recognize it has that form of jangly rhythm guitar…
PETTY: Yeah.
GROSS: …That you just play. How did you begin enjoying in that fashion?
PETTY: I do not know. It simply appeared. I feel we had been impressed lots by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds and his 12-string enjoying. And it was simply one thing that got here to me naturally, and I form of took it from there, and I feel we have developed it into our personal factor. However I am positive it comes again, you recognize, from the Byrds, from – you hear that sound in a number of early ’60s information. And the Beatles used it lots. Dylan used it. And between myself and Mike Campbell, our guitarist, we have – we simply make that sound once we play now. It – I would – I am not likely as acutely aware of it as different persons are, nevertheless it simply form of occurs.
GROSS: You grew up in Gainesville, Florida.
PETTY: Yeah.
GROSS: I feel there is a department of the College of Florida in Gainesville, proper?
PETTY: It’s there, the College of Florida, the entire thing.
GROSS: So had been you in a university a part of Gainesville, or had been you in a special a part of city?
PETTY: No, I used to be within the redneck, hillbilly half.
(LAUGHTER)
PETTY: I wasn’t a part of the educational circle, nevertheless it’s an fascinating place as a result of you may meet virtually any form of individual from many walks of life due to the college. But it surely’s actually surrounded by this type of very rural form of folks which might be – you recognize, they’re farmers or, you recognize, tractor drivers or, you recognize, simply all form of recreation wardens. You identify it, you recognize? So it is an fascinating mix.
My household wasn’t concerned within the faculty, you recognize? They had been extra of simply your white trash form of, you recognize, household. And so I’ve that form of background, however I at all times form of aspired to be one thing else. And I made a number of totally different buddies through the years that had been, you recognize, passing via.
GROSS: What did your mother and father do for a residing?
PETTY: Effectively, my mom labored within the tax collector’s workplace as a clerk. And my dad had a wide range of jobs, you recognize, from – at one level, he owned the one grocery retailer within the Black a part of city, the one Black grocery retailer that catered solely to Black folks. And so I used to go down there after I was fairly younger, and I used to be simply put out within the again. And so it was uncommon to me that I would play all day with Black youngsters after which they’d convey me again to our, you recognize, little suburb that we lived in and it was all white youngsters, you recognize? After which from there, he went – he did an entire line of various jobs of being an insurance coverage salesman, a truck driver, all types of various issues.
GROSS: Now, you had an uncle – I suppose this can be a well-known story in your life, since you acquired to satisfy Elvis Presley on a film set whenever you had been 11 via an uncle of yours who was doing one thing on the set, although I am undecided what.
PETTY: Yeah, yeah, I had an uncle by marriage who was the form of – he was very into movie. He was the man on the town that developed all of the movie, and he had a film digital camera. He used to movie the faculty basketball practices and soccer practices. And when a film got here close by, as a number of them did round northern Florida, he would often rent onto the set and work in some capability. And he was engaged on an Elvis Presley film in 1961, I feel. “Observe That Dream,” it was known as. And I used to be invited there by my aunt, who drove me all the way down to see Elvis. And I actually did not have a lot concept of who Elvis was. I used to be solely 11.
However we did certainly go there. And it was fairly a circus, you recognize, a number of, as you’d anticipate, you recognize, mobs on the street. And he was simply again from the Military. However I did not actually discuss with him. I imply, he simply kind of nodded my approach, you recognize? I used to be launched by my uncle as, you recognize, that is my nephew. And my two cousins had been with me. And he simply – I do not bear in mind what he stated actually, however I used to be very impressed by it.
And after I went dwelling, I form of scoured the neighborhood and got here up with some outdated Elvis information. And I began listening to them, and so they actually took me over, you recognize? And these had been all ’50s information. And I had a good friend whose older sister had gone to varsity and left this lovely field of 45s of rock ‘n’ roll, you recognize, from the ’50s. And I liked it, you recognize? It simply spoke to me.
GROSS: So how lengthy did it take after that till you began to play one thing your self?
PETTY: Effectively, the thought had by no means dawned on me till I noticed the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Present, ” like so many musicians did. Once I noticed it, you recognize, I did not suppose you might simply grow to be a rock ‘n’ roll singer. I did not see the way it may occur, you recognize, since you wanted to be in a film and have the music seem on the seashore and stuff.
GROSS: (Laughter).
PETTY: So I did not see how one would get that collectively, you recognize? So after I noticed the Beatles, it kind of hit me like a lightning bolt to the mind that, oh, I see, you recognize? You’ve gotten your pals, and also you all study an instrument, and you are a self-contained unit. That is sensible, you recognize? And this seems to be like an awesome, nice job to me. And apparently it did to a lot of folks as a result of in a short time after that, there have been bands forming, you recognize, in garages throughout city. And I used to be only one in, you recognize, 1000’s of little bands that began then in round ’64, ’65.
MOSLEY: Tom Petty spoke with Terry Gross in 2006. We’ll hear extra after a break. That is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOM PETTY SONG, “THE GOLDEN ROSE”)
MOSLEY: That is FRESH AIR. Let’s get again to Terry’s 2006 interview with Tom Petty. The brand new TV collection “Unhealthy Monkey” options covers of lots of his songs with the Heartbreakers. Lately, their 1982 album “Lengthy After Darkish” was reissued.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
GROSS: Let me play one other track that was – it is an awesome track, and it was a very talked-about track of yours. Johnny Money recorded the track late in his life. And the track is “I Will not Again Down,” which you recorded in 1989. I do know it is arduous to speak about writing songs, however is there a narrative behind this one?
PETTY: I wrote this track with Jeff Lynne. We wrote it within the studio whereas we had been mixing one other track. And it got here in a short time. And I used to be truly anxious about it. I assumed that it was perhaps simply too direct. You realize, I assumed, effectively, there is not actually something to cover behind right here, you recognize? It’s extremely daring and really blunt. There’s not a number of metaphor or, you recognize, anyplace to go. And – however I used to be inspired by Jeff that, you recognize, no, it is actually good. It is best to report this and go forward with it. And it is turned out to be perhaps, you recognize, the one track that is had probably the most affect on folks that strategy me on the road or discuss to me in a restaurant or wherever I’m going or mail that I’ve gotten through the years. It has been actually essential to lots of people and their lives. And I am glad I wrote it, and I am form of happy with it nowadays. And I used to be very, very proud when Johnny Money did it.
GROSS: Effectively, let’s hear it. From 1989, that is Tom Petty.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I WON’T BACK DOWN”)
PETTY: (Singing) Effectively, I will not again down. No, I will not again down. You possibly can rise up me on the gates of hell, however I will not again down. No, I will stand my floor – will not be circled. And I will maintain this world from dragging me down – going to face my floor. And I will not again down. I will not again down. Hey, child. There ain’t no simple approach out. Hey. I’ll stand my floor. And I will not again down. Effectively, I do know what’s proper. I acquired only one life. In a world that retains on…
GROSS: You recorded that track simply a few years after an arsonist burned down your own home. And the home was set on hearth when you and your loved ones had been in it. Did your instincts kick in like they had been purported to whenever you realized that your own home was on hearth and that you just and your spouse and little one needed to get out of there?
PETTY: They kick in fairly quick, you recognize, when your own home is on hearth. Yeah, they kicked in actually quick, and it was a reasonably horrific factor to occur. And I did simply survive with, you recognize, the garments on my again, however I do not know. Possibly, you recognize, that had one thing to do with the songs like “I Will not Again Down” and issues as a result of I felt actually elated that they did not get me. You realize? Like, I form of simply – that was the thought that was going via my head – was, effectively, you bastard, you did not get me, you recognize? I survived.
But it surely’s very arduous to even consider that somebody desires to kill you, you recognize? It is a very arduous factor to undergo. And, you recognize, when the police and the arson persons are telling me that, you recognize, somebody did it, I am simply going, effectively certainly, there is a mistake. You realize, there will need to have been a nasty wire or – you recognize, and, you recognize, they had been completely positive there was no mistake. So the fascinating factor about that’s how many individuals known as and confessed the next day.
GROSS: You are kidding. Actually?
PETTY: You realize, yeah. They had been confessing from throughout America. And it was like, you recognize, folks in New Jersey would name and confess. Then I noticed simply how bonkers persons are. You realize, It is like, you recognize there’s some folks which might be actually bonkers, and it’s important to watch out. However, you recognize, that was – you recognize, I by no means actually talked about that a lot as a result of it surprised me so deeply.
And I am positive it had an awesome impact on the music I did as a result of I got here again with this very optimistic, completely satisfied form of music that – I did not wish to go into any darkish nook or something like that. I used to be simply so glad to be alive and to need to have escaped one thing like that. And, you recognize, it was additionally actually traumatic and horrible. However a part of it made me actually be further glad to simply be alive.
GROSS: Effectively, Tom Petty, thanks a lot.
PETTY: Thanks for having me. Is it good to be right here.
MOSLEY: Tom Petty spoke to Terry Gross in 2006. He died in 2017. After a brief break, we hear from filmmaker, director, author, and now McArthur fellow Sterlin Harjo. He co-created the favored TV collection “Reservation Canines” a couple of group of youngsters on an Oklahoma Indian reservation. I am Tonya Mosley, and that is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DON’T DO ME LIKE THAT”)
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: (Singing) I used to be speaking with a good friend of mine – stated a lady had damage his delight, informed him that she liked him so and circled and let him go. Then he stated, you higher watch your step, or you are going to get damage your self. Somebody’s going to let you know lies, lower you all the way down to dimension. Do not do me like that. Do not do me like that. What if I like you, child? Do not do me like that.
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