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Live Anthology songs coming to Rock Band

Most Tom Petty fans have been busying themselves with news about the new Tom Petty Live Anthology, a massive boxed set that includes decades worth of hits from the country-rocker and his Heartbreakers. But younger fans will be pleased to know that you don’t have to just listen to the songs—you can play along to them as well.

According to Pwnordie.com, a number of the tracks off the Live Anthology are going to be released as downloadable tracks for the hit video game Rock Band. This includes “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “Refugee,” which should both be great fun to play along to live. Other tracks include “Even the Losers,” “American Girl,” “Here Comes My Girl” and “A Thing About You.”

Hardcore Petty fans certainly can’t complain about that. They’re being offered a true Tom Petty sampler, and it should be great fun to get some friends together (who are hopefully fellow fans) to play along to some of Tom Petty’s biggest songs. Of course, everyone would rather hear the man himself play the tracks. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Tom Petty tickets show up on StubHub in the near future.

The Olympian talks to the Heartless

If you can’t be a Heartbreaker, at least you can be a Heartless Bastard. That’s what one band settled on when after attending a music trivia night at a bar and seeing a question about Tom Petty. The Olympian interviewed the Heartless Bastards about where they got their name, and here was the answer: “I used to bartend at this bar in Dayton (Ohio) called the Tumbleweed. I would get off work sometimes and I would play the trivia quiz games and stuff. I did music trivia, and one of the questions was ‘What’s Tom Petty’s backing band?’ And Tom Petty & the Heartless Bastards was one of the wrong answers. I just thought it was really funny. Then six months later, in 2001, I did the open mike night. And some friends were, like, ‘What should we call ourselves?’ What about the Heartless Bastards?”

Simple as that. It’s hard to turn down a reference to Tom Petty’s famous band, especially when they’re name is that cool. Of course, it would be nice if they would hit the road again. Next time they do, make sure you get Tom Petty tickets at StubHub.

A review of the Live Anthology

I Like Music has posted a pretty detailed review of the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Live Anthology. It’s fairly complete, analyzing what they included and how much fans will enjoy the unique features of the boxed set. They note that the boxed set doesn’t have any fixes or overdubs. This is Tom Petty at his most raw and gritty, and the live sound, with all it’s human flaws and beauty, come through perfectly.

“The producers made no fixes or overdubs, letting the newly mixed original recordings showcase the invention, spontaneity, craft, and the musicianship that has made Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers among the most celebrated live performers of their time. Along with powerful interpretations of their own classic hits and originals, The Live Anthology features the band tackling some of their best-loved cover material, from classics to obscure beauties to unexpected adaptations.”

If it sounds like a set you can’t miss picking up, it’s because it is. Next time the band goes on a real tour, make sure you pick up some Tom Petty tickets at StubHub.

Could those Tom Petty cover bands come to an abrupt end?

Everyone’s enjoyed listening to a cover band take on your favorite, classic songs, and everyone knows that major artists like Tom Petty have earned an endless number of cover bands in the past. But those bands’ days may be numbered.

The SC Times has a really interesting article—and an enraging one, actually—about licensing companies that are seeking licensing fees from cover bands. Yes, that’s right—so if you play a cover of an artist that one of those companies represents, they will come after the band, or at least after the venue that hosts them, and try to get them to pay licensing fees. Tom Petty is mentioned because one of the big companies, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers represents him.

Here’s a germane section from the story: “If a performer covers an ASCAP, BMI or SESAC song in a venue that has not purchased a license from that company, the venue owner could be subject to copyright infringement penalties. For venues of 0-100 people, the fees are generally no more than $650 a year, but restaurant and bar owners may have to pay that to each of the three licensing companies, and that’s in addition to the “mechanical music” fees many already pay for jukebox or radio play. There also are extra fees for venues that have karaoke or a dance floor.”

This is pretty outrageous, and hopefully more artists will start speaking out against it. In a lot of cases, we’re not talking about music piracy here. We’re talking about people genuinely loving rock and roll and wanting to bring music to fans on a really local level. It’s not robbing artists of funding or something. Let’s hope the companies get that message.

It should be noted that there is NO indication that any of the artists support (or have expressed any opinion on) the actions of these companies. It’s not even really clear if they’re aware this goes on.

In any case, Tom Petty tickets are available on StubHub.

Today’s post is about disabled parking in the U.K.

So today we’re going to write about Tom Petty. But not the Tom Petty you know and love—the other Tom Petty. A guy who writes a column for the Shropshire Star, a British newspaper. His column is all about red tape and bureaucratic rules, and how people should be aware of them, when they work and make sense and when they don’t.

Frankly, this Tom Petty is not as much fun or as interesting as the Tom Petty we know and love. But we just couldn’t help calling attention to the fact that there’s a second Tom Petty in the world, even if he’s not from Gainseville, Florida. We kind of wonder if the British Tom Petty has ever been to Gainesville, or if he likes the American Tom Petty, or if he knows what “Last Dance With Mary Jane” is about. Chances are someone has mentioned the similarity to him before. We hope he appreciates the music of the Heartbreakers and is pretty proud of his coincidental name.

Anyways, if you’re looking for Tom Petty tickets—to see the American singer, not the columnist—then go to StubHub. Unless you’re looking for tickets to see the British columnist, but if that’s the case, you really should get some hobbies.

Tom Petty: The perfect Super Bowl choice

The Super Bowl has had quite a lot of drama throughout the ‘00s when it comes to picking the perfect band for a halftime show. They began the decade relying more on collaborative efforts, bringing together several major artists and having them perform alongside one another. This was already kind of wearying, especially if the band you get isn’t that great. But it reached a peak in 2004, when Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson brought the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” into American homes.

Since then, things have been much safer. They’ve had a single artist each year, with Paul McCartney following the travesty, then The Rolling Stones, Prince and Tom Petty in 2008. While Bruce was this year and The Who is being discussed as a possible act for next year, Tom definitely rocked the house, as Flavorwire notes. They have a YouTube video up of his performance, saying, “Another safe, post scandal choice. Everybody loves ‘American Girl,’ and knows all the words to ‘Free Falling.’ You can’t go wrong with Tom Petty.”

Now let’s hope you don’t have to go to the Super Bowl to keep seeing him perform. Buy Tom Petty tickets at StubHub.com.

Heartbreaker Mike Campbell talks about three decades with Tom Petty

Music Radar.com has a really fascinating interview with Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers, who talks about working with Tom Petty for more than 30 years now, and how putting together the Live Anthology may have been one of the band’s biggest challenges. He admits that a lot of that simply comes from the fact that they had to comb through so many years of material to find the songs that they wanted to include.

“It took us a couple of years,” he said. “There was a lot of searching through old tapes and trying to find tapes, a lot of listening. But we found some gems and figured it was worth putting out.” Most reviews have suggested that they did a phenomenal job. Campbell goes on to add that the song versions they have on the Anthology might not be the most perfectly played, but they were the versions from live shows that had the most “spark.” That’s the whole value of live shows in the first place—you get to capture that spark that comes with a band performing in front of an audience.

Looking for Tom Petty tickets? Check StubHub.

The first dance with Mary Jane

What most people remember about “Last Dance with Mary Jane”—if they remember the latter-day Tom Petty hit at all—is that there was a creepy music video accompanying it that featured Petty as a morgue worker that brings a dead Kim Basinger back to his house, where he dances with her and pretends she’s alive. It was pretty morbid and fun, and the song had a catchy chorus.

But Verse Chorus Verse has a lot more to share about the song. Apparently, it was one of Petty’s biggest hits in his career, and almost didn’t happen. It came about because his record label was putting out a “best of” compilation and wanted to include a couple new songs. Famed producer Rick Rubin had heard the half-finished song while looking through material left off Full Moon Fever. He asked Petty to rework it, and it was thrown together and included on the album. Lo and behold, it becomes an overnight smash success. What a surprise!

It’s a great little story with a few details we’re leaving out. Read about it on the blog, then get yourself some Tom Petty tickets at StubHub next time he heads out on tour.

Deadbolt looks at the Tom Petty Live Anthology

Tom Petty’s Superhighway Tour has earned the upcoming Live Anthology boxed set a lot of press, and Deadbolt isn’t one to be left out of that. The site recently wrote up a description of what the Superhighway Tour is, along with details about the Live Anthology. Petty fans everywhere are pretty psyched about this collection of music, partly because of how epic it is and partly because it’ll contain so much new material—namely, Petty’s comments on many of the songs, anecdotes about the making of his albums and thoughts on any variety of subjects.

Deadbolt calls the Superhighway Tour the first of its kind, and that’s a fair point to bring up. This is unlike what any other band has tried before—offering fans a massive boxed set with commentary digitally and using it to stand in for a live tour. This is curious, because the conversation about how music has gone digital has mostly been about how the music is changing and the album has died. This leads many people to conclude that live touring is going to become more important in the future—but projects like the Superhighway Tour throw a wrench in those theories.

In any case, next time he goes on tour, get Tom Petty tickets at StubHub.

Free preview of the Superhighway Tour!

Altsounds.com has a regurgitated press release up about the Tom Petty Live Anthology, hashing over the details of the boxed set itself as well as Petty’s Superhighway tour, a way to get the live tracks digitally with Petty and the Heartbreakers adding in commentary. But if you’re not willing to plunk down the $25 price tag of the Superhighway tour’s “tickets” before sampling it, you can get a free track and hear what Petty had to add about it. You’ll get a taste of the sort of commentary he does, which includes anecdotes, stories about how the song was recorded and what it meant to him, and much, much more.

Altsounds.com does point out that Petty has been pretty busy in the past few years: “The release of The Live Anthology comes on the heels of two sold out tours, the Grammy winning documentary Runnin’ Down A Dream (directed by Peter Bogdanovich), and a headline performance at the Super Bowl XLII halftime show. Now, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - one of rock and roll’s greatest touring bands - will mark their unparalleled string of success with the release of this landmark collection of live recordings that is unlike anything previously available - the band’s story told through the music alone.”

Hopefully he still has the energy to go out on the road. Get Tom Petty tickets at StubHub.