Bush stopped using the song (guess he does back down) but won the election, which was decided when Petty's home state of Florida went to Bush by a very slim margin. Bush used it during his 2000 presidential campaign, Petty threatened to sue, as he found Bush odious. Predictably, politicians often play this song at campaign stops to indicate their resilience. At the end of the line, if the songs are good and if the public connects with certain songs, that really is the true test, but you've got to get it out there." I guess it's a situation of timing and the right people that wanted to get inspired about it. We played the same thing for them and they went for it. We brought the same record back like six months later and they loved it - they said 'Oh, there's three hits on here.' We were vindicated on that one. In the interim, they changed A&R departments and a whole new group of people were in there. We played it for the record company and they said, 'Well, we don't hear any hits on here.' We were very despondent about the whole thing and we went back and recorded another track, a Byrds song called 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better,' thinking at the time that maybe they'll like this one. In a Songfacts interview with Campbell, he explained what happened when they brought the album to MCA Records: "We thought it was really good, we were real excited about it. As guitarist for the Heartbreakers, Campbell has written and produced many songs with Petty. Petty and Lynne worked on the album at Mike Campbell's house. This was the first single from Full Moon Fever, which was co-produced and co-written by Jeff Lynne. Goodrich wanted to use Petty's song "Mary's New Car" in a TV commercial, and when he wouldn't let them, their advertising agency commissioned a copycat song that the judge felt was too similar. As for motive, there was no direct connection made, but 11 days earlier, Petty won a lawsuit against the B.F. The arsonist was never caught, which made Petty's plight even more challenging. "I Won't Back Down" was his way of reclaiming his life and getting past the torment - he said that writing and recording the song had a calming effect on him. Petty felt grateful to be alive, but also traumatized - understandable considering someone had tried to kill him. It was on these drives that he came up with many of the songs for the album the fire was a huge influence, especially on this song. They escaped, but Petty was badly shaken and spent much of the next few months driving between hotel rooms and a rented house. So I'm sure there are others out there who had a similar experience.Before recording Full Moon Fever, an arsonist burned down Tom Petty's house while he was in it with his family and their housekeeper. It sounded like this was common for the band. They wanted make sure all of their fans got a chance to be up close no matter what ticket they could afford. Apparently it was a common thing for Tom Petty to buy out one of the first 10 rows and have one of his aides hand them out to people in the far back. He handed us a couple of 5th row tickets and said "These are from the band". He stopped me and then pulled out this stack of tickets. We had a decent view of the projection screens. I said no, but invited him to sit with us anyway. But he asked if we had a blanked to lay on. It didn't click in my head initially what was so odd about him, but it was that he was in a full suit and tie in the middle of this hippie filled lawn. Shortly before Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers hit the stage this guy walks up to us and starts talking about the band. So we just plop down the lawn and make the best of it. I felt a bit embarrassed I didn't remember this. We get there and I realize I forgot a blanket or anything to sit on. It is a great venue, but the lawn is way back and you often get a lot of wind coming in off of the bay. Shoreline is one of those venues that has two levels of seating and a third grass lawn in the way back. This was actually the first concert she had ever been two. I ended up asking her to go to his concert at Shoreline Amphitheater with me. I ran across a girl who was a friend of a friend of a friend who also listened to Tom Petty. I was a fan of his back in highschool, late 90s, and I didn't know many people my age who were into their music. To comment on what kind of guy he was, or who his band was, here is a great interaction I had with the band.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |