Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles

by Christopher McKittrick

Overview

A complete history of Tom Petty in Los Angeles.

When Tom Petty arrived in Los Angeles in 1974 in search of a record deal for his band Mudcrutch, the Gainesville, Florida native found one almost immediately. While he thought he had found exactly what he was looking for in L.A., it would take years for Petty and his subsequent band, the Heartbreakers, to break onto the pop charts. Within the following two decades, Petty would stay planted in Los Angeles through chart-topping albums, battles with record labels, personal struggles, collaborations with rock and roll royalty, and even an arsonist burning down his home in the San Fernando Valley.

From the earliest Heartbreakers concerts in Los Angeles at the legendary Whisky a Go Go and the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, to the band’s final concerts at the iconic Hollywood Bowl, Petty aimed to continue the tradition of the Southern California rock and roll of his musical heroes like the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield in his own fashion. At the same time, Petty’s career often coincided with seismic shifts in the music business, indicated by Petty’s famous refusal to back down in the face of label management, industry conventions, and the changing courses of platforms that helped make him a superstar, like rock radio and MTV.

Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles explores the artistic life of Tom Petty through his career-long relationship with Los Angeles and the many colorful characters and venues that inspired him and his music—including his work with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Johnny Cash, Roger McGuinn, Leon Russell, Rick Rubin, and Del Shannon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642935110
Publisher:	Post Hill Press
Publication date:	11/17/2020
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	519,784
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Christopher McKittrick’s publications include Can’t Give It Away on Seventh Avenue: The Rolling Stones and New York City (Post Hill Press) and “The Secret History of New York Blues” in Artefact magazine.

Table of Contents

Prologue "Who Knows Where They are From?" 1

Chapter 1 "There's Something Happening Here" 10

Chapter 2 Thank God for California 37

Chapter 3 Century City's Got Everything Covered 48

Chapter 4 "I Was Amazed at Just How Bad MTV Was." 68

Chapter 5 The Beach Was Burnin' 86

Chapter 6 Wonder What Tomorrow Will Bring 95

Chapter 7 Glide Down Over Mulholland 109

Chapter 8 The Sky Was the Limit 127

Chapter 9 Time to Move On 137

Chapter 10 California's Been Good to Me 148

Chapter 11 Room at the Top 166

Chapter 12 Can't Stop the Sun 180

Chapter 13 Pacific Ocean Between the Rocks and the Sky 204

Chapter 14 All You Can Carry 224

Epilogue Somewhere Close to Me 235

About the Author 243