Full Moon Over Mulholland
R.I.P. Tom Petty
Full Moon Fever was the first compact disc my family ever owned. Not the first we ever purchased - the year was 1989, we had joined the Columbia House mail-order club a week back, and 10 CDs were on their way, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.
In the meantime, we went out to the local Sam Goody, purchased a shiny silver Sony CD player, and Tom Petty’s now-classic debut solo album - and for the next few days that was all we listened to.
Runnin' Down a Dream
Free Fallin’
Yer So Bad
I Won’t Back Down
... I get a tingle to this day each time these gems come on the radio.
I may not have been among the greatest Petty fans, and yet these songs are instant memory triggers, they are part of me, part of my family folklore.
They are also kick-ass driving tunes.
R.I.P. Tom Petty
Will leave you with a quote from George Harrison, describing the forming of the supergroup Traveling Wilburys back in 1988:
The thing happened completely just by magic, by circumstances — maybe there was a full moon that night …
[Note from Heath — Editor. I hope this is okay, Joe. If not, feel free to remove it]
[Note from Joe: more than Ok, Heath Houston . I thought of you and LL first when thinking of where to publish this piece]
Joe,
I was a kid and didn’t know much about Tom petty, but I knew my father liked him. One night, very late, I was watching Mtv and I Won’t Back Down played from his new album, Full Moon Fever. I was absolutely blown away by it.
My father’s birthday was coming up so I bought a copy of Full Moon Fever for him, on cassette tape no less!
Now I feel old.
I was still forming my own musical identity when I borrowed that tape and listened to it over and over again, eventually just declaring de facto ownership of it.
The circle was complete. I was now a Tom Petty fan. That album (not to relegate the rest of his material to lesser) is an amazing bit of American Rock and Roll that stands as fresh today as it did then. God, what a great album.
The man had several musical lifetimes, like a rock and roll phoenix, decade after decade. I guess we can’t expect these people to live forever, but we do anyway. I’m torn between mourning the death of a legend and celebrating the fact that he left so much for fans and music lovers.
Thank you, Joe, for allowing me (and if people are reading this, you must have left this in, heh) to sort-of piggy back on your piece. I wanted to write something but just didn’t know what, and you bringing up Full Moon Fever nailed it. Here’s to the life and vast musical contributions of one of the most honest and genuine musicians we’ve ever been blessed with.
R.I.P. Tom Petty
