Short, Sweet and Autobiographical…
I bought the WildFlowers album like 300,000 other people in the US in 1994, meaning it went 3x Platinum. The singles made the rounds on a channel that used to play music videos called MTV.
I distinctly remember Kim Basinger (at the height of her fame) in Last Dance With Mary Jane which was especially popular as was You Don’t Know How It Feels whose music video featured an impressive array of scenes in the background (including an appearance by Raven Snow) all while Tom singing playing guitar and harmonica is on a rotating set piece and a single perspective camera which never cuts away made for a unique and visually interesting experience.
An alternate version:
[media=https://youtu.be/D-g_THmIqI8] You Don’t Know How It Feels released in 2020: Wildflowers & All the Rest
I listened to it often especially while driving with my boyfriend at the time. I loved the way the music made me feel when we were driving and singing along together. I took it for what it was worth at face value and I didn’t really care to think about it any deeper than that.
[media=https://youtu.be/PeEj8M1K_mI]
Tom Petty - To Find a Friend
Just recently I watched the documentary film about the making of the album which was beautifully made by Mary Wharton from footage shot by
Martyn Atkins which was found stashed away in a safe in 2020 after Tom Petty’s unfortunate and untimely death.
My point is that the film goes into details about the writing recording and other aspects of the production of the album. I love just about everything that involves Rick Rubin I would kill for a day of listening to music through his ears and his musical knowledge and understanding. He’s a truly talented tastemaker in my personal opinion.
So one factoid that is expressed in the documentary is about how authentic and autobiographical Tom Petty’s song writing style could often be. And tonight (technically this morning I was half asleep with some of the songs playing in my mind and it struck me that It’s Hard To Find A Friend is a brutally honest account about how he divorced his wife and the mother of his daughters who are featured in the film talking about their parents divorce and I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion and could do nothing more than cry about it listen 🎧 to the track and cry some more. I actually love this about music. I cry almost everyday for numerous reasons and it can be incredibly exhausting and draining frustrating and cathartic all at once. 😭
I recommend this documentary for anyone who is a fan of Tom Petty or music in general. I found it interesting and well made and worth watching.
I distinctly remember Kim Basinger (at the height of her fame) in Last Dance With Mary Jane which was especially popular as was You Don’t Know How It Feels whose music video featured an impressive array of scenes in the background (including an appearance by Raven Snow) all while Tom singing playing guitar and harmonica is on a rotating set piece and a single perspective camera which never cuts away made for a unique and visually interesting experience.
An alternate version:
[media=https://youtu.be/D-g_THmIqI8] You Don’t Know How It Feels released in 2020: Wildflowers & All the Rest
Petty's family and bandmates arranged a 2020 re-release of the album that includes deleted songs, demos, and live tracks, entitled Wildflowers & All the Rest. Disc four, Wildflowers Live, consists of fourteen previously unreleased tracks, two of which had only been distributed to fan club members. These live tracks were recorded on various tours from 1995 to 2017. The super deluxe edition of the box set included a fifth disc of alternate versions of the Wildflowers tracks, called Finding Wildflowers. In April 2021, Finding Wildflowers was released individually
I listened to it often especially while driving with my boyfriend at the time. I loved the way the music made me feel when we were driving and singing along together. I took it for what it was worth at face value and I didn’t really care to think about it any deeper than that.
[media=https://youtu.be/PeEj8M1K_mI]
Tom Petty - To Find a Friend
Just recently I watched the documentary film about the making of the album which was beautifully made by Mary Wharton from footage shot by
Martyn Atkins which was found stashed away in a safe in 2020 after Tom Petty’s unfortunate and untimely death.
The making of Wildflowers is the subject of the 2021 documentary film Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free – The Making of Wildflowers, directed by Mary Wharton. The documentary includes a significant amount of archival footage from the recording sessions, recorded by Martyn Atkins, which had only recently been unearthed following Petty's death; as well as new interviews with many of the producers and musicians who had been involved with the album. The film was released in November 2021 on YouTube
My point is that the film goes into details about the writing recording and other aspects of the production of the album. I love just about everything that involves Rick Rubin I would kill for a day of listening to music through his ears and his musical knowledge and understanding. He’s a truly talented tastemaker in my personal opinion.
So one factoid that is expressed in the documentary is about how authentic and autobiographical Tom Petty’s song writing style could often be. And tonight (technically this morning I was half asleep with some of the songs playing in my mind and it struck me that It’s Hard To Find A Friend is a brutally honest account about how he divorced his wife and the mother of his daughters who are featured in the film talking about their parents divorce and I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion and could do nothing more than cry about it listen 🎧 to the track and cry some more. I actually love this about music. I cry almost everyday for numerous reasons and it can be incredibly exhausting and draining frustrating and cathartic all at once. 😭
I recommend this documentary for anyone who is a fan of Tom Petty or music in general. I found it interesting and well made and worth watching.
46-50, F
