Today, we're talking about track 9 from the debut TPATH record, Luna. Kev is a little bit worse for wear so there are very few links in this podcast detail other than the following link to the song that you'll need! https://youtu.be/9fOKtWW8Xvo
NOTE FROM KEV: The reason this episode description was so short is that I wasn't "a little worse for wear", I was absolutely smashed. I'd written 3/4 of the script before heading over to my mate Randy's place and getting plastered. I then came home and figured I was definitely sober enough to finish writing and recording at 1am. This took until around 3am and I thought "Well, you'll hardly notice I've had a drink!" Cue me listening to it back next morning "Oh gods." I'm going to re-write/re-record this one sometime and drop it as a bonus.
(* Note - the transcript is as-written before recording. I usually change a few sentences or words here and there on the hoof as I'm speaking.)
Hiya all. My name is Kevin Brown and I’m the host of the Tom Petty Project Podcast. If you’ve just stumbled across the show and don’t know what the heck it’s all about, let me explain. Over the coming weeks, months, and years, I’m going to be reviewing every Tom Petty song, in album and track order, from the debut self-titled album, all the way through to Mudcrutch 2. Once I’ve gone through the major studio releases, I’ll then be digging into deep cuts, some live stuff, and whatever else feels right. I’ll also be joined by special guests a couple of times a season and have them share their love for Tom and his music. I hope everyone is still safe, healthy, and enjoying life in whatever way you do that. Could be a cold beer. Could be a big old joint. But musically, I know which band most of you are going to be listening to! Today’s episode covers track nine from the debut album, the ever popular Luna. Go to the episode notes where you’ll find a link to the song on the official Tom Petty YouTube channel. Listen to it, come back, and see whether you agree with my appraisal of the track. I’ll catch you once you’re back, in approximately four minutes!
Recording is an expensive process, especially if you’re pulling in high-calibre session musicians, as Denny Cordell had been doing when it was imagined that this would be a solo Tom Petty venture. Once it became apparent that the Heartbreakers, as a band, were the way ahead, Cordell decided to stop using those expensive studios. As his relationship with Leon Russell was becoming increasingly strained, he set up a studio in Los Angeles, which would be stocked with the equipment from the defunct Church Studio in Tulsa. At the suggestion of Noah Shark, who would go on to co-produce the Heartbreakers second album, Tom and Stan Lynch tagged along when they went to pick up the gear as Shark had suggested that they cut a track before they ripped that equipment. This was a good deal as no-one would be around and they could record for free! Tom and Stan just improvised basically the entire thing on the spot with Tom adding lyrics off the cuff. The pair came back with the basic track complete; drums, organ, and vocals, along with the ARP - which provided the bending string sounds, courtesy of Stan! Once Church Studios had been emptied, it fell into disuse for many years but is undergoing a renovation that is due to be completed this year. In 2017, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a team of dedicated fans and musicians maintain its ties to the Tulsa sound and the surrounding area.
Luna is the longest song on the album, clocking in just two seconds shy of four minutes. It’s also another track from the first album, along with Foeled again and Mystery Man, that is a big hit with hardcore fans and is often cited as a favourite deep cut from this first record. Despite this underground popularity, it was dropped from the set list in 1980 as were most of the deeper cuts from the first album. The last instance I can see of it being played live was on July 11, 1980 in Richmond Virginia.
KEV'S NOTE: It was at this point that I clearly realized that I couldn't type properly or just gave up because from here, I'm sure it was just a stream of consciousness!!!
Freestyle it, this song is all about the feel. Could go into the bare drum/hammond sound.I could talk about Tom’s restrained delivery. Harmonies are key. “Outside my window” Tom and Stan weren’t particularly close but they went down to Tulsa together, with Stan’s girlfriend which is a bit weird, and cut a killer track. Riff on how it feels sleazy and vulnerable, and raw - not scripted, makes me look at that album cover and really “get: the young punk looking back at me. I’m not gonna dissect this one. It’s a standalone track on this album; equal parts steady groove and minimalistic vocal tension. I’ve decided to buck convention on this song and talk about how it feels.
OK folks, it’s time for some Petty Trivia!
Last week I asked you what Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers album achieved the highest position on the UK album charts? The answer is Into the Great Wide Open, which spent a total of 18 weeks in the top 40 of the UK music charts, peaking at #3 on July 20th, 1991. Number two on that chart was The Jam’s Greatest Hits, while Cher sat atop the chart with Love Hurts. Other records in that top ten included REM’s monster album Out of time, and Seal’s eponymous debut.
Your question this week is about covers! On the 16 solo and Heartbreakers records, there are a total of three cover versions. What are they?
This is a song that I really had to sit with as it didn’t hit me right out of the gate the first time I heard it. I’ve grown to really like it though and I especially love the starkness and simplicity of the arrangement. Another one of those songs that sounded super cool live and saw Tom dial back the ferocity but not the intensity of his vocal. It’s also a really oblique, cool lyric that has sexual, spiritual, and mystical angles one could approach it from. I’m going to give this one a solid 7 and 9/16ths /10. I think that given the hurried nature of how it was put together and my suspicion that a little tighter production and maybe more time spent developing the major-key change could have elevated it up higher. Again, I’m also looking at this one in the context of Tom’s entire catalogue and definitely doesn’t reach the heights that some of his very best work, or even the very best deep cuts, does. But, again a 7 and a bit because there’s something in this one that has really resonated with me since I “ got it “.
QUESTION: On the 16 solo and Heartbreakers records, there are a total of three cover versions. What are they?
ANSWER:
1. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better, from Full Moon Fever. This Gene Clark-penned Byrds hit kicked off side two of the album and was a mainstay of the Last DJ tour.
2. Change the Locks, from the She's The One soundtrack. Originally from Lucinda Williams' self-titled 1988 album, this searing anti-ballad was never played live by the Heartbreakers but remains a mainstay of William's live set.
3. Asshole, again from She's The One. The Heartbreakers add more texture to this song than the original lo-fi acoustic on Beck's 1994 album Somewhere in the grave, which was sandwiched between the monster LPs Mellow Gold and Odelay.
White light cut a scar in the sky
Thin line of silver
The night was all clouded with dreams
Wind made me shiver
Black and yellow pools of light
Outside my window
Luna come to me tonight
I am a prisoner
Luna glide down from the moon
The clouds are all silver and black
Floating around me
Luna come into my eyes
Luna surround me
With black and yellow pools of light
Fall by my window
Luna come to me tonight
I am a prisoner
Luna glide down from the moon
The clouds are all silver and black
Floating around me
Luna come into my eyes
Luna surround me
With black and yellow pools of light
Fall by my window
Luna come to me tonight
I am a prisoner
Luna glide down from the moon
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