I'm surprised no one here has mentioned anything about the passing of Tom Petty.

A great musician and truly one of the great song writers of our time.

I was just recently listening to his early stuff with Mudcrutch, and also from when he was with The Travelling Wilburys. .... Good Stuff.

RIP Tom Petty. We lost another good one.

This has definitely been a sad year for me musicians-wise. Tom Petty just had so many hits. I think my favorite is "Last Dance with Mary Jane". I just love that beginning guitar riff, and the video was pretty cool too. I now wish I had seen him when he opened his tour here earlier this year. I always regret the concerts I don't go to and have yet to regret a concert I did go to.

I almost started a thread and didn’t. Guess I should have. He was a singer, songwriter and producer. There’s a lot of music he had something to do with in the last 30 years that he didn’t sing on. I never could get used to his voice so I wasn’t a big fan but I have the utmost respect for all that he did for rock music.

I actually got to like a lot of his newer music better than his old standards. The Heartbreakers were an excellent band to see live these last few years. Too many of my favorites going so soon! RIP Tom Petty!

I saw him at the Civic Center in Jan of '80. Tom was a fantastic performer, song writer, and relate able to his many fans. I regret not seeing him earlier this year as well. The slaughter in Vegas overshadowed his death and all the other news of the day.

Along with the Beatles, I associate Tom Petty with my childhood probably more than any other artist. I have fond memories of my dad blasting Tom Petty while my sisters and I sang along in the backseat of our station wagon. Wildflowers is one of my favorite albums of all time and "To Find a Friend" is a little gem buried at the end of that album that it is one of my favorite songs of all time. I feel lucky that I was able to see him several times in concert. He made a lot of people happy during his life... what else can we hope for?

One of my favorite memories is a road trip with my family to San Francisco with Tom Petty's music as our soundtrack. I'll miss him a lot and regret that I never got to see him perform.

If you like Tom Petty and have not watched the Classic Albums episode on "Damn the Torpedoes", I highly recommend it. Not only is he a gifted musician, singer and song writer, but he's a also a very compelling interviewee, as are several of the other Heartbreakers.

I saw him in OKC back in... 94 maybe... Myriad. I didn't see him kick off his 40th anniversary tour here in OKC and wish I had. Who knew it would be his last tour.

I was fortunate enough to see him a few times over the years including a few months ago at the 'Peake. NPR did a really good write-up yesterday of his musical legacy: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/10/03/555163541/tom-petty-was-rocks-everyman

Also, a lot of people are unaware of his strong connection to Oklahoma. When he was a young musician he worked for a studio in Tulsa, and one of his co-workers was Dwight Twilley. The collaborated during that time and remained friends until Petty's death. Here is a video of the Dwight Twilley band in the early seventies, and you can get some glimpses of Petty on bass (he's pretty good, by the way):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l24DFbedbJ0

Did he work at the studio? I was aware Mudcrutch (the band that morphed into the Heartbreakers) stopped in Tulsa in the mid-70s and recorded some music on their way to California from Florida, and eventually signed to Tulsa-based Shelter Records, but I didn't know he worked there.

Did he work at the studio? I was aware Mudcrutch (the band that morphed into the Heartbreakers) stopped in Tulsa in the mid-70s and recorded some music on their way to California from Florida, and eventually signed to Tulsa-based Shelter Records, but I didn't know he worked there.
According to what I've read (a Twilley interview included) he moved back and forth between the L.A. and Tulsa Shelter studios working as an engineer/sessions guy, and that is how Twilley met him and they came to work on each others' projects. Here is an article that mentions this period: http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/legendary-musician-tom-petty-rushed-to-hospital-according-to-news/article_9e3339c2-6ea1-54ac-b43d-46e74af9a662.html


Fans everywhere Monday started posting memories and favorite songs of the singer, who has so many ties to Tulsa. In fact, the music histories of Tulsa and Tom Petty are intertwined.

When Petty was 26, he recorded his first album on the Shelter Records label. He also recorded a follow-up album while with Shelter Records.

Shelter Records was launched by Tulsa’s Leon Russell and English record producer Denny Cordell in 1969. Shelter Records had offices in Los Angeles and Tulsa. The Tulsa facility was the historic Church Studio.

“A lot of people used to think Petty was from Tulsa,” Tulsa rocker Dwight Twilley said in a 2010 interview. “It used to really bother him.”

Petty grew up in Florida and, pre-Heartbreakers, played with a band named Mudcrutch. Petty signed with Shelter Records after heading to L.A. in search of a record contract. Mudcrutch dissipated, but Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were born in the aftermath, and he spent time in Tulsa.

Before Petty became famous, he was a musician in Twilley’s band for a few gigs, according to a 2010 Tulsa World story. The story said Petty’s first national television appearance as a bass player came when he played with Twilley on a Saturday morning children’s comedy and variety show, “Wacko,” in the 1970s.

The aforementioned Twilley interview preceded a 2010 Petty concert at the BOK Center.

“This is our very first show in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Petty said during the concert as the crowd responded with almost a minute of cheers. “I love it here!”

I was fortunate enough to see him a few times over the years including a few months ago at the 'Peake. NPR did a really good write-up yesterday of his musical legacy: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/10/03/555163541/tom-petty-was-rocks-everyman

Also, a lot of people are unaware of his strong connection to Oklahoma. When he was a young musician he worked for a studio in Tulsa, and one of his co-workers was Dwight Twilley. The collaborated during that time and remained friends until Petty's death. Here is a video of the Dwight Twilley band in the early seventies, and you can get some glimpses of Petty on bass (he's pretty good, by the way):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l24DFbedbJ0

Even when he plays bass, he chooses a Rickenbacker!

Now Old News: Three things made me happy today: 1) A retrospective view on a local NPR station that reminded me just how much I liked Tom Petty and his songs (even including The Heartbreakers and The Travelling Wilburys; 2) The news that Braum's has decided not to trash the remnant of what used to be The Classen Circle; 3) The Black Widow Spider over on another thread was photoshopped by Martin.