Thirty Years of Tom Petty

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream
Warner Bros.
3 DVD/1 CD

I bought the “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream” DVD a couple of months ago with the idea that I would watch it and write a review. That was easier said than done. There’s so much material and, these days, so little time. The four-disc package comprises the two-disc, four-hour director’s cut of the film “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich; another DVD containing the band’s 30th anniversary concert from September 2006 in their hometown of Gainesville, Fla.; and a CD of rare and unreleased tracks that are featured in the movie.

The movie, concert film and CD add up to nearly five hours of material. It will take considerably less time to read this review. If you’re really pressed for time, I can sum it up quickly: “Runnin’ Down a Dream” is a thorough overview of a talented and enduring rock band that chased down its dream and rode it right into rock history. The more you like the band going into the film and extras, the more you’re likely to get out of them. There’s certainly plenty to absorb.

It’s hard to cover five hours of music in a relatively short piece, but I’ll try. According to the liner notes, that’s a problem Bogdanovich had, too. The director had access to all of the Petty archives, including lots of 8mm film from the early years, and the opportunity to interview nearly all of Petty’s bandmates past and present. It’s a wonder Bogdanovich was even able to knock it down to four hours.

There were a few themes that stuck with me after watching the movie:
1. Petty has written an obscene number of great songs in the past 30-plus years.
2. Mike Campbell is a criminally underrated guitarist. Petty points out that Campbell is as good as anyone around, and Campbell proves it again with playing that oozes good taste.
3. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are one of the great groups of my lifetime, and I was left with the feeling that I’ve been taking them for granted because they’ve always been around.

Bogdanovich’s film is essentially an album-by-album history of Petty and the Heartbreakers, from their somewhat humble beginnings as Gainesville band Mudcrutch to the present day. Along the way, there have been quick deals, bad deals, wars with the record labels, a stint as Bob Dylan’s backup band, solo albums, side projects, supergroups, drugs, divorce and devotion to making great music.

The great music is a constant in the film. Plenty of industry types and other musicians – including Rick Rubin, Jackson Browne, Roger McGuinn and Stevie Nicks – step forward to sing Petty’s praises. An effort also is made to point out how Petty and his band influenced the next generation of rockers. Dave Grohl, who for a time was the drummer of the biggest band in the world (Nirvana), expresses disbelief when recounting being asked to sit in on drums for Petty’s 1994 appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder reminisces about rushing out to buy “Hard Promises” in 1981, and also about how the girls he dated “loved fuckin’ Tom Petty” and how it was hard to compete. He then is shown playing the big hit from that album, “The Waiting,” with Petty during one of Petty’s concerts. Vedder is thrilled to be living a dream, and to be able to poke fun at his loves from long ago. “Take that, ladies,” Vedder says with a smirk.

The film focuses primarily on the music rather than taking a “VH-1 Behind the Music” approach. As a result, some aspects of the band’s history are somewhat glossed over. Petty’s divorce from his first wife is only mentioned in passing in the context of recording his “Echo” album. Less gossip is always a good thing, but getting Petty on record about the split might have provided some insight into the making of that album. In general, Petty reveals little about his creative process. Three decades of great songs warrant some discussion as to how they were created.

Bassist Howie Epstein’s heroin use and subsequent drug-related death at age 47 in 2003 is handled carefully. So carefully, in fact, that they never really get anybody to say in so many words that he died. It’s obviously still hard for the band members to talk about, and they use enough euphemistic language to paint the picture, but the film goes into much more detail about the circumstances surrounding drummer Stan Lynch leaving the band.

The film is quite appropriately a celebration of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ long and storied career. But it didn’t seem that the filmmakers were inclined to ask Petty any tough questions. Here’s one I’d like to hear answered: “Tom, since you once famously went to war with MCA Records over its intention to release “Hard Promises” at a list price of $9.98 rather than $8.98, why did you decide to release a special edition of “Highway Companion” a year after the regular release without making the bonus tracks available individually on iTunes?”

That business decision might not have been made by Petty. He’s done little in his career to alienate music buyers, and that’s part of the reason he has a huge following. The fans turned out in force for the 30th anniversary concert included in this package. That crowd got a treat, and the viewer does, too, as the band takes us on a tour through its entire catalog. The documentary also makes excellent use of concert footage, TV appearances and rehearsals. More often than not, complete performances rather than clips of songs are shown. This generosity on the part of the director underscores the method that got Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Honest music played by a hardworking band.

The CD includes a small selection of music used in the documentary. There are rehearsals of “Breakdown” and John Sebastian’s “Stories We Could Tell.” From TV appearances, we get “Anything That’s Rock and Roll,” “Fooled Again (I Don’t Like It),” “American Girl,” “Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)” and “Honey Bee” from the SNL appearance with Grohl on drums. The unreleased track “Keeping Me Alive,” which was under consideration for release on 1982’s “Long After Dark,” is here. The final track is a first-take recording of Hank Williams’ “Lost Highway.”

On the CD and in the film, the music tells the best part of the story. Early in the film, Campbell discloses the Heartbreakers’ philosophy: “Don’t bore us. Get to the chorus.” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers certainly aren’t boring. Not on a three-minute single, during a four-hour film or in a 30-year career. “Runnin’ Down a Dream” offers numerous reasons why Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ music will last for much longer.