A Glimpse of Into the Great Wide Open (1991) by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
What's the difference between Tom Petty solo and with The Heartbreakers?
Click the cover and listen to Into the Great Wide Open on the streaming service of your choice.
Petty & The Heartbreakers started at the beginning, with American Girl in 19761. It sounded like a barely updated '60s classic; fresh, guitar-based classic rock with an instantly memorable chorus. It was played frequently by Nicky Horne on his nightly rock show Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It (here’s an example show from 1976), his show at that time was the best argument for commercial radio in the UK.
This was when the limited edition 12” single was being introduced. I bought a few for the novelty, to have a rarity of sorts, and because they did sound louder with deeper bass compared to the standard 7” issue. I didn’t buy the 12” of American Girl for any of those reasons though (except the sounding better one). I bought it because it was one of the best records I’d ever heard.
Naturally, I bought the album, the band’s first. If American Girl was the outstanding track, it was not the only great track. In 1977 the opportunity to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (supported by, although they were equals on the night, Nils Lofgren) at the atmospheric Brighton Dome. Both acts proved to be the essence of rock, and I went on to collect their albums over the next few years.
This, though, is not a Glimpse of the first Tom Petty album, but of one that followed 24 years later, Into the Great Wide Open. This is the final part of a brief series, themed around the Travelling Wilburys. I posted a Glimpse of George Harrison’s Thirty-Three & ⅓ a couple of weeks ago, and last week paid subscribers received a Long Gaze about the Wilburys. Into the Great Wide Open was produced by Wilbury Jeff Lynne and was his next release after Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3. (Bob Dylan received a Glimpse a few months ago and will return, the Electric Light Orchestra will feature in a few weeks, and Roy Orbison’s turn will come).
Do Petty & The Heartbreakers sound as lively and fresh here as they sounded on that first album?
Sonically it’s more sophisticated. The first album, produced by Denny Cordell, was hardly raw, but the brief was clearly to capture the sound of a young and exciting rock band. By Wide Open, the songs were deeper, and told better stories, while master producer Lynne was overseeing the sessions (with Petty and Mike Campbell. As usual with a Lynne production, we can hear his style and there’s nothing wrong with that).
“Instead of taking Polaroids, we were oil-painting.” ~ Tom Petty, Guitar.com
Those not paying attention to Petty’s career had the perception that he’d faded after the impact of the first album and the follow-up You’re Gonna Get It. I bought each of his albums on release, and the only disappointment for me was the 1987 record Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough). A four-year gap followed, so we were ready for their return. Petty had been busy on his account, dropping a solo album and the two Traveling Wilburys records.
The solo album, Full Moon Fever, was also produced by Lynne. It’s possible to see Wide Open as a companion piece. There are substantial overlaps between Petty’s records and the Wilbury personnel, and there are a couple of Heartbreakers on Full Moon Fever (naturally including his lieutenant Mike Campbell)
Wide Open starts with Learning to Fly, one of the eight (out of twelve) songs co-written with Lynne. It’s a classic track, the perfect single to announce the album, and a great example of what has been described as cinematic lyric writing:
“Well, some say life will beat you down / Break your heart, steal your crown / So I’ve started out, for God knows where / I guess I’ll know, when I get there.” ~ Petty/Lynne.
The title track is an even greater epic - in scope, if not in length. You’ll have noticed I like a bit of prog rock from time to time and in that genre ‘epic’ usually means a 25-minute song such as Supper’s Ready by Genesis. But Into the Great Wide Open clocks in at just 3:43 - which still leaves room for infinite meaning in the lyrics:
“Eddie waited till he finished high school / He went to Holywood, got a tattoo / He met a girl out there with a tattoo too / The future was wide open.” ~ Petty/Lynne
Followed by such a clever chorus, puncturing the idea (sadly) that anything is possible:
“Into the great wide open / Under them skies of blue / Out in the great wide open / A rebel without a clue.” ~ Petty/Lynne
Musically, one way of making this a band album, as opposed to a solo, would have been to record the songs as a band and make it more of an out-and-out rock record, leaving the more reflective sound to Petty’s solo work. That’s not what happened. Listen to Out in the Cold - yes, it does have the band feel I’m asking for, but now listen to Runnin’ Down a Dream from Full Moon Fever. The songs are close relatives (fair enough) and Dream has the band feel too, even in a solo context. Solo albums allow more scope for musicians to work in exactly the way they want - no compromise. What if the sound they want is the one they already have?
So yes, after four years it was great to have the clean rocking sound of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers back, benefiting from refreshed songwriting. Lynne made a difference, and Petty had participated in, effectively a songwriting masterclass with Dylan and Harrison in the Wilburys (not that Petty needed any lessons).
Petty would go on to make further classic albums before he died in 2017. If the future wasn’t as wide open as it seemed to be, Into the Great Wide Open is a superb example of Petty’s qualities.
Mike Cambell has kept the spirit alive with his band The Dirty Knobs. And Petty’s estate is doing a fine job of curating his catalogue and legacy - look out for a tribute album by country music stars in a couple of months.
What feelings does this record evoke in you?
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Video content
There’s much in my Glimpse about Tom Petty as a rocker. Maybe that’s all wrong. This is the trailer for Petty Country. The album will include Learning to Fly - a version by the Eli Yong Band. So far we can hear Dolly Parton’s version of Southern Accents - and what a great song that is.
HOW TO BUY Into the Great Wide Open
Vinyl | CD | MP3 | Cassette (yep) (Amazon affiliate links)
RECOMMENDED READING
Tom Petty: Every Album, Every Song by Richard James (Sonic Bond Publishing) (Bookshop.org affiliate link)
RECORDING DETAILS
Side 1: Learning to Fly / Kings Highway / Into the Great Wide Open / Two Gunslingers / The Dark of the Sun / All or Nothin’
Side 2: All the Wrong Reasons / Too Good to Be True / Out in the Cold / You and I Will Meet Again / Makin’ Some Noise / Built to Last
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty – lead vocals, guitars (acoustic, electric, 12-string), keyboards, percussion
Mike Campbell – guitars (lead, 12-string, bass, resonator, slide), keyboards, backing vocals on "Learning to Fly"
Benmont Tench – acoustic and electric pianos, synthesizer, accordion
Howie Epstein – bass guitar, backing vocals
Stan Lynch – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Jeff Lynne – guitars, bass, backing vocals, piano, synthesizer, percussion, sound effects
Roger McGuinn – backing vocals on "All The Wrong Reasons"
Richard Tandy – synthesizer on "Two Gunslingers"
Additional personnel]
Jeff Lynne / Tom Petty / Mike Campbell – producers
Richard Dodd – engineer
What a great reminder of a great album. I'd forgotten this one, despite it essentially - with Full Moon Fever - bookending my university years. I also don't think I even realised it was a Heartbreakers album - it's so much like its predecessor. But having listened to it with the aide of the Glimpse Notes, I'm hearing it with different ears. Thanks!
Thanks for a fantastic retrospective of a great album, I enjoyed reading while giving the album a listen for the first time in many years