3/28/2023 0 Comments Tom petty wildflowers![]() Even a line like, “It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going.” There’s something very conversational about the way he’s turning phrases and talking about everything from being the boy in the corduroy pants to having the girl at the high-school dance - like his whole sort of idyllic upbringing. How does it make you feel closest to him?Įverything about that album makes you feel like he’s in the room. It’s my favorite album in terms of feeling the closest to my dad. It’s his beautiful autobiographical work. It’s not writing the perfect rock song, or a guitar ballad, or a hot song. It’s a confessional, novelistic, Americana masterpiece. But Wildflowers is the greatest album, I think, from a songwriting perspective. But then somebody puts Full Moon Fever in front of you, or Damn the Torpedoes, or the first Heartbreakers album, and you’re like, This is the greatest album. I think it’s probably his greatest album. Your dad says in archival footage that Wildflowers was the best album he ever made. A Broadway show? Well, that’s another story. “That’s the litmus test.” Does that mean a museum? Absolutely. Adria, an artist and director, executive-produced The Making of Wildflowers, and she possesses a strong vision for what the future of her father’s legacy looks like - for tenured and new fans alike. “As long as it’s contributing to humanity, and it’s something of quality, we would consider it,” she recently told me over breakfast near Central Park. Three important women in Petty’s life are the current managers of his estate: his daughters, Adria and Annakim, and his widow, Dana Petty. Also, hell, I had no idea that the Steve Miller Band smash “The Joker” served as inspiration for “You Don’t Know How It Feels.” The documentary is poignant just as it is cheerful, and you’ll come away knowing a lot more about how Wildflowers reflected that specific time in Petty’s life. What began as an outlet for Petty to free himself of the Heartbreakers’ democratic process turned into, well, essentially still a band album, with his sonic brothers-in-arms Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, and Howie Epstein working in the finest studio environment with the best artists Petty could find. But this month, Petty’s estate released its most substantial legacy project yet: Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers, a documentary that traces the recording process of his seminal solo album Wildflowers. We’ve been blessed with a fascinating treasure trove of demos, box sets, and previously unreleased music since 2017. It’s weird - or tragic, rather - to realize four years have passed since the death of Americana hero Tom Petty, a passage of time that perhaps doesn’t seem as long due to the thoughtful projects that have emerged in the aftermath. “My dad was like, ‘Look, when I die, if you guys want to do commercials, please don’t think that I’ll be pissed.
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