Mudcrutch (2008)
1. Shady Grove
2. Scare Easy
3. Orphan of the Storm
4. Six Days on the Road
5. Crystal River
6. Oh Maria
7. This is a Good Street
8. The Wrong Thing to Do
9. Queen of the Go-Go Girls
10.June Apple
11.Lover of the Bayou
12.Topanga Cowgirl
13.Bootleg Flyer
14.House of Stone
 
To be fair, this is not a Tom
Petty album. I debated whether or not to include this one, but I
decided to do so for several reasons. First, it is Tom Petty,
along with what were the main, steady, Heartbreakers (Ben Tench and Mike
Campbell). These guys, before they became Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers were in this band called Mudcrutch - they just
discontinued that band to form the new one. The second reason (and there
are many who would disagree) is that it could have easily passed as a
Tom Petty album. He incorporated many styles throughout his career, so
this one, while a bit different, wouldn't really have been too
diverse from his other material. And lastly, it's a damn fine album.
I was a bit surprised on hearing it at first. The original Mudcrutch
never had a record deal, and the only songs I was familiar with were the
ones that appeared on the Tom Petty box set Playback. I
don't hear many similarities. The early Mudcrutch sounds pretty much
like any garage band, whereas this record has a much more southern,
bluegrass feel to it. Having said that, I don't really hear
anything that sounds much like rock and roll on this album.
People have compared this to the likes of Lynard Skynard or The Allman
Brothers, but I just don't see it....or hear it.
Fortunately, the bluegrass - country sound goes perfect with Petty's
twangy Florida accent, so Petty seems right at home with this type of
music. In fact, you could argue that his voice is better suited
for this type of music as opposed to straight ahead rock and roll, but
it was probably always the combination of the music with Petty's voice
and feel that gave him such a successful brand.
Hardcore (and I mean hardcore) rock fans probably never liked Tom
Petty anyway, so anyone that remotely calls themselves a fan should find
plenty to enjoy on this release. Also, based on the songwriting
credits, this album does probably represent more of a "band" feel
than anything The Heartbreakers ever did (there are even a few tracks
where Petty doesn't sing the lead).
Just a witness of the song titles can give you a pretty good idea
of the overall feel of the record - and it is a great feel. One hopes
we'll see more of Mudcrutch.
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