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I think Long After Dark is so great and probably does not get the credit it deserves even from its creators. TP was a master of pop song craft . He’s always got a great bridge even in a heavy song like Straight Into Darkness or a dirty-toned rock blowout like Between Two Worlds

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Wow, wasn't expecting that. I know Bob skipped the Concert for George and I don't really recall him doing anything for George, glad to see him do this. 

Dylan played a snippet of Something live as a tribute to Harrison. Pretty sure there are youtubes of it out there.

 

Something is also not a Travelling Wilburys song, in case anyone thought I was confused about that. Before forming the Travelling Wilburys, George Harrison was in a band called the Beatles. Paul McCartney from Wings was also in that band. They rocked. 

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Something is also not a Travelling Wilburys song, in case anyone thought I was confused about that. Before forming the Travelling Wilburys, George Harrison was in a band called the Beatles. Paul McCartney from Wings was also in that band. They rocked. 

:rotfl

 

I've heard that band on the radio a few times. I was pretty impressed. 

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Dylan played a snippet of Something live as a tribute to Harrison. Pretty sure there are youtubes of it out there.

 

Something is also not a Travelling Wilburys song, in case anyone thought I was confused about that. Before forming the Travelling Wilburys, George Harrison was in a band called the Beatles. Paul McCartney from Wings was also in that band. They rocked. 

 

Are you referring to Pete Best's old band?

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So as a father's day gift I bought my dad the Petty bio, and being my dad he read it in three days and then insisted I borrow it. Covers a lot of similar territory as the documentary, with a little more musing on the man's psychology and damage which feels darker now looking back from his death.

 

On the bright side it's got me doing one of my seasonal discography evaluation's I tend to find myself doing with a career artist (Beatles, Guided By Voices, REM, Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, some band called Wilco). Even though I grew up with Petty there were some gaping holes in my familiarity with him between childhood road trips with Full Moon Fever on cassette, Wildflowers and Greatest Hits in the old CD collection, and S/T and Damn the Torpedoes  in the vinyl collection.

 

My project is a best of Tom Petty's non-hits playlist. Basically one or two really great, memorable, catchy songs from any of his records that wasn't on the Greatest Hits album, and maybe he really liked to sneak into a setlist. Luckily the majority of his discography is available through my local library. I'm about half way through. I never realized how much of the Heartbreakers material can be looked at right next to the E Street Band as speaking a very similar language with an equal vitality.

 

So far the best example of this type of non-hit tune is "Kings Road" from Hard Promises. It's undeniably catchy, full of piss and vinegar, I'm pretty sure I saw them rock it in 2014 and most casual fans wouldn't recognize it. I'm skipping over most of the quality, but somewhat interchangeable rock n' roll numbers that are prevalent in the first half dozen albums. If I remember I'll post the full list when I'm done with this project in nerdyness. 

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Oh I'll play this game all day long and twice on Sunday, as they say!

 

The Wild One, Forever

Mystery Man

No Second Thoughts

When The Time Comes

You Tell Me

Louissiana Rain

Casa Dega

The Insider

You Can Still Change Your Mind

Nightwatchman

We Stand A Chance

Between Two Worlds

The Best Of Everything

Dogs On The Run

Let Me Up I've Had Enough

Depending On You

All The Wrong Reasons

You and I Will Meet Again

House In The Woods

A Higher Place

Climb That Hill

Hung Up and Overdue

Echo

Billy The Kid

Dreamville

Like A Diamond

No Reason To Cry

Something Good Coming

 

and from Hypnotic Eye, I got nothing I think is all that great.  Same for Highway Companion.

 

 

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

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and from Hypnotic Eye, I got nothing I think is all that great.  

 

Yeah, Hypnotic Eye has a great sound, and I enjoy as a whole but not too many standouts, except maybe Fault Lines. That seemed like a step forward for the Heartbreakers with a new groove, even though they kind of wear it out by the end of the song.

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Also, I'm kind of struggling with Wildflowers and Full Moon Fever for a couple reasons.

 

First of all, they both are like at least half "hits" to me. Maybe not on the charts, but iconic and well known. Is a song like "Good to be King" too obvious for my deep cuts playlist? Or "You're So Bad"?

 

The second problem is this makes me think I subconsciously love the non-Hearbreakers records even more than the Heartbreakers ones, which must be some kind of sin. 

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My fave album is Hard Promises and then Damn The Torpedoes but Long After Dark was a sneakily great record to my ears.  I think it really holds up, except for the synth sound on You Got Lucky.  The raunchy heavy guitar tones when Tom and Mike are both on electrics is phenomenal.  Give it a listen on headphones at a good volume and listen for the guitar interplay on what may seem like somewhat generic early 80s FM rock, you might be surprised or maybe you are already hip to it.  The songwriting is also better than it might appear with just a casual listen.  Straight Into Darkness, yeah, what a song.  Some people think it sounds Springsteen-like.  It does tell a story more interestingly by leaving out lots of the details.

 

yeah lots of hits and concert staples on Wildflowers and Full Moon Fever, but a few under the radar tunes are on each, depending on your tastes.

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And if you wanna get really nerdy, you could include unreleased studio stuff from the Playback box set.  The raw sessions for Let Me Up have some great garage rock before Tom and Mike drenched it in lame keyboards.  Also some interesting songs that didn't really get finished for an aborted attempt at a Heartbreakers album before Full Moon Fever.  A couple good outtakes from Long After Dark, too.  And more coming out on the new box set.  Does that make three box sets now?

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You Got Lucky is a great tune - synth sound and all. 

 

Must admit - I heard every album of his - but haven't really listened half of the them ---- I wish I would have gotten around to seeing him.

My brother and his wife probably caught him 15 or so times over the years ---- each time they asked me to go....

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My fave album is Hard Promises and then Damn The Torpedoes but Long After Dark was a sneakily great record to my ears.  I think it really holds up, except for the synth sound on You Got Lucky.  

 

Agreed on Hard Promises. I think it's overlooked in Torpedoes' shadow. Haven't heard Long After Dark yet, other than the big hit. That's up in my library cue and you've made me more psyched to dive in.

 

Seriously, Kings Road is at this sweet spot between garage, classic rock, punk, power-pop for me. Can't get enough of that song.

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I was at that show.  Wildflowers tour (and album) to my ears was a major revitalization after the not so great Into The Great Wide Open tour.

 

Here are a few other rarities to consider:

Make That Connection - Let Me Up B side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DsbFIJTFm4

 

Down The Line - Full Moon Fever outtake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmszwodDZ6Q

 

Keeping Me Alive - Long After Dark outtake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtmLysh4ih0

 

Ways To Be Wicked - TP & HB version of the tune they gave to Lone Justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qALwpkQMoHg

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