During the final decades of the 21st century, Tom Petty‘s music was so ubiquitous that it could be heard on classic rock radio, modern rock radio, and the Top 40. He was a Baby Boomer beloved by his own generation, Generation X, and early Millennials; his songs belonged to everyone. Years after his passing, hits like “American Girl” and “Free Fallin'” have become such an iconic part of American music that it’s hard to imagine a time when they didn’t already exist.
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Petty released 20 studio albums during his lifetime. Split between his four-decade run with the Heartbreakers, his solo projects, and his releases with groups like Mudcrutch and the Traveling Wilburys, that catalog includes plenty of overlooked gems that never received the same airtime as his bigger hits. Since that is—ahem—rather heartbreaking, we’ve combed the archives for a few under-appreciated songs that deserve a second look.
1. “Good Enough” (Mojo, 2010)
The Heartbreakers recorded Mojo at “The Clubhouse,” the warehouse space in Van Nuys that doubled as the band’s rehearsal room, gear locker, makeshift studio, and unofficial headquarters. Like the world’s best garage band, they turned up their amps and indulged themselves, geeking out on the sounds that had inspired the band’s formation back in the 1970s: mid-century rock ‘n’ roll; raw, ragged R&B; and, most notably, Chess Records-era blues.
Mojo‘s biggest attraction isn’t Petty; it’s Mike Campbell, whose electric guitar steals the spotlight and serves as its own frontman. On “Good Enough,” Campbell bends his way up the fretboard with grace and gusto, alternatively between a melodic riff and some vicious, virtuosic soloing. Petty does his best to match him, delivering a number of killer lines—including She got the best of me / But there’s something about her that only I can see / And that’s good enough—that prove there’s still an actual song beneath all that shred. Still, “Good Enough” is a showcase for the Heartbreakers’ not-so-secret weapon, and it’s one of the band’s best latter-day tracks.
2. “Fault Lines” (Hypnotic Eye, 2014)
Few middle-aged rock bands aged as gracefully as the Heartbreakers. Rather than chase after radio hits, the guys deepened their grooves and dug into their influences, making music that had more in common with the roots of American rock ‘n’ roll than the trends of the current era.
“Fault Lines” is a prime example. The song isn’t about plate tectonics; it’s about the emotional instability that lurks just beneath the surface of our lives, waiting to split us open. Drummer Steve Ferrone was born to play a groove like this—he’s got a light touch and sturdy timing, and he plays the ride cymbal like he’s ringing a musical triangle—and the electric guitars are arranged in a call-and-response pattern that’s as rhythmic as it is melodic.
3. “All the Wrong Reasons” (Into the Great Wide Open, 1991)
Co-written with producer Jeff Lynne, “All the Wrong Reasons” balances the chiming folk-rock of The Byrds with a sweeping wall of sound that’s almost Celtic. On a commercial level, it was overshadowed by Into the Great Wide Open‘s “Learning to Fly” and “Into the Great Wide Open,” two massive singles that dominated Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock chart in 1991.
Even so, it’s one of the best examples of Petty’s work with Lynne, as laced as it is with ringing Rickenbackers, double-tracked acoustic guitars, and even an accordion. For fans who prefer the organic approach of, say, “Refugee”—a song recorded live in the studio, with everybody playing together, in real time—”All the Wrong Reasons” might sound a little too sanitized and digitally layered. But it’s proof that these guys cleaned up nice.
[RELATED: Top 5 Tom Petty Songs That Defined His Career]
4. “Square One” (Highway Companion, 2006)
“Starting over, I guess, is the simplest way of saying it,” Petty told author Paul Zollo in Conversations with Tom Petty, referring to this understated knockout from his final solo album, Highway Companion. And “simple” is the operative word here. “Square One” is unadorned and seemingly effortless, rooted in acoustic guitar and decorated with light washes of keyboard. Don’t let the mellow mood fool you, though—this is a stunning folk song about second chances, filled with casually tossed-off lines (I try so hard to stand alone / Struggle to see past my nose / Always had more dogs than bones) that other frontmen would sell their soul to write.
5. “Don’t Fade on Me” (Wildflowers, 1994)
Campbell and Petty recorded more than 100 performances of this bluesy, fingerpicked folk tune, waiting for the magic take that would ultimately appear on Wildflowers. “We played it so often on so many days,” producer Rick Rubin recalled in the liner notes of the Wildflowers & All the Rest box set. “There were moments that felt like nobody would hear it. It’s the only time I ever [saw] Mike look frustrated playing.”
The effort was worth it. A song about distance and loss, “Don’t Fade on Me” captures the chemistry between the Heartbreakers’ two captains in stark, intimate detail, unfolding like a duet between Petty’s voice and Campbell’s acoustic guitar.
6. “Beautiful Blue” (Mudcrutch 2, 2016)
Mudcrutch 2 was the last studio album Petty ever released, and it showcased a songwriter whose skills remained sharp until the very end. Along with “Dreams of Flying,” a heartland rock anthem that would’ve sounded at home on any Heartbreakers record, “Beautiful Blue” stands tall not only as an album highlight, but also as one of Petty’s finest ballads. The song’s atmospheric arrangement evokes Pink Floyd, with guitar arpeggios that fade into the foggy ether and a simple, lovely chorus that pierces through the haze like sunshine.
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
