Tom Petty intended Southern Accents, released in 1985, to be a concept album about coming to terms with his American South heritage. It never quite reached that point, as commercial concerns muscled their way into the picture.
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The album is somewhat disjointed, but it contains some of his most beloved songs. Meanwhile, the tumultuous process of making the record created some fascinating stories behind the songs, as you’ll discover from these tidbits.
A Eurythmic Assisted
You can kind of blame Dave Stewart (or, depending on how you feel about concept albums, thank him) for Petty deviating from his original plan for Southern Accents. Stewart, who was just then beginning to hit it big in America with Eurythmics, became fast friends with Petty when they met. Stewart encouraged Petty to utilize studio techniques that he likely never would have considered before. Without Stewart, it’s hard to envision an imaginative single like “Don’t Come Around Here No More” coming to fruition. But, as you’ll see from our next tidbit, Stewart occasionally took Petty to places he regretted going.
Petty Hated One of the Singles
“That one was the result of some misguided people. We didn’t really know what we were doing.” That’s a quote that Tom Petty delivered to author Paul Zollo for the book Conversations With Tom Petty. And he’s talking about “Make It Better (Forget About Me)”, a horn-filled swing at R&B found on Southern Accents. Petty claimed that Stewart encouraged him to write the song. (Stewart also ended up listed as co-writer.) He later regretted that it found its way onto the album over other, more deserving songs. Not only did it make the album, but it was also released as a single. The public agreed with Petty, as it tanked at No. 54 on the pop charts.
An Injured Hand Nearly Derailed Everything
Petty was clearly proud of the song “Rebels”, which starts off Southern Accents. The song manages to be both a telling character sketch of one particular screw-up and a treatise on the wounded pride of the entire Southern populace. But he couldn’t come up with a recording that he liked, try as he might. At one point, he became so frustrated with his struggles in this regard that he punched a wall with his left hand. He did some serious damage in the process, requiring surgery. For a while, Petty was concerned that he might not be able to play the guitar again due to the injury, although he eventually regained that ability following rehabilitation.
Petty’s Mom Makes a Spiritual Appearance
One of the greatest and most beautiful songs of his career, the title track was also intended to be the centerpiece for the concept album that didn’t happen. When he sings in the bridge about a woman standing next to him, you might at first think he’s talking about an ex. But instead, he reveals in the next verse that he was actually referring to a dream about his mother. This wasn’t fiction on Petty’s part. His mother, Kitty, to whom he had been close throughout his life (as opposed to his difficult relationship with his father), had died in 1980. Petty’s reverie of her comprises a crucial element of this stirring song.
The Band Helps Close Out the Album
Petty recorded a version of “The Best Of Everything” all the way back during the making of his Hard Promises album in 1981. But he didn’t use it. He then donated the song to Robbie Robertson, who was producing the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s The King Of Comedy. Robertson edited it, added the horns, and enlisted his old Band buddies Richard Manuel (on backing vocals) and Garth Hudson (on keyboards) to contribute. Robertson ended up not using the song in the film. Petty took the new production and lent it pride of place as the closing track to Southern Accents without changing a note.
Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns
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