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…
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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)
49. “Jammin’ Me” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)’ (1987)
48. “You Took My Breath Away” from the Traveling Wilburys’ ‘Vol. 3’ (1990)
47. “King Of The Hill” from Roger McGuinn’s ‘Back From Rio’ (1991)
46. “Walls - Circus” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Songs And Music From The Motion Picture “She’s The One”’ (1996)
45. “Red River” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hypnotic Eye’ (2014)
44. “I Should Have Known It” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Mojo’ (2010)
43. “Last Night” from the Traveling Wiburys’ ‘Vol. 1’ (1988)
42. “The Wrong Thing To Do (live)” from Mudcrutch’s ‘Extended Play Live’ EP (2008)
41. “Saving Grace” from Tom Petty’s ‘Highway Companion’ (2006)
40. “Runnin’ Down A Dream” form Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘The Live Anthology’ (2009)
39. “The Last DJ” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘The Last DJ’ (2002)
38. “Wake Up Time” from Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ (1994)
37. “You And I Will Meet Again” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “Into The Great Wide Open” (1991)
36. “You Got It” from Roy Orbison’s ‘Mystery Girl’ (1989)
35. “It’s Good To Be King” from Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ (1994)
34. “Learning To Fly” from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ ‘Into The Great Wide Open’ (1991)
33. “Hungry No More” from Mudcrutch ‘2’ (2016)
32. “A Wasted Life” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ (1982)
31. “I Will Run To You” from Stevie Nicks’ ‘The Wild Heart’ (1983)
30. “Insider” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hard Promises’ (1981)
29. “Deliver Me” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ (1982)
28. “Letting You Go” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Hard Promises’ (1981)
27. “Into The Great Wide Open” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Into The Great Wide Open’ (1991)
26. “The Wild One, Forever” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ (1976)
25. “Echo” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Echo’ (1999)
24. “Angel Dream (No. 4)” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘She’s The One (Songs and Music From The Motion Picture)”
23. “I Forgive It All” from Mudcrutch ‘2’ (2016)
22. “I Need To Know” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “You’re Gonna Get It” (1978)
21. “Don’t Do Me Like That” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ (1979)
20. “Scare Easy” from Mudcrutch’s ‘Mudcrutch’ (2008)
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).