Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Social Notes From All Over

Going to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tonight at Forest Hills Stadium.

And this is the song I really want to hear them do.



A certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance has never seen 'em before. Me, I was lucky -- I caught them in a small club when they were touring the first album (they opened for Roger McGuinn, who covered "American Girl.")

They were the loudest band I ever heard, and absolutely devastatingly great. With luck, they still will be.

9 comments:

pete said...

Louder than the Who? Deep Purple? Pearl Jam?

Billy B said...

I am jealous, majorly. Enjoy.

I would love to hear them crank out "I Need to Know". Monster tune. Hits you right in the gut and then gets the hell out of Dodge.

steve simels said...

The Flo Mos used to cover "When the Time Comes."

Billy B said...

Another gem from that album.

Anonymous said...

Good luck on that Steve. The setlist for this tour is pretty rigid. Maybe for New York they'll loosen it up. But I wouldn't bet on Kings Highway. I saw him do it a coupla times on the 2010 tour on the Fonda run, which we taped. He did it at the Bowl too. But it's been a while.

But you never know. Jimi Hendrix didn't have All Along the Watchtower in the set for his Cry Of Love Tour. I saw him at the Forum and both Berkeley shows. No fucking Watchtower. When he played Berdoo we were right in front of the stage. When they took the stage, Sandy said "C'mon Jimi do Watchtower for me." To our astonishment, he opened with it! And it was absolutely sublime!!! It was the only time he EVER opened a show with Watchtower. Subsequently, Watchtower was back in the set for the big festivals. I'd like to think we had something to do with it.

BTW, I've never seen anything louder than UFO at the Starwood. Jesus Christ, they began the set and it was thunderous. Then, after the first few moments, an equipment guy stood up behind the amps and motioned both of his hands upward and they cranked it three times louder. The fuckers were rearranging molecules.

Have fun.

steve simels said...

One of the loudest I've ever heard. Not the loudest.

I regret the error.

Alzo said...

As long as we're talking decibels...Without a doubt, the loudest band I ever heard was The Dictators (with Handsome Dick Manitoba). They played a small club and had enough amplification for a stadium. Ouch!

Anonymous said...

McGuinn actually recorded American Girl on an album called Thunderbyrd. His version is OK, but nowhere near as good as Petty's. But considering that Petty wasn't yet well known, it's pretty cool that McGuinn gave him the endorsement.

Marc

Anonymous said...

Obviously, Petty was influenced by McGuinn. But McGuinn's no Petty. His heinous version of "American Girl" on the Thunderbyrd album proves it. You'd think it'd be a good fit. But nooooo...... Roger had to fuck with it. A jazzy arrangement and a Tom Scott sax solo? What? Had he no respect for the song? He and Don Devito cheezed it up and mertilized it.

Plus, he led off the album trying to cash in on the Peter Frampton craze by doing Frampton's Camel's "All Night Long." Equally annoying. Personally, Roger's not the kind of guy I perceive of doing it all night long. I spose the same goes for Peter Frampton and his embarrassing, inadequate dicklet.

The Thunderbyrd LP was pretty much a stink bomb, especially after Cardiff Rose. But the tour was better.

Hope you enjoyed the show last night. And don't forget to say your prayers.

VR