DVD Review: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down A Dream

As mentioned in an earlier posting, I was determined to get hold of a copy of the Peter Bogdanovic movie called ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’. This is a movie he made about the life and times of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

 

Well, I eventually bought it, risking my hard earned cash on the South African Postal service by ordering it from Amazon (I looked everywhere in South Africa and could not find the DVD). After two and a half weeks it arrived.

 

The version that I bought consists of the movie spanning two separate DVD’s, a live home-coming concert DVD, and a CD of some live rarities. The movie itself is about four hours long, the length of which has created a bit of controversy in itself.

 

The Movie

 

The movie is in fact a revelation. I had my doubts about a movie of this length, but as explained in the liner notes, so much footage from over the years existed that the actual material available was just too good to omit (we also have a theory on the KraKen Rock that Tom’s slow speaking style also dragged things on a bit). It seems that since the band started, there was always someone around with some form of video camera device. For me, living in South Africa all my life, who had only ever seen the video of ‘Don’t come around here no more’ in terms of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers visual offerings, the time spanning footage was the revelation. There are visuals of the band performing in their early years, interviews spanning all the years, and some shots of the band backing up Bob Dylan. For me this was a pure visual feast.

 

Then there is the actual story (a movie should have some kind of story to it). Narrated by various people involved with the band, including most members of the band, it is riveting. After sitting down and watching the first discs about two hours worth of the movie, we seriously considered putting the second disc in straight away. It is a really enjoyable, informative documentary. The only criticism that I had at the end was that of – ‘why didn’t they explain more about various points’, and of course the answer to that is that four hours was already too long.

 

The story spans the formation of the starting bands in Gainesville, the quick demise of Mudcrutch (including where the name came from), the early days and the fact that like so many other bands they had to first break it in the UK before their home country would even take notice. Then it tracks the change of band members over the years, their relationships with other prominent artists (Stevie Nicks and Bob Dylan for example), as well as Tom’s Traveling Wilburys experience. The message that I felt prevailed from this movie is that, often you are only given one chance to do something – at these times, do not mess up., and don’t forget that dogged determination. If you don’t have it – you will fail.

 

In amongst all of this there are some really great moments, and I think that every person will find their own, whether it be a shot of Dave Grohl hammering away at the drums in a rare live performance, or the expressions on various faces during a drug bust in a German airport.

 

I would say – well worth a watch.

 

The live DVD

 

The live DVD is of a concert at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2006. The guys are starting to look a bit old, and to me it seems to get off to a bit of a slow start. However, after about three songs in it picks up. My favourite parts are when Stevie Nicks joins them on stage. Viewers of the movie will understand her ongoing wish to be in the Heartbreakers, and with this in mind it is great to see her enthusiasm on stage.

 

Another thought that strikes me every time I watch Live Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers DVD’s is how astoundingly good Mike Campbell is. He is in every sense of the word a virtuoso (scary hairdo though).

 

The CD

 

The CD is only nine tracks long and offers live songs from the very early days to more recent times, mainly culled from live TV appearances such as Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle test and Saturday Night Live. The last track is a sound check of a Hank Williams song that they had never done before (apparently) – hard to believe. Dave Grohl appears on the drums for the SNL performance, and if you had watched the movie, you would know how much that meant to him.

 

Interestingly the old songs sound just as great today, and the new songs sound fresh and strong.

 

Conclusion

 

I am glad that I bought this package. It is quite literally hours of entertainment.

There are amazing insights into the recording industry, as well as insights into the band and their friends. A statement not to be taken lightly when you count people like Bob Dylan and George Harrison among your friends.

If you like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, buy it. If you don’t, borrow it, and you may find that you do like them afterwards.

DVD Review: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - High Grass Dogs

Considering the age of this DVD, I suppose it is a bit late to be reviewing it now. But then, maybe, like me, you look at it in the shop every time you go in, wondering whether to buy it or not. Hopefully this can help you to make a decision.

I have always really enjoyed Tom Petty’s music. My vinyl collection includes ‘Damn the Torpedoes’, ‘Southern Accents’, ‘Let me up…’ and ‘Pack up the Plantation’. ‘Full Moon Fever’ was, in fact, the first CD I ever owned – a gift from my darling. As mentioned in a previous posting, I believe the ‘Pack up the Plantation’ album to be one of the best live concert documents out there. So I thought – let me try this DVD. It is mostly a collection of newer songs by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and I could get some idea of how good they are.

The packaging is a bit sparse, with not much information given. The audio quality is excellent , although at times I thought that the audience ‘sound’ was mixed down a bit too much, losing that live feel to a degree. The visual quality is also very good with evidence here that very careful planning had taken place. In terms of extras on the DVD, there are none. You can choose between 5.1 surround sound or normal stereo, and there is a menu to select individual songs, but that’s it! My only complaint is the repeated zooming in on Tom's moccasins and Howie Epstein’s boots – what is that all about? This was the last night at a series of Fillmore concerts which allowed the band to settle into the venue, polish their songs, and the director to plan the best visual coverage, and it shows.

I can report that the most recent album’s songs covered are pretty good. Some of the older songs included are ‘Jammin’ Me’ and a set from ‘Full Moon Fever’ such as ‘Free Fallin’’ and ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’ (old Tom likes his apostrophes). There is a quieter acoustic section in the middle of the DVD that seems to go on for possibly one song too long, but then all is back on track with the Heart-breakers rocking out again including a fairly raucous encore. The band, as ever, do the job with sparkling proficiency. It is no wonder that Bob Dylan waylaid this band once to use as his backing on a tour. My view is that essentially this is a live band – they make all their studio recorded songs sound so much better live. This is why I love ‘Pack up the Plantation’ so much.

There are some funny moments too, where TP fluffs the beginning of ‘Even the losers’ a few times and tries desperately not to laugh for the next few bars once he finally gets it right. I think that Tom must have been watching this when he thought of the name for the DVD.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been described as being ‘so normal they are strange’, and it is this basic unpretentious approach to their music and their performance that draws one in. There are no bombastic theatrics or posturing, and yet most of the full 90 minutes of this DVD go by in a blink of an eye. Leaving you wondering how a band can be so good live. Petty and Mike Campbell trades licks and solos effortlessly and smoothly throughout, with the result being some really enthralling guitar work. My conclusion is that, yes I’m glad I bought the DVD, no mistake there. I will probably never see a band like this live in South Africa and this is certainly the next best thing.

I have heard that there is a new DVD set out that documents the life of Tom Petty over two DVD’s , and then also includes a third live DVD and a live CD, called ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’. This is definitely on my wish-list!

2008-09-02

Having re-read this a few times, and also watched the DVD a few times more, I have a couple of points to add.

Firstly the visual quality is not that great, but its OK.

Secondly, I never even mentioned the guest appearance of legendary Bo Diddley for a rendition of 'Mona'. This is especially poignant now that the great man has passed away. The whole band was glowing with excitement backing him on the song.

Thirdly, since this recording was made, Howie Epstein has also passed away. The facts behind this are a tragic tale, and while watching the DVD it is really sad to see how much he clearly enjoyed being up there and performing, and then too, how well he complemented Tom Petty on vocals throughout.

April 2008 what's on the player

The April roundup is a bit delayed, and I blame this excellent web-site: http://www.starwarsorigami.com/. It combines two things I really enjoy, star wars and origami. Have a look, I know it won’t appeal to all rockers out there but maybe some of you will appreciate it.

Back to the music though, and I can report that I finally got the Radiohead CD out of my player although I must admit that I do miss it. I must also point out that I have been listening to Muse HAARP a lot, but will not include it in my summary as my previous posting is dedicated to it.

The summary for the month therefore is as follows:


Paramore – Riot!

Imagine Avril Lavigne as a musically talented individual who can write good songs and sing well. This gets you to imagining what Hayley Williams from Paramore is like. Only she is even better than that. The Paramore album is full of strong rocking tracks that only grow with repeated listening.

Breaking Benjamin - Phobia

In my opinion this is a silly name for a band – it sounds like a boy band. But then, I don’t know, maybe they named it after two obscure blues legends….

However the album really rocks. It is on the heavier side of American type rock with good lyrics and a great overall sound.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Pack up the Plantation: Live.


Listening to Muse – ‘HAARP’ got me thinking about my favourite live albums, which then led me to dusting off my vinyl copy of ‘Pack up the Plantation’ (actually my vinyl does not have much dust on it). I wonder if there is a digitally remastered version of this recording out there – I will have to do some research.

This album, however, is an awesome concert document. Sound quality, crowd participation and band performance are all very strong, and the guest appearance of Stevie Nicks is also truly splendid, especially on the track ‘Insider’.

Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze
Josh Homme of the Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) is a truly talented individual, with, a little paradoxically, one of his major strengths being the ability to collaborate. This has lead to great collaborations in his series of ‘Desert Sessions’ albums where he gathers together friends and colleagues (Polly Jean Harvey to name one) and takes them off into the desert somewhere to jam and record. I have got sessions 7&8 and 9&10 and they both rock. Also in his collaboration work, he has recorded with the band Eagles of Death Metal. This is another band with a slightly misleading name. The music is not of the genre death metal – I believe that it is meant to sound like, conceptually, what death metal would sound like if The Eagles played it. I can report that their interpretation of this is some really groovy, funky and skanky sounding boogie rock, with some of the nastiest (and funniest) lyrics around.

Josh Homme is the main member of QOTSA and what underscores all of his projects is the amount of fun he seems to have in doing them. ‘Lullabies to Paralyze’ continues on that theme, with the whole album capturing a unique sound, with plenty of attention to detail given to the tone of guitar sounds. There are immediately lovable songs such as ‘Burn the Witch’ and ‘Little Sister’, as well as songs that really grow with each listen such as ‘Everybody knows that you are insane’.

I love this album, and will try to get hold of their new one too as soon as I can afford it.