World of Music
By Robin Welles
Oxnard Press-Courier - June 16, 1985
HOLLYWOOD (CNS) -- The flame may have flickered for Tom Petty, but it certainly didn't go out.
A bone-thin blond with an incredible drive for perfection, Petty has been on the musical sidelines for nearly three years while recovering from a mild case of premature burnout that sprang from non-stop touring and recording with The Heartbreakers.
Now he's back with a new album released by MCA called "Southern Accents." And there have been some changes made in the Petty act, Such as using a 26-piece orchestra conducted by Jack Nitsche. And going outside the ranks of The Heartbreakers to link up with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics to co-write some of the material for the LP. And exploring in such new areas as funk and soul.
So the model has been altered, but it's still got the purr of a Porsche. Petty, after all, is a musician who once endangered his career as a guitarist by smashing his fist into a recording studio wall in a fit of frustration.
It's only Petty's sixth album, or, actually, the fifth since the first one back in 1976 was a flop (although not to some of the critics).
The latest is definitely not a heartbreaker. A winner all the way.
Rock: Petty in Concert
By Stephen Holden
The New York Times - June 17, 1985
Classic rock and roll that extends and deepens traditions established in the 60's and early 70's may be a slowly vanishing breed of music. But its most dedicated practitioners continue to produce a guitar-based electric music that is a ruminative, visceral expression of populist feeling.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who performed at the Byrne Meadowlands Arena on Saturday, belong to this breed, as do Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen. Each represents a different, though related, aspect of the American sensibility. Mr. Petty, who was brought up in Gainesville, Fla., writes and sings from a working-class Southern point of view. And on his latest album, "Southern Accents," he has created a sequence of pungent dramatic monologues that draw a composite portrait of a restless young Southerner.
Music
By Thor Christensen
The Milwaukee Journal - June 21, 1985
Proudly declaring his rebel roots on his newest LP, "Southern Accents," Tom Petty -- performing at Alpine Valley Sunday at 8 p.m. -- is in the process of establishing as a heartland rocker in the Seger-Springsteen league. The Florida-born Petty and his Heartbreakers brandish a driving style of grassroots rock, influenced by the blues, country, and the Byrds, as well as British Invasion pop sensibility. Expect the Petty trademarks ("American GIrl," "I Need To Know," "Refugee," etc.) as well as much of "Accents."
Opening the show is 'Til Tuesday, Boston's version of Missing Persons, currently hot with its hit "Voices Carry." Tickets are $12.50 for lawn seating, $19 for reserved.
Tom Petty: Good Ol' Boy Making Music
By Jonathan Taylor
Chicago Tribune - June 22, 1985
LOS ANGELES — Tom Petty offers a mild protest as a photographer asks him to hold up his left hand, the one he broke last year in a freak accident that threatened his future as a guitarist.
Petty, 29, is sitting in his manager's office in West Hollywood, wearing '60s-style granny glasses and a faintly psychedelic shirt. The large scar on the back of his left hand is the only evidence of his injury.
Petty hurt the hand during a mixing session on his sixth album, "Southern Accents." Frustrated at how the session was going, Petty smashed his hand against a jagged point on the wall as he stormed out of the studio.
But that was last year's news. Right now, with "Southern Accents" on its way to passing the million sales mark and his first national tour in more than two years--he'll be at Poplar Creek Saturday--Petty would prefer to forget his mishaps.
"It's all very romantic to read about, but not to live it," he says, referring not only to his recent accident but also to a series of serious disagreements with his record company, MCA, that held up the release of two earlier Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers albums.
Tom Petty's Back, And The Waiting Was Worth It
By Rick Kogan
Chicago Tribune - June 24, 1985
It doesn't take much courage, just three days into the sunniest season, to declare Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Saturday night concert at Poplar Creek the best show of the summer.
But such was the potency and unabashed rock and roll drive of the performance that Saturday night's show could--and should--retain its lofty ranking throughout the summer.
Admittedly, there were some tentative moments. This surely can be attributed to the band's not having toured for two years; only three weeks into this current American swing, there still are a few kinks to work out. It was obvious that the players were still feeling their way around a few of the evening's selections.
But this did little to dim an otherwise striking evening.
Showing no ill effects from the broken hand he suffered eight months ago, Petty played and sang with dominant control. His voice was especially controlled and efficient, more and more Dylanesque but nevertheless distinctive and full of articulate impact.
Music: Petty, Heartbreakers showcase talents
By Michael Pflughoeft
The Milwaukee Sentinel - June 24, 1985
East Troy -- A Southern breeze blew through Alpine Valley Sunday night in the form of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and for a few hours, at least, it seemed that 8,500 fans put life's problems on hold, kicked back and relaxed in true Southern fashion.
"Southern Accents," Petty's latest album, is his statement about life below the Mason-Dixon Line, where Petty grew up. The area remains close to his heart to this day.
The Alpine stage was transformed into a broken-down Southern mansion, complete with weathered marble pillars and shattered windows as Petty and the Heartbreakers rocked their way through hit after hit.
Platter Chatter: Petty Does It With Strings
By Fred Freeman
Oswego Palladium Times - June 25, 1985
"Southern Accents" -- Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, MCA. This is the long-awaited sixth album by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, their first LP in almost three years. This progress report from one of the most popular and creative bands marks numerous first that expand the unique Petty sound and style. It is the first time Petty has co-written material with a non-Heartbreaker -- Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, on three tracks. It is also the first time the group used an orchestra -- 26 pieces in all, with the first-time used strings arranged and conducted by the legendary Jack Nitzche. Highlights include "The Best Of Everything," "Spike," and "Make It Better."
Tom Petty on tour
By Michael Spies
Houston Chronicle - Thursday, July 4, 1985
He's playing music with a Southern accent these days, but Tom Petty still speaks fluent rock 'n' roll. On his most recent album, "Southern Accents," Petty carved out some new territory, working with Eurythmics' songwriter-guitarist Dave Stewart on the sitar-flavored single "Don't You Come Around Here No More." But he also attempted to paint a portrait of the South in such songs as "Rebels", addressing for the first time on his albums his feelings about Dixieland. Actually, he's thinking of Florida, where he grew up. Petty is also thinking of touring, and he is coming to Houston on Sunday with that in mind. The concert will begin 8 p.m. at the Summit.
It's his first concert tour in three years. Petty's plans suffered a setback when he injured his hand last year. He reportedly smashed his hand through a wall in some combination of high spirits and foolishness. His band, the Heartbreakers, will be around with him to run through songs from "Southern Accents" and from such earlier albums as "Damn the Torpedoes, Hard Promises" and "You're Gonna Get It". Backbone members, including Mike Campbell and organist Benmont Tench, should be among the Heartbreakers. Opening act will be Lone Justice, a rock outfit from Los Angeles. Call Ticketron at 526-1709 for ticket information.
Tom Petty Special Mostly For Friends
By Noel Holston
Orlando Sentinel - July 5, 1985
Native son: Only relatives, one-time neighbors and true-blue fans of Gainesville-bred rocker Tom Petty are likely to find much of interest in Southern Accents, a half-hour documentary and record promotion that MTV is showing Saturday night at 11. And even they may find their patience tested.
Nothing much happens and, as Petty has sung, ''The waiting is the hardest part.''
Since they formed 10 years ago, Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, have become major stars playing a brand of rock that recalls the Byrds, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. Southern Accents, the LP from which the Saturday night MTV special takes its title, is high on the Billboard charts now.
The MTV special combines an interview with Petty, in which he talks about the album and his Southern roots; fragments of a Heartbreakers jam session on the roof of the fabulous Don CeSar hotel in St. Petersburg Beach; and scenes of Petty driving around old haunts in Gainesville. There's also a frustratingly short excerpt from his ''Don't Come Around Here'' video, an elaborate Alice in Wonderland dreamscape in which Petty is cast as the Mad Hatter.
The half hour's most satisfying segment is a sort of budget video -- black-and-white footage of lower-middle-class neighborhoods, fishing holes and souvenir stands set to the wistful strains of ''Southern Accents,'' Petty's song about the erosion of the South's distinguishing characteristics.