Briefly notÂed: Give this wide-rangÂing interÂview with Tom PetÂty some time. RecordÂed in 2014, PetÂty talks with interÂviewÂer Jian GhomeÂshi about his songÂwritÂing craft. The writÂing of songs, the rehearsal and recordÂing process, the work in the stuÂdio, it all gets covÂered here. As he talks, one thing comes across: WhatÂevÂer talÂents he had, PetÂty put in the hard work. He and the HeartÂbreakÂers masÂtered their instruÂments, kept getÂting betÂter, and didÂn’t take short cuts, to the point where they could do magÂiÂcal things togethÂer in the recordÂing stuÂdio.
Watch Part 1 above, and Part 2 below, where, at one point he says, “I’m doing the best I can. You can’t say I didÂn’t try realÂly hard because I’m realÂly tryÂing hard to be good.” The valÂue of trying–trying consistently–can nevÂer be underÂstatÂed.
Note: Some of the same themes get echoed in Tom PetÂty’s final interÂview, which he gave to the LA Times last week. You can stream it here.
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RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Tom PetÂty had to work hard because he didÂn’t have the traÂdiÂtionÂal “bad boy” look of a rock star. EspeÂcialÂly in a video age, his visuÂals had to be twice as interÂestÂing among a sea of poutÂing pretÂty boys. I give him a lot of credÂit for his stayÂing powÂer and abilÂiÂty to write hooks that appealed to lisÂtenÂers in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and even today. Rest in Peace Tom!