Let’s face it, the history of rock music has thrown up (figuratively speaking), plenty of theories that do not bear scrutiny. Take that old chestnut ‘you can have a message or make people dance, but you can’t do both,’ (long since debunked by Marvin Gaye among others).
Coming right up to date, what about news this week of Brian May being named the greatest rock guitarist of all time? Undoubtedly a superb player, but the finest? Suffice to say those who worship at the altar of a Surrey-born guitar virtuoso have had a bee in their Jeff Beck bonnet for the past six days.
Then of course there is ‘that difficult third album,’ an adage scoffed at by those familiar with the work (to name a few) of Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Jackson Browne, Rod Stewart, Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell – a list to which Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers can be added by virtue of their excellent ‘DAMN THE TORPEDOES.’
Not only a fine third album, but admirable record no matter where placed on their roster, on ‘Damn The Torpedoes‘ Petty and his boys retain the exuberance of their first two LP’s – but take a huge step forward with regard to production and performance.
The foundations laid by the strongest set of compositions TP had so far created, such accomplishments were evident in its rapid rise up the US album charts, leaving Petty to later reflect:
‘With Damn The Torpedoes, the dam burst and life was never gonna be the same again.’
Coming together as teenagers in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – consisting of Stan Lynch (drums), Ron Blair (bass), Mike Campbell (guitars) and Benmont Tench (keyboards) – first came to attention in 1977 with the singles ‘American Girl‘ and ‘Breakdown‘ taken from their eponymous debut album of the year before.
Two agreeable slices of fresh sounding power-pop, infused with the Byrds/Stones overtones apparent throughout their early work, due to an arrival coinciding with the emergence of punk, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were labelled ‘new wave’ by those immersed in current trends.
One such sixteen year-old observer was content with such a tag until he bought their first album – the back cover photograph showing them to have hair and clothing styles closer to Poco than the Pistols, but in musical terms they were, thankfully, worlds away from REO Speedwagon or Foreigner.
Also in their favour was a knack Petty had for writing instantly engaging songs whose hooks and immediacy compensated, at this stage, for lack of lyrical ambition – although two singles ‘Anything That’s Rock & Roll‘ and ‘Listen To Her Heart‘ from the follow-up album ‘Your Gonna Get It‘ (1978) lacked nothing with regard to energy and attitude.
In a career that would be punctuated by changes in those thought best suitable to capture their sound, (and also conflict with the corporate corner of the rock world), the sessions from which ‘Damn The Torpedoes‘ emerged had a backdrop of both.
Manager Denny Cordell who had overseen production of the first two albums was stood down and replaced by New York Record Plant maestro Jimmy Iovine, a man whose engineer and producer talents had been brought to bear on gems such as ‘Born To Run‘ (Bruce Springsteen) and ‘Easter‘ (Patti Smith) – both, by way of coincidence, ‘third’ albums.
Recording, however, was constantly interrupted by Petty (now 28) having to leave the Hollywood studio where the songs were being cut, to attend meetings with a law firm in nearby Century City (the situation alluded to in a ‘Torpedoes‘ track bearing the name), who were representing Petty in his ongoing dispute with MCA Records.
Yet out of the uncertainty and disruption, or perhaps because of it, appeared a remarkably assured and cohesive album – Iovine able to capture the true essence of the Heartbreakers. In doing so they were confirmed as a truly great rock band, capable of ensemble playing every bit the equal of Springsteen’s E-streeters, or dare it be said, The Band. (Now, there’s a theory).
Even with two albums behind them, they still sound hungry and exciting, the opening salvo of ‘Refugee,’ ‘Here Comes My Girl‘ and ‘Even The Losers‘ are unmistakably them. But the modifications made by Iovine bring to prominence at a stroke to delicious interplay between the guitars and keyboards.
The drum sound has also been overhauled, Lynch now punchy rather than forceful. As a singer Petty is recorded to much better effect, saying what he needs to (no pun intended on the way he speaks much of the vocal on ‘Here Comes My Girl‘) over the course of two, but never more than three verses – his economic approach to lyric-writing a feature of the album, Petty effective in being brief and to the point.
There are exceptions. He conjures fascinating imagery on the album closer ‘Louisiana Rain,’ an altogether excellent song whose slide guitars and harmonica give it lasting resonance. On ‘Shadow Of A Doubt‘ (A Complex Kid) Tom throws in the line, ‘And when she’s dreamin,’ sometimes she sings in French/But in the morning, she don’t remember it,’ perhaps to show he can be obscure when the mood arises – the track itself rattling along on a patch of ground somewhere between The Ramones and Bob Seger.
The rockabilly infused ‘What Are you Doin’ In My Life?’ ‘You Tell Me‘ and the aforementioned ‘Century City‘ are uptempo pieces striking the right balance between attitude and accomplishment. The verses of the latter sound a direct lift from ‘Eddy Vortex‘ a riotous 1978 hit for Birmingham (UK) pub rockers The Steve Gibbons Band – who in the late 70s were a renowned attraction on the British club circuit.
On the original vinyl album, ‘Don’t Do Me Like That‘ opens side two, but this infectious burst of rousing pop almost became a causality of the pressure Petty was under, as amidst the lawsuits he lost patience with a song for which a definitive take was proving elusive.
On the verge of giving it to the J. Geils Band – whose near rewrite ‘Centrefold‘ gave them a worldwide hit two years later – Iovine insisted they keep trying, his persistence (and production skills) rewarded when ‘Don’t Do Me Like That‘ brought Petty a top ten placing in the US singles chart before the year was out.
Listening to Petty wrap things up in the ‘Louisiana Rain‘ brings temptation to compare his phrasing with that of Dylan and place the melody somewhere on Springsteen’s ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town.’ That, however, is doing Tom a disservice – sure the influences remain, but now Petty and the Heartbreakers stand beside them rather than operate in anyone’s shadow.
No longer derivative of the Stones or The Byrds, on this confident, cocksure album, as such we hear Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers for the first time – and what a terrific sound they made.
In can be argued with the fullness of time they went on to make even better records – but that is not to overlook with ‘Damn The Torpedoes‘ they made a damn fine one.
This article was first published on 15/6/2020.
TOM PETTY and the HEARTBREAKERS – DAMN THE TORPEDOES (Released October 1979): Refugee/Here Comes My Girl/Even The Losers/Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)/Century City/Don’t Do Me Like That/You Tell Me/What Are You Doin’ In My Life/Louisiana Rain;
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller available as an Amazon Kindle book.