Tom Petty, 1950 – 2017 [Updated]
[guest post by JVW]
[UPDATE II, 10:00 pm Pacific]: He’s gone. The Tom Petty website has a poignant splash page.
[UPDATE, 3:09 pm Pacific]: Premature? CBS is apparently backtracking on an earlier report of his death, though the prospects do not sound too good.
Went into cardiac arrest last night at his home in Los Angeles. Was rushed to the UCLA Santa Monica Hospital in the early hours of the morning, but by the time he arrived at the hospital it was determined that his brain had ceased functioning and he was removed from life support. Declared dead earlier this afternoon.
I wasn’t his most avid fan by any means, but I generally love music from the 1970s (the best ever era for music, I’ll start that argument on a blog post someday, but now is not the time) and I admired his first albums. I was in college when he resurfaced with the Traveling Wilburys and then had a huge hit with Full Moon Fever, and I thought both of those were excellent albums too. He would have turned 67 later this month, and in this day and age it can well be said that he left us far too early.
I wanted to put this post up in case many of you are bigger fans than I and would like a space to say a few words. I’ll leave with this Wilburys video that was made after Roy Orbison died. I liked the poignancy of Roy’s guitar in the rocking chair, and that’s how we can all think of Tom Petty today. Rest in peace.
– JVW
This video reminds me of how important Petty was to the Wilburys. The fact that he was so respected by the rest of the group is testament to what a great musician he was.
JVW (42615e) — 10/2/2017 @ 2:58 pm[UPDATE:] Premature? CBS is apparently backtracking on an earlier report of his death, though the prospects do not sound too good.
JVW (42615e) — 10/2/2017 @ 3:08 pmLouisiana Rain‘s my favorite one
happyfeet (28a91b) — 10/2/2017 @ 3:24 pmWhat we need at this point is a video of Petty performing “knocking on Heaven’s door”.
kishnevi (e95dc4) — 10/2/2017 @ 3:25 pmOuch, kishnevi. Though I think Petty and the Heartbreakers toured with Dylan as his backup band, so it’s quite possible that such a video exists. I don’t have the heart to search for it, though.
JVW (42615e) — 10/2/2017 @ 3:39 pmThey can stand him up at the gates of Hell, but he won’t back down.
nk (dbc370) — 10/2/2017 @ 3:50 pmInto The Great Wide Open
mg (31009b) — 10/2/2017 @ 4:04 pmSorry, didn’t mean to probe an open wound.
kishnevi (e95dc4) — 10/2/2017 @ 4:08 pmYou don’t know how it feels, kishnevi.
nk (dbc370) — 10/2/2017 @ 4:13 pmI was a fan. I loved that Rickenbacker sound and the way it matched his voice.
nk (dbc370) — 10/2/2017 @ 4:14 pmLooks like confirmed dead.
I was a huge fan. Brilliant artist. So much great work.
JRM (de6363) — 10/2/2017 @ 5:24 pmI wish the media would stop dragging our hearts around.
Here he is with Stevie Nicks if I got the link right.
nk (dbc370) — 10/2/2017 @ 5:27 pmHe lives until Icy confirms otherwise.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/2/2017 @ 5:29 pmThere is a great documentary on his life and career on Netflix I think. Watched it about 6 months ago. Much greater appreciation for his body of work and the longevity of his career.
Too soon. RIP
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 10/2/2017 @ 7:11 pmWhat was it twain reportedly said in 1873?
narciso (d1f714) — 10/2/2017 @ 7:31 pmI can confirm that Patterico’s favorite newspaper, the L.A. Dog Trainer is reporting that — in a statement released by his publicist and signed by his manager — Tom Petty has died.
Icy (42a669) — 10/2/2017 @ 9:18 pmIt was probably a situation like with Carrie Fisher.
Sammy Finkelman (30b6b6) — 10/2/2017 @ 9:21 pmAsk and you shall receive, kishnevi
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Petty and Dylan
Icy (42a669) — 10/2/2017 @ 9:26 pmI saw Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 7 times in the 80’s and early 90’s (including once with Dylan).
This loss is huge for me — as I am sure it is for many of you as well.
Tom and I share a birthday — October 20th — he being born 15 years before me.
R.I.P.
Icy (42a669) — 10/2/2017 @ 9:43 pm[Update II]: He’s gone. The Tom Petty website has a poignant splash page.
JVW (42615e) — 10/2/2017 @ 10:00 pmI’m not much of a music person. Lousy taste and all that. But my teen and young adult years music tastes were The Eagles, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash. I guess now I have to forgive Petty for that Free Fallin’ video …
Damn.
SPQR (a3a747) — 10/2/2017 @ 10:17 pmI was holding out hope that they’d stood him up at the gates of Hell and he did NOT back down… I bought his first album back in ’76, but didn’t see him until his 30th anniversary tour in October of 2006 at Raley Field in Sacramento… a great show. He was the guy who picked up the jangley guitar sound where Roger McGuinn and the Byrds left off and he improved on it. He will be missed big time.
Colonel Haiku (43fb26) — 10/3/2017 @ 8:21 amI knew I wasn’t the only person to use the adjective “jangley”, thank you colonel. RIP indeed and for some reason I kind of saw Petty as a logical variant of what call the north Florida sound, not so much Skynard but 38 special which is one of my guilty pleasure bands.
urbanleftbehind (52e6e0) — 10/3/2017 @ 8:55 amUlh… just a few of these untimely deaths brought a tear to my eye and his was one of them.
Colonel Haiku (43fb26) — 10/3/2017 @ 9:03 amR.I.P. also Monty Halla few days ago.
I didn’t know he was still alive.
Sammy Finkelman (30b6b6) — 10/3/2017 @ 11:19 am