Ranking the 5 Best Side Two, Track One Songs From Tom Petty

Tom Petty believed wholeheartedly in the power of the formative music he grew up listening to as a kid. That meant that he collected a ton of 45s, but he also picked up the albums of the acts he loved. When he became an artist in his own right, he constructed his albums with the utmost care so his fans could enjoy the same kind of impactful experience.

That meant always trying to make sure the second sides of his LPs came loaded with a killer song right off the bat. Let’s look at the five best songs from Petty’s catalog that sat in the position of side two, track one.

5. “Letting You Go” from Hard Promises (1981)

Hard Promises was the album where Petty managed to solidify the commercial gains he achieved on Damn the Torpedoes two years earlier. Once again, he chose uptempo songs for the singles, which worked like a charm. Those looking for something subtler and softer from Petty and his band were wise to check out the album tracks, however, and “Letting You Go” is a fine example. It’s a soulful little number featuring Benmont Tench’s moaning organ and some nice self-harmonies from Petty. And it makes for a nice way to ease folks into the record’s second side.

4. “Feel a Whole Lot Better” from Full Moon Fever (1989)

They called Full Moon Fever Petty’s first solo album, but that was a bit misleading. Jeff Lynne was very much a collaborator on every song, while Heartbreaker Mike Campbell came aboard to lend his lead guitar expertise. Phil Jones, who had provided occasional percussion for the Heartbreakers, played drums. And while Lynne was known for building tracks piece by piece, “Feel a Whole Lot Better” certainly sounds like the work of a cohesive unit thrashing it out together. It also gave Petty a chance to prove his love for The Byrds by delivering a cover that’s quite indebted to the original.

3. “Don’t Do Me Like That” from Damn the Torpedoes (1979)

When Jimmy Iovine came aboard to produce the Heartbreakers’ third album Damn the Torpedoes, he insisted on getting access to every song Petty had in his hopper, even those that might have been written years earlier. It forced the band to deviate a bit from their current sound on a few tracks. And, with “Don’t Do Me Like That,” it spurred Petty to open himself up to material that might not have been too groundbreaking, but had innate pop potential. The result was Petty’s first Top-10 hit and the song that led the way to a whole other level of popularity.

2. “I Need to Know” from You’re Gonna Get It! (1978)

Petty and company were anxious to make You’re Gonna Get It! if for no other reason they were tired of playing the songs from their first record on tour and wanted some new material. Petty rushed the songwriting a bit as a result. It’s not surprising then that the record’s two best songs, “I Need to Know” and “Listen to Her Heart,” were the only two they had going into the project already road-tested and proven. “I Need to Know” is as close as the band ever came to new wave, and they handle the intensity and furious pace of the thing beautifully.

1. “All the Wrong Reasons” from Into the Great Wide Open (1991)

Petty didn’t want to stop working with Jeff Lynne after Full Moon Fever, but he also wanted to bring the Heartbreakers back into the fold. Into the Great Wide Open sometimes struggled to find a happy medium between Lynne’s maximalist style and the band’s built-in sound. But it’s hard to imagine a song like “All the Wrong Reasons” without Lynne’s influence. All kinds of ornate instruments are thrown into the mix (Mike Campbell’s bouzouki, Benmont Tench’s accordion). They lend a somber majesty to Petty’s piercing tale of a family’s sudden downfall.

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