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Tom Petty: Details About Country Tribute Album

Tom Petty is being honored with a new tribute album from some of country music’s biggest names. Aptly named Petty Country, the album is due out on May 31. The album…

Tom Petty performing on stage.
Jerod Harris/Getty Images

Tom Petty is being honored with a new tribute album from some of country music's biggest names.

Aptly named Petty Country, the album is due out on May 31. The album features 20 tracks and an absolutely stacked roster of talent. Among the artists covering Petty are Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson, Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Wynonna Judd, Lainey Wilson, George Strait, Dierks Bentley and more. Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench also play on the album.

A full track listing is below, along with the first preview of the LP: Bentley's cover of "American Girl."

Stapleton on Petty

Seeing Chris Stapleton on the list of artists taking part in Petty Country isn't surprising. The powerhouse singer-songwriter has often talked about his Petty fandom. What is surprising is the song he's covering on the tribute album.

Stapleton opens the LP with "I Should Have Known It." That track was featured on Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' 2010 studio album Mojo. While its mix of rock, blues and country is fully in Stapleton's wheelhouse, some may have expected he'd record a song from 1994's Wildflowers.

In September 2023, Stapleton shared via Instagram his visit to the Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention. The museum is located in Gainesville, Fla., which is the hometown of Petty. Understandably, the museum features artifacts from their favorite son from his legendary career.

Stapleton wrote, "My all-time favorite record is Tom Petty 'Wildflowers.' Standing on the rugs that were in the room, staring at the artifacts from its creation were highlight moments for me. Thanks Cade Museum for an unforgettable experience."


Petty Country
- Track Listing

1. "I Should Have Known It" - Chris Stapleton
2. "Wildflowers" - Thomas Rhett
3. "Runnin' Down a Dream" - Luke Combs
4. "Southern Accents" - Dolly Parton
5. "Here Comes My Girl" - Justin Moore
6. "American Girl" - Dierks Bentley
7. "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" - Lady A
8. "I Forgive It All" - Jamey Johnson
9. "I Won't Back Down" - Brothers Osborne
10. "Refugee" - Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson
11. "Angel Dream #2" - Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson
12. "Learning to Fly" - Eli Young Band
13. "Breakdown" - Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce
14. "Yer So Bad" - Steve Earle
15. "Ways to Be Wicked" - Margo Price & Mike Campbell
16. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" - Midland
17. "Free Fallin'" - The Cadillac Three feat. Breland
18. "I Need To Know" - Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives
19. "Don't Come Around Here No More" - Rhiannon Giddens feat. Benmont Tench
20. "You Wreck Me (Live)" - George Strait

Tom Petty was a bit like Tom Hanks: he was so great that after a while you almost took his greatness for granted. When compiling this list, we kept in mind that the man was putting out great music up until the very end, and we wanted to recognize some of his gems that didn't get as much love as they should have, including some of his final recordings.

We decided that anything he wrote was fair game: obviously his songs with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, as well as his three solo albums. We also included songs from Mudcrutch, his pre-Heartbreakers band (which included Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) who broke up in 1975 after recording a few songs; they reunited in 2007 and released a pair of albums. Of course, we included the Traveling Wilburys, focusing on the songs where Tom was the main singer, as well as the songs he wrote for Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison and Roger McGuinn. We mostly went with studio recordings, but nevertheless, we still heartily recommend the 2008 box set The Live Anthology. We also decided against including covers (although we love his Byrds covers "So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star" and "Feel A Whole Lot Better," his cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" and his duet with Stevie Nicks on Jackie DeShannon's "Needles and Pins," to name a few). It's worth noting that we frequently referenced Paul Zollo's excellent book, Conversations With Tom Petty often, and we'd definitely recommend that book, as well as Warren Zanes' Tom Petty: The Biography.

Did we miss a few songs? Sure - Petty had waaaaay more than 50 great ones (and we're sure you'll let us know on social media what we missed). But for now, enjoy these, there might be some that you forgot about or some that you haven't even heard.

50. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers ‘Southern Accents’ (1985)

Universal

49. “Jammin’ Me” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)’ (1987)

Universal

48. “You Took My Breath Away” from the Traveling Wilburys’ ‘Vol. 3’ (1990)

Concord Records

47. “King Of The Hill” from Roger McGuinn’s ‘Back From Rio’ (1991)

Sony Legacy

46. “Walls - Circus” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Songs And Music From The Motion Picture “She’s The One”’ (1996)

Warner Brothers

45. “Red River” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hypnotic Eye’ (2014)

Warner Brothers

44. “I Should Have Known It” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Mojo’ (2010)

Warner Brothers

43. “Last Night” from the Traveling Wiburys’ ‘Vol. 1’ (1988)

Concord

42. “The Wrong Thing To Do (live)” from Mudcrutch’s ‘Extended Play Live’ EP (2008)

Warner Brothers

41. “Saving Grace” from Tom Petty’s ‘Highway Companion’ (2006)

Warner Brothers

40. “Runnin’ Down A Dream” form Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘The Live Anthology’ (2009)

Warner Brothers

39. “The Last DJ” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘The Last DJ’ (2002)

Warner Brothers

38. “Wake Up Time” from Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ (1994)

Warner Brothers

37. “You And I Will Meet Again” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “Into The Great Wide Open” (1991)

Universal

36. “You Got It” from Roy Orbison’s ‘Mystery Girl’ (1989)

Sony Legacy

35. “It’s Good To Be King” from Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ (1994)

Warner Brothers

34. “Learning To Fly” from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ ‘Into The Great Wide Open’ (1991)

Universal

33. “Hungry No More” from Mudcrutch ‘2’ (2016)

Warner Brothers

32. “A Wasted Life” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ (1982)

Universal

31. “I Will Run To You” from Stevie Nicks’ ‘The Wild Heart’ (1983)

Rhino

30. “Insider” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hard Promises’ (1981)

Universal

29. “Deliver Me” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ (1982)

Universal

28. “Letting You Go” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hard Promises’ (1981)

Universal

27. “Into The Great Wide Open” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Into The Great Wide Open’ (1991)

Universal

26. “The Wild One, Forever” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ (1976)

Rhino/Warner Brothers

25. “Echo” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Echo’ (1999)

Warner Brothers

24. “Angel Dream (No. 4)” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘She’s The One (Songs and Music From The Motion Picture)”

Warner Brothers

23. “I Forgive It All” from Mudcrutch ‘2’ (2016)

Warner Brothers

22. “I Need To Know” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “You’re Gonna Get It” (1978)

Rhino/Warner Brothers

21. “Don’t Do Me Like That” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ (1979)

Universal

20. “Scare Easy” from Mudcrutch’s ‘Mudcrutch’ (2008)

Warner Brothers

The highlight of Mudcrutch’s debut/reunion album (they only recorded a few singles before breaking up in the early ‘70s). Unfortunately, many wrote Mudcrutch off as a side-project. Had Petty kept “Scare Easy” for the Heartbreakers, it could have been a huge hit. He never played Heartbreakers songs with Mudcrutch, and vice-versa, which is a shame. And it’s kind of funny, in retrospect: if the Heartbreakers played Traveling Wilburys songs (including “Handle With Care”) -- reproducing parts by Dylan, Orbison and Harrison -- you’d think they could have pulled off Mudcrutch songs live (given the fact that ⅗ of Mudcrutch were also Heartbreakers).


19. “You Got Lucky” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ (1982)

Universal

18. “Here Comes My Girl” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ (1979)

Universal

17. “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hard Promises’ (1981)

Universal

16. “Waiting For Tonight”: outtake from Tom Petty’s ‘Full Moon Fever,’ released on 1995’s ‘Playback’ box set

Universal

15. “Built To Last” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers; ‘Into The Great Wide Open’ (1991)

Universal

14. “The Best Of Everything” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Southern Accents’ (1985)

Universal

13. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” from Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ (1994)

Warner Brothers

12. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Greatest Hits’ (1993)

Universal

11. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” from Stevie Nicks’ ‘Bella Donna’ (1981)

Rhino

10. “I Won’t Back Down” from Tom Petty’s ‘Full Moon Fever’ (1989)

Universal

9. “Breakdown (live)” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Pack Up The Plantation: Live’ (1985)

Universal

8. “Refugee” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ (1979)

Universal

7. “Listen To Her Heart” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘You’re Gonna Get It’ (1978)

Rhino/Warner Brothers

6. “For Real” - recorded by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in 2000, and released on ‘The Best Of Everything’ in 2021

Universal

5. “Wildflowers” from Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ (1994)

Warner Brothers

4. “Free Fallin’” from Tom Petty’s ‘Full Moon Fever’ (1989)

Universal

3. “The Waiting” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hard Promises’ (1981)

Universal

2. “Even The Losers” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ (1979)

Universal

1.”American Girl” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ (1976)

Rhino/Warner Brothers
Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights