Tom Petty a rock classicist from the beginning
Tom Petty
Given the leather jacket and sneer  Tom Petty  wore on the cover of  his  1976 debut  many people assumed  he  was one of those cheeky punks bent on tearing down the walls of rock 'n' roll.
 He  wasn't. It's not that Petty and  his  band  the Heartbreakers  didn't have their share of energy and attitude. But the kid from Gainesville  Florida  was a rock classicist to the core  and he built a body of work to stand with his heroes.
It was melodic rock 'n' roll built with the solid structures of his favorites from the 1960s.  Petty  had an impish grin and playful drawl  and in concert  he  raised  his  arms to direct both  his  band and the thousands of fans singing along from the audience.
"'Rock and roll star' is probably the purest manifestation of the American dream "  Petty  said upon  his  2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "It's a blessing beyond belief."
The Heartbreakers stood with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as one of the all-time great rock backup bands.  Petty  wouldn't give ground:  he  added an expletive to  his  declaration on that night that the Heartbreakers weren't just one of America's best bands  they were THE best. Being able to stand onstage next to guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboard player Benmont Tench made  Petty  the envy of many bandleaders.
Still  two key periods of  his  career came without the Heartbreakers.
"Full Moon Fever " Petty's first solo album in 1989  stands as the apex of  his  career. Working with producer Jeff Lynne  Petty fashioned a cleaner sound and created the classics "Runnin' Down a Dream " ''I Won't Back Down" and  most indelibly  "Free Fallin'."
Given the leather jacket and sneer  [TGT]wore on the cover of  [TGT]  1976 debut  many people assumed  [TGT]  was one of those cheeky punks bent on tearing down the walls of rock 'n' roll.
 [TGT]  wasn't. It's not that Petty and  [TGT]  band  the Heartbreakers  didn't have their share of energy and attitude. But the kid from Gainesville  Florida  was a rock classicist to the core  and he built a body of work to stand with his heroes.
It was melodic rock 'n' roll built with the solid structures of his favorites from the 1960s.  [TGT]had an impish grin and playful drawl  and in concert  [TGT]  raised  [TGT]  arms to direct both  [TGT]  band and the thousands of fans singing along from the audience.
"'Rock and roll star' is probably the purest manifestation of the American dream "  [TGT]said upon  [TGT]  2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "It's a blessing beyond belief."
The Heartbreakers stood with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as one of the all-time great rock backup bands.  [TGT]wouldn't give ground:  [TGT]  added an expletive to  [TGT]  declaration on that night that the Heartbreakers weren't just one of America's best bands  they were THE best. Being able to stand onstage next to guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboard player Benmont Tench made  [TGT]the envy of many bandleaders.
Still  two key periods of  [TGT]  career came without the Heartbreakers.
"Full Moon Fever " Petty's first solo album in 1989  stands as the apex of  his  career. Working with producer Jeff Lynne  [TGT] fashioned a cleaner sound and created the classics "Runnin' Down a Dream " ''I Won't Back Down" and  most indelibly  "Free Fallin'."