Behind the soaring choruses of the Heartbreakers’ rock ‘n roll classics “American Girl” and “Learning to Fly,” there was Tom Petty. Over the course of a career that carried him from the obscurity of Gainesville, Florida, to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the three-time Grammy Award winner released a total of 16 albums that irrevocably transformed American music. Petty died in 2017, a week after the band wrapped its 40th anniversary tour.
Adria Petty, Tom Petty’s daughter, is a preeminent creative in her own right: she is a multi-hyphenate director, editor, and photographer who has created music videos for artists including Beyoncé, Coldplay, Rihanna, and Kings of Leon, and released two documentaries. Most recently, Adria spearheaded the release of Origins 1971–1978, an archival box set available that commemorates the Heartbreakers’ 50th anniversary and traces the sound her father’s band made famous from its origins in the ’70s.
It features collaborations with Al Kooper and Leon Russell, alongside an 88-page fanzine and a collection of archival photos and memorabilia. Its compilation was no easy feat: “making this box set was like an archaeological dig,” Adria recalls. “I realized how—I don’t want to say immature, but sort of not media-trained—my dad was at that time.”
To commemorate the box set’s release, Adria and her childhood friend, Jakob Dylan—the scion of an equally formative musical talent and frontman of the Grammy Award-winning rock band the Wallflowers—sat down with CULTURED to discuss Tom Petty’s abiding legacy as a musician and as a father.
Jakob Dylan: It’s a large legacy. Let’s start there. There’s never been a better American rock band. I modeled my band after them when I started. I thought a setup like the Heartbreakers and Tom was the most self-contained, powerful unit that you could have.
They were like superheroes: they looked great, they held the guitars great. As far as songwriting, I recognized right away that Tom was like Chuck Berry for the next generation. The songs were so elusive—the lyrics weren’t over your head, but they weren’t simple either.
Adria Petty: Tom practiced and played guitar all the time. And he played rhythm guitar, so he was never the one showing off onstage with a big solo. But he really had that mastery of his instruments and his voice. But with songs like “Learning to Fly” or “Free Fallin’,” just playing around with vocals, this big, soaring sound makes people feel something.
He was as real as it gets. And he loved you so much. I was actually just thinking of your song “One Headlight,” when you make that little, “oh,” before the chorus kicks in. It’s this really melancholy, really personal vocalization. It’s not a word, but it makes people feel this big thing. It creates a silent agreement between you and the listener that this is a personal exchange. It was the same thing between Tom and the band.
Dylan: I’m sure you’d say your dad worked very hard at being a bandleader. It’s not an easy job, and few people are successful at it for long.
Petty: He worked really hard to keep the band together. Forty years. After the Wilburys [a super-group composed of Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison], I think he felt pretty confident in or out of the band.
Dylan: Why do you think he went back to Mudcrutch [Petty’s original band that launched him to fame] after all those years? He put that band back together [in 2007]. Why do you think he did that?
Petty: Because when they were making [the Heartbreakers documentary] “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” he watched the entire Tom Leadon [his former Mudcrutch bandmate] interview. He was so touched by what Tom said, that he hadn’t carried any resentment. There were a handful of people from Gainesville who never asked Tom for anything, who were sincere presences in his life. After seeing that interview, he just wanted to spend time with [former bandmates] Randall, Tom, Ben, and Mike. He moved the guys into his house, and he gave them most of the royalties on those records.
Dylan: Well, they were great records, no matter what the motivation was.
Petty: He really wanted to recapture the feeling of those early years. He loved being the bass player more than anything. I’ve asked him, “What would you have taken if Malibu was on fire?” And he said, “Just my Hofner bass.”
Dylan: That’s funny. When did you start becoming aware of his work? What record do you remember being made?
Petty: I remember the first record. I remember the album cover. It’s kind of cartoony, with the smoke behind him, my dad wearing a bullet belt and leather jacket.
Dylan: Did you ever go to the studio? Were you around?
Petty: I was so little. I don’t really have much memory of the ’70s. Damn the Torpedoes, I remember, because I was 7 or 8 years old. But making this box set was like an archaeological dig through family photos. I realized how—I don’t want to say immature, but sort of not media-trained—my dad was at that time. He was really right off the Mudcrutch farm, and so defiantly angry and determined. All that energy is coming through the vocals. There’s just this incredible sense of style, and the clothes are so cool. He’s got snakeskin boots on and a belt with, like, a film strip of the Beatles from A Hard Day’s Night.
Dylan: What is included from those early years?
Petty: There’s some really trippy old outtakes, and a lot of photos, too. We took all the press clippings—original U.K. press, a lot of the essential kind of Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, ’70s stuff—and made a ’70s fanzine. There’s a nice track-by-track with the band from an interview we did this year, and a nice essay from David Fricke. Pictures of in-stores, and all the little bits that feel like important elements of why they were cool at that moment.
Dylan: What is your favorite thing in this box?
Petty: The fashion in the ’70s is kind of my secret favorite part of this. Dad’s look with the long hair and the guy-liner and the blouses and scarves and silk blazers and high heels, and the Flying V is just such a character. I remember my mom and dad thrifting all those clothes.
Dylan: Where was he finding all that stuff?
Petty: It was mostly on Lankershim [in Los Angeles]. There was a really good country western denim store. And we spent a lot of time down there getting clothes.
Dylan: Your mom helped put those outfits together.
Petty: My mom put the outfits together, and she cut my dad’s hair, which was really cute. The box is just the early recordings. It’s only ’71 to ’78. It’s anything that just is, like, really solid or really interesting. Ryan and I looked at it as one half Whisky a Go Go, punk and rock ‘n roll side, and the other is the Troubadour country and folk side. So it has “Sally’s Up in Mississippi,” another version of it that’s one of my favorites. It’s got some really cool kind of New Wave-y stuff, too.
Dylan: Do you remember the shows? There wasn’t much of an audience to start. Do you remember seeing it grow in real time?
Petty: My dad didn’t let me see anything until, like, Hard Promises. I never went to a show. I was not allowed to do that, because I was a baby. But once I did, I remember thinking that it wasn’t surprising that people liked him, I guess. My dad was a very special person. I don’t feel like I’ve met many people that have the same radiance and depth. It was kind of zingy, even before he was famous.
Dylan: You missed out, right?
Petty: No kidding. But don’t worry, I’m making up for it now.
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