0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30That was the record where the dam burst.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34That was the record where life was never going to be the same again.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39# Honey, it don't make no difference to me
0:00:39 > 0:00:44# Baby, everybody's got to fight to be free
0:00:44 > 0:00:47# You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
0:00:47 > 0:00:49# Don't have to live... #
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Everything about the album was difficult - writing, recording,
0:00:52 > 0:00:53mixing, mastering.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58We fought for it. You want it to be better than great.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00It's passionate, we captured it.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06And...what we're singing about relates to today,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08it's just timeless.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11# Here comes my girl
0:01:13 > 0:01:17# Here comes my girl... #
0:01:17 > 0:01:22It was very fortunate thing that the bunch of us fell together.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26It has a lot of elements from a lot of places.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30Every time I turn on the radio, I hear something else I took something from.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34But I think we make our own noise.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37# Even the losers
0:01:39 > 0:01:41# Get lucky sometimes
0:01:42 > 0:01:44# Even the losers
0:01:46 > 0:01:49# Keep a little bit of pride
0:01:49 > 0:01:52# Yeah, they get lucky sometimes... #
0:01:52 > 0:01:57Tom is a true believer in his own holy church of rock'n'roll.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00These were guys that didn't compromise.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04And you can hear it through these records.
0:02:04 > 0:02:05# Don't do me like that
0:02:06 > 0:02:07# Don't do me like that
0:02:07 > 0:02:09# One day I might need you, baby
0:02:09 > 0:02:12# Don't do me like that Now, wait a minute... #
0:02:12 > 0:02:15He understands the things that made rock'n'roll important.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The innocence, the romanticism and so forth.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20He's never lost it and that's what makes his songs so good.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22They're simple with complex undercurrents.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27You can listen on different levels and enjoy it, that's what's so rewarding about it.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32Disco was just rearing its head, there was a huge movement towards it
0:02:32 > 0:02:34and rock'n'roll seemed to be dying out.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Then, completely out of the blue,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39here he came, a 24 carat rocker.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42We don't really talk much about what we're going to do.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45You do it and once we've done it,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48we'll say a little less of that or more of this,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50but it's very instinctual.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53We all grew up in the same town. Tom and I were born there,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56everybody else had moved there early on.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59But we all had formative years where the radio was playing
0:02:59 > 0:03:01the same thing, so we all, I think,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03had the same rhythm.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08We learned to feel, music felt a certain way to us.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11They were teenagers, you know, young teenagers,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14when they met, so they've been through a lot together.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17And they came across-country together from Gainesville,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19to get a record deal.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21We're from Florida, the Deep South,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and it's always been a combination of two things,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27which is Southern blues roots,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29and then this love of British rock,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33which we were teenagers when The Beatles and Stones came out.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38And we liked both those types of music and we began to see
0:03:38 > 0:03:40how they connected.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43# Well, she was an American girl
0:03:43 > 0:03:47# Raised on promises
0:03:48 > 0:03:53# She couldn't help thinking that there was a little more to life
0:03:53 > 0:03:56# Somewhere else... #
0:03:56 > 0:03:59We put the first album out in America
0:03:59 > 0:04:03and it got airplay, I think, in San Francisco and Boston
0:04:03 > 0:04:04and nowhere else.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08I remember calling a local station, wanting to hear myself, going,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10"Hi!", you know, putting on a fake voice.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12"Would you play American Girl?"
0:04:12 > 0:04:15And the station said, "We don't play that shit."
0:04:15 > 0:04:17# Oh, yeah
0:04:17 > 0:04:19# All right
0:04:19 > 0:04:21# Take it easy, baby
0:04:21 > 0:04:23# Make it last all night
0:04:24 > 0:04:26# She was
0:04:26 > 0:04:28# An American girl... #
0:04:28 > 0:04:31I'd seen them live at the Whisky A Go Go.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Amazing live band. Charisma, great songs,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and the passion...
0:04:39 > 0:04:42What rang true to me was the pure heart of rock'n'roll.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45We went to England and we did a tour with Nils Lofgren
0:04:45 > 0:04:47as an opening act and, for some reason,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52the journalists and the people in England really latched on to the record and we created a buzz.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57And here's us, with long hair and early 1970s clothes,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01black velvet and some leather stuff and snakeskin boots and stuff,
0:05:01 > 0:05:07just complete goober rednecks on acid in London,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10where everything we loved that hadn't come from the South came from.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14They went mad about the band, we got a lot of crazy press
0:05:14 > 0:05:16and got famous for a few months,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and had to come back to America
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and be not famous for a long time.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23We just kept building it up, we worked a lot.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28We opened up for a couple of years, we opened up for other bands.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30We would be on a really wide variety
0:05:30 > 0:05:34of bills which didn't really mean we were going to play
0:05:34 > 0:05:36to an audience that was our kind of music.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39We didn't really like that situation anyway,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42and one day, we just went, "Well, we're not going to open shows any more.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46"Wherever we have to play, we're just going to play to people that came to see us."
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Once we did that, we just kept getting better.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54It took a year for that album to get in the charts in the US.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55It took a whole year.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Then it stayed in for a year,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and it was still in the charts when the second album came out.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02We had Denny Cordell producing again.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08When a group makes a bond with a producer, especially if it's early in their career,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12you tend to all see the same thing the same way.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14You like the same records, a particular sound.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17"Did you hear so-and-so's guitar?" "Yeah, it's great."
0:06:17 > 0:06:22You all share this great common understanding about music.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Denny's way of producing would sometimes be to lean back on the couch with a hash joint
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and wait until the groove was right.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Then in playback, he'd go,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32"That's it. Do that."
0:06:32 > 0:06:36# You think you're gonna take her away
0:06:36 > 0:06:39# With your money and your cocaine
0:06:40 > 0:06:43# You keep thinking that her mind is gonna change
0:06:43 > 0:06:47# But I know everything is OK
0:06:47 > 0:06:49# She's gonna listen to her heart... #
0:06:50 > 0:06:55I felt that we found our sound while we were playing gigs.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Looking back on it, I think that what we started doing
0:06:58 > 0:07:00with the third record,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04even in the preparation for it,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07was starting to sound like we really sounded.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10By the time we got to the third album, Damn The Torpedoes,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14it was clear that Denny Cordell and us had done all we could do together,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17as a musical team.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19There we were, looking for somebody else,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21to produce the album,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25and Denny himself suggested Jimmy Iovine.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28I knew that Tom was coming on really strong
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and I was always a great believer in third albums.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Born To Run was a third album for Bruce,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Patti Smith, Easter was her third album,
0:07:37 > 0:07:42this was Tom's. I felt it was time that he could really break.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45All I knew was that he had produced Because The Night,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48the greatest drum sound I ever heard in my life.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51So I was really excited,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54I thought, "Man, this guy, he's coming in...
0:07:54 > 0:07:55"with some great stuff."
0:07:55 > 0:08:00The biggest, huge, beautiful drum sound we'd never got...
0:08:00 > 0:08:01Yeah, we loved that.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05So, I think Tom said, "Let's get that guy and he can make a drum sound like that."
0:08:05 > 0:08:09- So that's where we started from.- And then he showed up with an engineer.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12If I'd known you wanted that, I'd have brought somebody else!
0:08:12 > 0:08:14You got to help me get that.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17I was told they needed a producer, maybe I heard it that way.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20We did, we did.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24I came out and they thought I engineered it
0:08:24 > 0:08:28on my own, but I really had a really good engineer.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31And by the grace of God,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33he showed up with Shelly Yakus.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Jimmy and I working together,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38his productions and the sound that we made together,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41was pretty new.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47I don't think we realised it but we knew we were doing something that sounded exciting.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49And that's what we were going for.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52There was a real sense we were on a mission.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56We were going to make this record and it was going to be great.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58We get to the studio, work 10 or 12 hours,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02and we'd call each other when we got home and talked about the record.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05The dynamics on it, the playing on it, the arrangements,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09the songs, the quality of the songs, the lyrics -
0:09:09 > 0:09:13we just talked about this record, all the time.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty sort of rose together to become
0:09:17 > 0:09:21these iconic figures in music, in the music industry.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24One of them now is a leader of the music industry,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28one of them is someone who has consistently been a thorn in the side of the music industry.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33But they were two hungry kids and you can hear that hunger
0:09:33 > 0:09:35on Damn The Torpedoes.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39# We got somethin' we both know it, we don't talk too much about it
0:09:43 > 0:09:47# Ain't no real big secret, all the same, somehow we get around it
0:09:50 > 0:09:51# Listen... #
0:09:51 > 0:09:56Mike gave me a demo that was pretty much
0:09:56 > 0:10:01the same music, um...
0:10:01 > 0:10:04different arrangement, but pretty much the same music.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08I mean, all basically, the track was all sitting there.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13I was listening to an Albert King song called Oh, Pretty Woman,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15and it went like this...
0:10:25 > 0:10:29I just thought, "That's the greatest key for the guitar..."
0:10:29 > 0:10:32It's F sharp minor, for guitar players.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36But it's just got the fullest tone. And so...
0:10:36 > 0:10:39I wanted to put something on my tape recorder
0:10:39 > 0:10:43in that key so I could practise playing leads along with it.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45To do that, I just came up with those chords...
0:10:45 > 0:10:47PLAYS INTRO TO "REFUGEE"
0:10:54 > 0:10:58So I recorded that onto my four-track, then I put on...
0:10:58 > 0:11:01another track and along with that, I just played...
0:11:06 > 0:11:07Played some blues over it.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12And then I listened to it back and there was a couple of licks that stuck out to me.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16And I thought, well, this lick would be nice for the intro and that was...
0:11:26 > 0:11:30# We got somethin' we both know it, we don't talk too much about it
0:11:34 > 0:11:40# Ain't no real big secret, all the same, somehow we get around it... #
0:11:40 > 0:11:44So I just thought up a tune and put some words to it
0:11:44 > 0:11:49and the whole thing might have taken me 10 minutes.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55# ..You don't have to live like a refugee
0:11:55 > 0:11:57# Don't have to live like a... #
0:11:57 > 0:12:00And, you know, when you do something that quick,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02you kind of don't take it too seriously.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I thought, "Well, it's probably not that good."
0:12:05 > 0:12:11Then I kept coming back to it, and I started thinking,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13"Well, we might be onto something here."
0:12:13 > 0:12:16And then I...
0:12:16 > 0:12:20I think that was one of the first things I played to Jimmy.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23When we met, you played me that and Here Comes My Girl.
0:12:23 > 0:12:29I remember saying, it was the last time I ever said it to anyone, was...
0:12:29 > 0:12:32"You don't need any more songs."
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I never said that since.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37But those two songs hit me like nothing else I've ever heard
0:12:37 > 0:12:41so...I couldn't believe that I was walking into an album with songs like that.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Anybody who plays music like that, I'm going to hit it off with.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47But we really hit it off.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52But I would have hit it off with anybody who played those songs, short of Charles Manson.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56I think we all came down for the first few days and Shelly and Stan
0:12:56 > 0:13:01would spend hours getting the drum sound and days getting the drum sound.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04I think three or four days to get a drum sound.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07The first thing they did, Shelly took me drum shopping.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11He said, "Your drum sound is punk-ass because your drums are punk-ass,"
0:13:11 > 0:13:19so he...he really was huge in terms of showing me what's at stake here.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23We have to have a drum sound that fits this.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26And it can't be some weeny little snare drum sound.
0:13:26 > 0:13:32Jimmy was basically like, "Get the drum tracks and get out of my way."
0:13:32 > 0:13:40Tom was singing in a slightly different place
0:13:40 > 0:13:42than the rhythm of the record.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Stan does play on the very back of the beat.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48And...
0:13:48 > 0:13:50That's not necessarily a bad thing
0:13:50 > 0:13:54but we had to find a way to keep the record floating at the same time.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Exactly!
0:13:56 > 0:14:02Also, to be fair to Stan, the way we finally wound up tuning the snare drum,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04the head was so low,
0:14:04 > 0:14:09that it'd be hard for any drummer to play anywhere but on the back,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12cos you're really pulling your stick out of gook.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14There's the drums.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15"REFUGEE" PLAYS
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Bass...
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Kick drum.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23- Kick drum.- Kick drum.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32He's playing really good, you know?
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Well, we weren't going to stop until he did!
0:14:37 > 0:14:39It was a really good team, Shelly and Jimmy.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45Shelly to engineer it and Jimmy to...tell us to do another take!
0:14:47 > 0:14:48We did so many takes.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51It was... We were...
0:14:51 > 0:14:54so naive and it was really a good thing.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57We did not edit a single take together on that record.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58I don't believe.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01I think they're complete takes of every song.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We just play live, like if we were on stage.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08We just carry it off and try to get a performance from top to bottom,
0:15:08 > 0:15:09with no mistakes.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13And until we got it the way we liked it,
0:15:13 > 0:15:14we kept on doing 'em.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Not everything, Don't Do Me Like That was one pass,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19You Tell Me was one or two passes,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22but Refugee in particular and Here Comes My Girl,
0:15:22 > 0:15:23forever.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26They had this guitar sound and organ sound
0:15:26 > 0:15:28that would blend together.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30And I had never heard this before.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35I'd worked on a lot of music and I never heard this blend
0:15:35 > 0:15:38and the power of the two instruments together
0:15:38 > 0:15:43and how the overtones ring together and it just comes at you like this wall of sound.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45"REFUGEE" INTRO PLAYS
0:15:56 > 0:16:01We over-dubbed the organ solo in the middle and put the percussion on loud
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and it's a trade-off with the guitar.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06And I liked the beginning of it, it's just kind of...
0:16:06 > 0:16:11Like stabs, like Chuck Berry or Keith Richards stabs...
0:16:17 > 0:16:18Then it goes to the guitar.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38It was very different but that's what we did,
0:16:38 > 0:16:40coming from New York, you know,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43we were going for that powerful drum thing,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47and, um, on a record,
0:16:47 > 0:16:52that had really powerful but yet well-thought-out guitars,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54really smart guitar parts.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59The blend of these guitars is so magnificent, isn't it?
0:16:59 > 0:17:02GUITAR TRACK OF "REFUGEE" PLAYS
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Is that three of us?
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Yeah.
0:17:07 > 0:17:08Mike double-tracks.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14So, with that...
0:17:14 > 0:17:17There's the lead there.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Intro.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26I'm putting the drums in now.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31They make the drums sound faster.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Well, that's a shaker.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37That's John...
0:17:37 > 0:17:40This shaker...
0:17:40 > 0:17:42There's a squeeze-box...
0:17:42 > 0:17:44We'll get to that.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Jim Keltner was in the hallway with this shaker
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and he was standing outside the door
0:17:54 > 0:17:58playing this and I came out
0:17:58 > 0:17:59and Jim said,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02"This is what that track needs."
0:18:02 > 0:18:04THEY LAUGH
0:18:04 > 0:18:07So Jim Keltner came in. Did Jim play it?
0:18:07 > 0:18:11- Yeah.- Yeah, Jim Keltner, I don't think he got any credit,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14but he just seemed to be in the hall all the time.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18I used to wonder what Keltner really did cos I knew he played,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21but he just always seemed to be in the hall.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25But he came out and put this shaker on,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27which, believe it or not, if you put the drums on...
0:18:31 > 0:18:34..it's OK but it's not really got the mojo, you know?
0:18:34 > 0:18:37But this...
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Ain't that something?
0:18:39 > 0:18:44So, Jim Keltner, you know, we owe him a lot.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48# You don't have to live like a refugee
0:18:48 > 0:18:51# Don't have to live like a refugee... #
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Each song spoke to me as a teenager
0:18:55 > 0:18:56in such a powerful way,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59you feel like a refugee as a teenager,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01you don't even know what you're a refugee from.
0:19:01 > 0:19:07But you know you're being exiled, it was, you know, the cliche, the soundtrack of our lives -
0:19:07 > 0:19:12it was better than that, it was the soundtrack you wanted to be living in, the sort of...
0:19:12 > 0:19:17world of great passions colliding and musically,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19it was a great band colliding.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24Someone who writes songs like that...you've got to be a fool
0:19:24 > 0:19:28not to get it right but still, it wasn't easy to do.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I would go out and listen to them play,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34and think, "What kind of sound do they make if I have nothing to do with this?
0:19:34 > 0:19:37"What are they doing on their own?
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"And how can we enhance this?"
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Because you can't really make them different than who they are,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44it doesn't come out right.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48One thing I noticed about this album that Jimmy brought up to me,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50there's very rarely a third verse.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54You know, most of these songs have just two verses,
0:19:54 > 0:19:56one's repeated,
0:19:56 > 0:20:02in Even The Losers, we don't even go back, we sing two verses
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and that's it, we're on another thing.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10But...I tried to be as imaginative as I could
0:20:10 > 0:20:15in the construction of the songs, as to where to put a bridge,
0:20:15 > 0:20:16do we need a bridge?
0:20:16 > 0:20:20You know and that was also just...
0:20:20 > 0:20:23trial and error, trying to find the right thing,
0:20:23 > 0:20:29to find an intro. Mike had been...would usually find something
0:20:29 > 0:20:32that was the right intro.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Tom came in and he had the song pretty well written.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Of course, he was just playing rhythm.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51He was playing that as he sang. Then I came up with this riff to kick the song off.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Even The Losers, production-wise, reminds me most
0:21:08 > 0:21:10of Because The Night,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12cos if you listen to the drums on it,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15they're swamped in echo,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18yet they're very present, very powerful.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22And the guitars lead the way.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33# Well, it was nearly summer We sat on your roof
0:21:36 > 0:21:42# Yeah, we smoked cigarettes and we stared at the moo-oo-oon
0:21:44 > 0:21:48# And I showed you stars you never could see
0:21:50 > 0:21:55# It couldn't have been that easy to forget about me... #
0:21:55 > 0:22:00I had written all of the song but I just scat-sang the chorus,
0:22:00 > 0:22:02I didn't, you know,
0:22:02 > 0:22:04I didn't know what words would go there.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07I was just singing phonetically.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09We decided to go ahead anyway.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13I don't think I ever said anything about it to anybody,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16but as we went by in the first pass,
0:22:16 > 0:22:21I just sang, "Even the losers get lucky sometimes."
0:22:21 > 0:22:24# Baby, even the losers
0:22:26 > 0:22:28# Get lucky sometimes
0:22:30 > 0:22:32# Even the losers
0:22:33 > 0:22:36# Keep a little bit of pride
0:22:37 > 0:22:39# They get lucky sometimes. #
0:22:41 > 0:22:47I was just in the right place, in the right vibe and I'm really glad I didn't try to finish it,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50because that came up with the power of the group,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53it sounded like the right phonetics
0:22:53 > 0:22:57and then the wild thing was it absolutely tied the song up.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00It made everything make sense.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05We cut the track with me playing rhythm but when we did the solo,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08we had a hard time finding the right approach,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10I tried playing a single note...
0:23:12 > 0:23:14..and it just sounded thin and unexciting.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17We were really stuck, we just couldn't get the right vibe
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and we said, "What would Chuck Berry do?"
0:23:20 > 0:23:24And, of course, what he would do would be play two strings at the same time...
0:23:25 > 0:23:27You know?
0:23:27 > 0:23:29So, with that in mind,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32I played a solo that incorporated two strings at a time.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03Mike is the quietest guitar god since George Harrison.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05In a weird way, I think he's comparable,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07no-one's as good as George Harrison,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11with all due respect, you know? There's only one George Harrison.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15But I think it's significant that Tom, his closest relationship
0:24:15 > 0:24:19with guitar players are with George Harrison and Mike Campbell,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23two men who serve the song, never overplays.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28To a lot of people, I think even now, he's so ego-less as a player,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31he's just one of And The Heartbreakers to some people,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33but Mike is a huge part of the story.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36He just has the greatest way of raking the pick across the strings
0:24:36 > 0:24:41so they're all singing and vibrating but he's not slamming it so hard
0:24:41 > 0:24:44that he's choking the sound.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47# I shoulda known right then it was too good to last
0:24:47 > 0:24:49# God, it's such a drag... #
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Every 15 years, there comes a guy that no-one else sounds like.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Or he doesn't sound like anyone before.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58He's one of those guys. Edge is one of those guys, Keith Richards is one of those guys.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03A lot of guys are good guitar players but very few sound only like them.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05And he's that kind.
0:25:05 > 0:25:12Mike is incredibly good in that...there's nothing he can't play.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15You get somebody like that, you hold on tight.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18And Tom has always held on tight to Mike Campbell.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Here Comes My Girl, same as Refugee, I did a demo.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I like chords that have...
0:25:24 > 0:25:26open strings, along with the chord...
0:25:26 > 0:25:27So, it's like a...
0:25:27 > 0:25:29drone underneath.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44This song, I think a lot of us felt was the first single,
0:25:44 > 0:25:45even after the album was mixed.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48This was always the song we would play, remember that?
0:25:48 > 0:25:52- Yep.- Couldn't play Refugee, we never finished...
0:25:52 > 0:25:56But we'd always play it. This is the song we'd play when people would come in.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Oh, yeah.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03This would lay 'em down. When our buddies would drop by,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07we'd spin Here Comes My Girl and they'd be like,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09"OK, you're onto something good."
0:26:11 > 0:26:13It's one of my favourites we ever did.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27See, not much of this song existed.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35And I couldn't really find a melody to go over it at first.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Until I started to...
0:26:39 > 0:26:44Started to take on a character and try to talk my way through it.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48You know, sometimes I don't know why
0:26:48 > 0:26:50But every now and then This old world
0:26:52 > 0:26:53Seems so hopeless...
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Little reverb?
0:26:55 > 0:26:58..I ain't really sure but it seemed the good times
0:26:58 > 0:27:04Were just a little bit more In focus.
0:27:04 > 0:27:11Then I wanted to go into... a kind of an R&B feel.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14# But when she puts her arms around me
0:27:15 > 0:27:18# I can somehow rise above it
0:27:20 > 0:27:24# Somehow when I got that little girl standing right by my side
0:27:24 > 0:27:28# You know I can tell the whole wide world to shove it, yeah
0:27:28 > 0:27:30# Here comes my girl
0:27:32 > 0:27:35# Here comes my girl
0:27:39 > 0:27:42# Yeah, and she looks so right
0:27:42 > 0:27:48# She's all I need toni-i-ight. #
0:27:48 > 0:27:52# Every now and then I get down to the end of the day and have to stop
0:27:53 > 0:27:55# Ask myself why I've done it
0:27:57 > 0:28:01# It just seems so useless to have to work so hard... #
0:28:01 > 0:28:04There's a great piano on this track,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06this piano that's out there still.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08HE ISOLATES PIANO TRACK
0:28:34 > 0:28:38What you want to do with this is think about what won't get in the way
0:28:38 > 0:28:40of the rhythm of the song.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Or of the sound of the song.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48And...when you've got those big chords that Mike plays
0:28:48 > 0:28:50on Here Comes My Girl,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52you want to start with the organ.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57And then I went back to my apartment in Sherman Oaks, where I had a little upright,
0:28:57 > 0:29:02and had a cassette tape of the song and I just listened to it a few times...
0:29:02 > 0:29:06I never work out a part in advance but I worked out the way the piano
0:29:06 > 0:29:09was going to build into Here Comes My Girl.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11"HERE COMES MY GIRL" PLAYS
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Which guitar is doing that picking thing?
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Those two together.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26That's the Rickenbacker 12-string.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Can you cut it back for a second?
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Just play the arpeggio and the piano together.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35These are the two instruments that make that chorus.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38ISOLATED GUITAR AND PIANO TRACKS PLAY
0:29:40 > 0:29:42You had to come from the South to play that lick.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47None of the bands I heard were playing anything like that.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55They're busy but they work together.
0:29:56 > 0:29:57# What you want... #
0:29:57 > 0:30:00If you listen to the arrangements on Damn The Torpedoes,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03you're going to hear a lot of interplay between the instruments,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06it's done so well, you don't even notice it.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09But it's constantly changing
0:30:09 > 0:30:11and it's constantly interesting.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15# Every time it seems like there ain't nothing left no more
0:30:15 > 0:30:19# I find myself having to reach out and grab hold of something
0:30:21 > 0:30:24# Yeah, I just catch myself wondering, waiting, worrying
0:30:24 > 0:30:27# About some silly little thing that don't add up to nothing
0:30:30 > 0:30:32# Then she looks me in the eye
0:30:32 > 0:30:37# Says we're gonna last forever and I know I can't begin to doubt it
0:30:40 > 0:30:43# Cos it feels so good, so free and so right
0:30:43 > 0:30:47# I know we ain't ever gonna change our minds about it
0:30:47 > 0:30:49# Hey! Here comes my girl
0:30:52 > 0:30:54# Here comes my girl... #
0:30:57 > 0:31:02They're really one of the top rock'n'roll bands,
0:31:02 > 0:31:04in the world, I think.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10It's hard to be completely objective cos I've always played with them,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14even before The Heartbreakers, I was in a band with Mike and Benmont.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19Benmont is probably the most in-demand keyboard player there is.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21What both of them do that's so great
0:31:21 > 0:31:23is when I give them something,
0:31:23 > 0:31:28they give it back to me better than I thought it was in the first place.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32What the band were, to a few rock critics,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35The Heartbreakers became to everybody.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40They were just this virtuoso outfit, that were really in-synch,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43that had unlikely combinations,
0:31:43 > 0:31:49you have Stan Lynch and Ron Blair, who are maybe the least virtuosic,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52but the most rock'n'roll part of the sound.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56I always enjoyed playing with Stan and secretly hoped
0:31:56 > 0:32:00we'd get to play again sometime,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02which could happen, I guess.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05He's just a really great drummer, character.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08All drummers are a little bit of a character and he's...
0:32:08 > 0:32:09He's definitely that.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Jimmy, for some reason, he didn't like the way Stan played.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20It may have been a personality thing, too.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25Cos there's a lot of personality in Jimmy and in Stan.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29I don't know, maybe the room wasn't big enough.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31It's a pretty big room, but, you know.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00His sense of humour comes out through his drums.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03When they tried other drummers,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06at one point during the album for a couple of weeks,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09it didn't sound like Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12- it sounded like somebody else. - I guess Jimmy wasn't pleased
0:33:12 > 0:33:16and maybe Tom wasn't pleased and Stanley, either he quit
0:33:16 > 0:33:19or he was fired for a couple of weeks.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23We brought in some great drummers.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26We brought in BJ Wilson from Procul Harum,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Phil Seymour from the Dwight Twilley Group,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33who had sung background vocals on Breakdown,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36I can't remember who all else.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40And they were all great drummers, but all the wrong drummer.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Stanley came back and we got a couple of tracks, that day.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47So it was clear what he brought to the table.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51This thing he could do, this indescribable thing.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55And Ron has this technique as a bass player that would lock it all together.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Remember, the bass is on the bottom of the record.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00He was kind of like Bill Wyman,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02you can't put your finger on it.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04He doesn't play like Wyman
0:34:04 > 0:34:07but from the first second of the band,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11I listened to Ron when I didn't know what to play,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14so Ron's playing some melodic rhythmic thing,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16that, if I tie into that,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20it's going to work really well.
0:34:20 > 0:34:21Don't know what it is.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24He's just got it.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42# I think she loves me
0:34:42 > 0:34:46# But she don't wanna let on
0:34:52 > 0:34:55# Yeah, she likes to keep me guessing
0:34:55 > 0:34:59# She's got me on the fence
0:34:59 > 0:35:03# With that little bit of mystery... #
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Tom's singing a harmony with himself here.
0:35:05 > 0:35:11# And she's always been so hard to figure out
0:35:12 > 0:35:20# Yeah, she always likes to leave me with a shadow of a dou-ou-oubt. #
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Attitude, huh?
0:35:34 > 0:35:37# Sometimes at night I
0:35:37 > 0:35:40# Wait round till she gets off... #
0:35:47 > 0:35:49I think it's a great guitar riff.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52And I think the lyric is really interesting.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56And the way the melody goes with chord changes,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59it's a fast song that isn't trying too hard.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01The groove, it simply swings.
0:36:01 > 0:36:07But that it's got, "And when she's dreaming, sometimes she sings in French,"
0:36:07 > 0:36:09is a lyric that's always going to work for me
0:36:09 > 0:36:13cos I don't know what the hell it's talking about but it sounds like it's true.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16# And when she's dreaming
0:36:16 > 0:36:20# Sometimes she sings in French
0:36:27 > 0:36:30# But in the morning
0:36:30 > 0:36:34# She don't remember it... #
0:36:36 > 0:36:38We wanted to make music that moved people.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42And because of the...
0:36:42 > 0:36:45I don't know if it was because of that, I mean,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47we were in a big lawsuit at the time,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51you know, just fighting for our right to exist, in a way,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and I think it made the music sort of anthemic.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02During that period, I wrote a song called Century City,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04because that's where we had to go every day,
0:37:04 > 0:37:06that's where the lawyers were.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09# Sometimes I wanna leave here
0:37:09 > 0:37:12# Sometimes I wanna go
0:37:13 > 0:37:15# Right back where I came from
0:37:15 > 0:37:18# Back where I belong
0:37:18 > 0:37:22# But it never lasts for too long
0:37:23 > 0:37:25# Always goes away
0:37:25 > 0:37:28# And I still don't look for reasons
0:37:28 > 0:37:31# That's much too hard these days
0:37:31 > 0:37:35# Why worry 'bout the rain? Why worry 'bout the thunder?
0:37:35 > 0:37:39# In Century City, everything's covered... #
0:37:41 > 0:37:45We were in between record labels and we refused to record
0:37:45 > 0:37:49for the wrong label until our deal was sorted out.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53We had... As most bands did, we got shafted on our record deal.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56We'd gone from Shelter to Shelter plus ABC as our labels.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59We said, "Look, we don't want any changes,"
0:37:59 > 0:38:00and they agreed to that.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02The next thing that happened
0:38:02 > 0:38:04was that, you know,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07ABC was bought by MCA.
0:38:07 > 0:38:08In purchasing ABC,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12they also, of course, grabbed their Shelter Records imprint,
0:38:12 > 0:38:17and therefore, Tom Petty and I witnessed, along with the rest of the industry,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20Petty's fight to get off of MCA
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and go to one of the many suitors. Everyone was after him,
0:38:24 > 0:38:30from the legendary Ahmet Ertegun, to Mo Austin, to Walter Yetnikoff and Columbia.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33# We're gonna live in Century City
0:38:33 > 0:38:36# Go and give in Century City
0:38:36 > 0:38:38# Like modern men
0:38:38 > 0:38:39# Modern girls
0:38:39 > 0:38:43# We're gonna live in the modern world
0:38:45 > 0:38:47# Waah! #
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Tom Petty has always believed in himself
0:38:50 > 0:38:53and been willing to put everything on the line
0:38:53 > 0:38:56and when he stood up to try to get off of MCA,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00I think most artists, early in their career, just happen to be on a label.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03But Tom's always a guy who would stand up to anyone
0:39:03 > 0:39:05who got in the way of his music.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09When I heard that they might want to take the tapes
0:39:09 > 0:39:14and finish them themselves, and just put it out,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17that's when I was getting a little bit leery and upset,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19but Tom's a tough nut.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21And that wasn't going to happen.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25There was a time when we thought the record would never come out.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29That's where Tom was, he said, "Fuck it, the album's not coming out."
0:39:29 > 0:39:31When they started recording Damn The Torpedoes,
0:39:31 > 0:39:35we refused to take money from the record company.
0:39:35 > 0:39:40And I had my partner at the time, Elliot Roberts,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43put up the money, technically, making Tom bankrupt.
0:39:43 > 0:39:51Which means, under US law, that you can have a court aggregate all your contracts
0:39:51 > 0:39:54and enable you to start afresh.
0:39:54 > 0:40:00My absolute dream and desire was to sign Petty onto my label, Backstreet.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03I got a phone call late at night from Danny
0:40:03 > 0:40:07and he said, "Listen, I've got a label and I could really help you
0:40:07 > 0:40:10"resolve this thing with MCA to your satisfaction."
0:40:10 > 0:40:15He was passionate and committed and everything that we were looking for
0:40:15 > 0:40:18in a relationship at that time.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21And the album came out on Backstreet records.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24It was everything I had hoped for.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28And you can imagine, 25 years old, a brand new label,
0:40:28 > 0:40:34to have this album, to have Tom Petty and be part of truly creating a home
0:40:34 > 0:40:37that was absolutely behind him, vigorously.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39I was ecstatic.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Tom works very intuitively.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46He's got this thing that I wish I had,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49most songwriters wish they had, where he can just channel into
0:40:49 > 0:40:52that pool of ideas.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57He can just pull stuff out of the air it seems, almost, whenever he really wants to.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01And he's always had that, from the first time I met him, he can just come up with
0:41:01 > 0:41:05lyrics, or a melody, or song ideas.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10He just improved greatly over the years. By the time we were making records,
0:41:10 > 0:41:12he'd really honed that down pretty well.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14You know, there's no set formula.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17It just happens when it happens.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21That's something that you want to really look in the eye.
0:41:21 > 0:41:27Because it's a little supernatural and you don't want to...mess with it.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Most of them are written with the acoustic guitar.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33We have this theory that you should be able to
0:41:33 > 0:41:37perform it with just a guitar or a piano,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39to be sure it's a song.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42They were really good songs, they were incredibly easy to play.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46If a song is really hard to play, usually, we'll ditch it,
0:41:46 > 0:41:51because Tom's theory is that there's something wrong with the song, it's not quite there yet
0:41:51 > 0:41:53if it takes too much work to get it down.
0:41:53 > 0:42:00The end of the record was this one, Louisiana Rain, works acoustically.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03# Well, it was out in California
0:42:04 > 0:42:07# By the San Diego sea
0:42:09 > 0:42:12# That was when I was taken in
0:42:12 > 0:42:15# It left its mark on me... #
0:42:20 > 0:42:22You know?
0:42:22 > 0:42:23The world-weary traveller.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27# Yeah, she nearly drove me crazy
0:42:27 > 0:42:31# With all those China toys
0:42:32 > 0:42:37# And I know she really didn't mean a thing
0:42:37 > 0:42:40# To those sailor boys
0:42:42 > 0:42:45# Louisiana rain... #
0:42:45 > 0:42:47It's a vocal with a double on the chorus.
0:42:47 > 0:42:48# ..is falling at my feet
0:42:50 > 0:42:53# Baby, I'm noticing a change
0:42:55 > 0:42:57# As I move down the street. #
0:42:57 > 0:43:01He's a great vocalist, an extraordinary lyricist,
0:43:01 > 0:43:08and an emotive singer. What you do is arrange the record around his voice.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11And, um...
0:43:11 > 0:43:15It's, it was easy, he's just...
0:43:15 > 0:43:18I've never heard him do a bad vocal.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21# South Carolina
0:43:22 > 0:43:25# Put out its arms for me
0:43:27 > 0:43:30# Right up until everything went black
0:43:30 > 0:43:34# Somewhere on Lonely Street... #
0:43:34 > 0:43:36I felt we needed that feel on the record, you know?
0:43:36 > 0:43:43It was a rock record but these guys are from the South and they wrote this really poignant record,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47and...I wish there were more records like that right now that had a touch of that on it.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Someone writes a real country song, or a real feel like that.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53I just fell in love with it, I thought it was...
0:43:53 > 0:43:56You know, knowing Tom, I felt it was really him.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59# Louisiana rain
0:44:00 > 0:44:02# Is falling just like tears
0:44:04 > 0:44:07# Running down my face
0:44:09 > 0:44:11# Washing out the years
0:44:13 > 0:44:17# Louisiana rain
0:44:17 > 0:44:19# Is soaking through my shoes
0:44:21 > 0:44:23# I may never be the same... #
0:44:25 > 0:44:27The solo is a slide...
0:44:27 > 0:44:30There's two slides going on together here. Right here.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33SOLO FROM "LOUISIANA RAIN" PLAYS
0:44:40 > 0:44:42There was a harmonica right there.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44We used to call Tom The Harmoni-cat.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46HARMONICA PLAYS
0:44:50 > 0:44:53It's got a verse about, uh...
0:44:53 > 0:44:55an English refugee who I...
0:44:55 > 0:44:58in an all-night beanery.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01# Never will get over
0:45:01 > 0:45:04# This English refugee
0:45:04 > 0:45:06# Singing to the jukebox
0:45:06 > 0:45:09# In some all-night beanery
0:45:09 > 0:45:12# And he was eating pills like candy
0:45:12 > 0:45:15# Chasing them with tea
0:45:15 > 0:45:18# You should have seen him lick his lips
0:45:18 > 0:45:21# That old black muddied beak
0:45:23 > 0:45:24# Louisiana rain
0:45:26 > 0:45:28# Is falling at my feet
0:45:29 > 0:45:31# And I'm noticing a change
0:45:33 > 0:45:35# As I walk down the street
0:45:36 > 0:45:38# Louisiana rain
0:45:39 > 0:45:42# Soaking through my shoes
0:45:42 > 0:45:44# And I may never be the same
0:45:46 > 0:45:48# When I reach Baton Rouge. #
0:45:49 > 0:45:52Um, we had this engineer that came out of, um...
0:45:54 > 0:45:58He was English, but he had spent a lot of time in Texas.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03And...really liked his uppers.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06And I think that's where...
0:46:06 > 0:46:10That was the person I was... imagining him,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13making his way across Louisiana.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16And that's where that came from.
0:46:16 > 0:46:22I've always felt like he's just so incredibly underrated as a songwriter.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26I think he's... I've always felt like he's taken for granted.
0:46:26 > 0:46:31You know, we're older now, so I suppose there's some more respect.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36But I think the guy really is a fantastic songwriter.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40Like when we had Mudcrutch and Don't Do Me Like That, it's like, what?!
0:46:40 > 0:46:47Because remember, this is me, I think I was 20, and he's 22 or 23.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Well, that's pretty wild when your friend,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53that helped you bury a dead cat in your yard when you were teenagers,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55just goes, "I wrote this."
0:46:55 > 0:46:57MUSIC: "Don't Do Me Like That"
0:46:58 > 0:47:01Not quite the same fidelity!
0:47:01 > 0:47:04They panned the drums. That's pretty funny.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10- That's the demo I heard.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13# I was talkin' with a friend of mine
0:47:13 > 0:47:15- # Said a woman... # - It's faster.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18It's faster.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20And lacks the groove we've got later.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Vocals are great.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25I was always...
0:47:28 > 0:47:30# Don't do me like that
0:47:30 > 0:47:32# Don't do me like that
0:47:32 > 0:47:35# What if I love you, baby? Don't do me like that... #
0:47:35 > 0:47:37The publisher played me Don't Do Me Like That
0:47:37 > 0:47:40and told me he was giving it to J. Geils Band.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44So I, like, ran to Tom's house. I said, "Are you out of your mind?"
0:47:44 > 0:47:49He said, "It kinda sounds like J. Geils to me." I said, "Sounds like a hit to me."
0:47:49 > 0:47:52I was a little confused by it. I thought, well...
0:47:53 > 0:47:55You sure this is what we want to do?
0:47:55 > 0:47:58Cos we'd passed on it for the last two records.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00We'd come out to LA from Florida.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04And I heard this song in my head,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07but I had no piano. I just lived in a little guesthouse.
0:48:07 > 0:48:13So I rented a rehearsal room, for just me,
0:48:13 > 0:48:16which was pretty extravagant for me.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20And I...I went down there, wrote the song on the piano,
0:48:20 > 0:48:25didn't record it or anything, but I wrote it on the piano and went home.
0:48:25 > 0:48:30And I... It was an expression my dad used to use a lot.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32Um...don't do me like that, you know.
0:48:32 > 0:48:33"Don't do me like that, son."
0:48:33 > 0:48:36So he wrote it just really simply, like...
0:48:42 > 0:48:45And what are you going to do? That's the thing he wrote it to,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48that's the thing that's easiest for him to sing to.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50So that's the thing to play.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55Since he came up with the part, it's probably the thing he thinks is the best thing to play anyway.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58It's good, it's the same thing in the right hand,
0:48:58 > 0:49:00you change the left hand really simply.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02In the verses, it's just...
0:49:02 > 0:49:03# Friend of mine
0:49:03 > 0:49:05# Said a woman had hurt his pride... #
0:49:08 > 0:49:10And then the chorus is...
0:49:10 > 0:49:12# Don't do me like that
0:49:12 > 0:49:15# Don't do me like that... #
0:49:15 > 0:49:18Basically, the rhythm in the right hand stays the same,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21the chords are almost the same, it changes one chord.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25You had this tremendous keyboard intro of Benmont's,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29uh...and an amazing, inspired bridge,
0:49:29 > 0:49:32really rock'n'roll vocal of Tom's,
0:49:32 > 0:49:38uh...that, that gave an edge to what was seemingly, on first listen,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40a very hooky track.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53# I was talkin' with a friend of mine
0:49:53 > 0:49:55# Said a woman had hurt his pride
0:49:55 > 0:49:57# She told him that she loved him so
0:49:57 > 0:49:59# Then turned around and let him go
0:49:59 > 0:50:01# Then he said, you better watch your step
0:50:01 > 0:50:03# Or you're gonna get hurt yourself
0:50:03 > 0:50:05# Someone's gonna tell you lies
0:50:05 > 0:50:07# Cut you down to size
0:50:07 > 0:50:09# Don't do me like that
0:50:09 > 0:50:11# Don't do me like that
0:50:11 > 0:50:13# What if I love you, baby?
0:50:13 > 0:50:15# Don't do me like that... #
0:50:15 > 0:50:19Yeah, it's a very rhythmic vocal.
0:50:19 > 0:50:24The vocal really... that's the dance that you follow.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27You know, it's dancing through the whole track.
0:50:27 > 0:50:32It turned out incredible. The record kinda has a Booker T feel to it
0:50:32 > 0:50:33a little bit, you know.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Again, Benmont's a real star on that record, the drums sound great.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40Tom sang the shit out of it, Tom did a... You know.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43A real, sort of,
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Wilson Pickett kind of vocal on it. It's just fantastic.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52And dancing along on the lead voice...
0:50:52 > 0:50:55ON PLAYBACK: # Give someone else a try
0:50:55 > 0:50:57# And you know you better watch your step
0:50:57 > 0:50:59# Or you're gonna get hurt yourself
0:50:59 > 0:51:02# Someone's gonna tell you lies... #
0:51:02 > 0:51:03And all the harmony...
0:51:03 > 0:51:05ISOLATED VOCAL TRACK: # Don't do me like that
0:51:05 > 0:51:07# Don't do me like that
0:51:07 > 0:51:09# What if I love you, baby?
0:51:09 > 0:51:11# Don't, don't, don't, don't
0:51:11 > 0:51:13# Don't do me like that
0:51:13 > 0:51:15# Don't do me like that
0:51:15 > 0:51:17# What if I need you, baby?
0:51:17 > 0:51:19# Don't do me like that
0:51:19 > 0:51:21WITH BAND: # Cos somewhere deep down inside
0:51:21 > 0:51:23# Someone is saying
0:51:23 > 0:51:26# Love doesn't last that long
0:51:27 > 0:51:29# I got this feelin' inside
0:51:29 > 0:51:31# Night and day
0:51:31 > 0:51:34# And now I can't take it no more... #
0:51:34 > 0:51:36So, we went in and cut it.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39It was one of the only ones that went really quickly.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41We thought it was cool,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44but we kind of put it out of our mind.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47I didn't even know if it was completely in the running.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Near the end of the album,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54the assistant engineer, Tori Swenson,
0:51:54 > 0:51:58who had been sleeping on the sofa here in the control room,
0:51:58 > 0:52:03raised his head up and said, "What about that Don't Do Me Like That?
0:52:03 > 0:52:04"I really like that one."
0:52:04 > 0:52:08We went, "Yeah, what is that?" And we brought it back out,
0:52:08 > 0:52:11played it and went, "Yeah, great. It's in."
0:52:11 > 0:52:15And it became our first top ten hit.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18# Listen, honey, can you see?
0:52:18 > 0:52:20# Baby, you would bury me
0:52:20 > 0:52:22# If you were in the public eye
0:52:22 > 0:52:24# Giving someone else a try
0:52:24 > 0:52:26# And you know you better watch your step
0:52:26 > 0:52:28# Or you're gonna get hurt yourself
0:52:28 > 0:52:30# Someone's gonna tell you lies
0:52:30 > 0:52:33# Cut you down to size
0:52:33 > 0:52:35# Don't do me like that
0:52:35 > 0:52:37# Don't do me like that
0:52:37 > 0:52:39# What if I love you, baby?
0:52:39 > 0:52:41# Don't, don't, don't, don't
0:52:41 > 0:52:43# Don't do me like that
0:52:43 > 0:52:45# Don't do me like that
0:52:45 > 0:52:47# I just might need you, honey
0:52:47 > 0:52:49# Don't do me like that
0:52:49 > 0:52:50# Don't do me like that
0:52:51 > 0:52:53# Don't do me like that
0:52:53 > 0:52:57# Baby, baby, baby Don't, don't, don't, don't
0:52:57 > 0:52:58# Don't do me like that
0:53:00 > 0:53:01# Don't do me like that
0:53:01 > 0:53:04# Baby, baby, baby
0:53:04 > 0:53:06# Oh, oh, oh! #
0:53:07 > 0:53:09It was joy, you know.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13Just spinning across the dial and hearing yourself again and again
0:53:13 > 0:53:16on different stations, different songs.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19At one point, I think we had four songs on the air
0:53:19 > 0:53:21at the same time from that album.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26Damn The Torpedoes was when Tom Petty stopped being this really great songwriter,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29influenced by Dylan or influenced by The Byrds
0:53:29 > 0:53:32or influenced by the Stones, and became Tom Petty.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35In terms of finding his voice, he certainly...
0:53:35 > 0:53:36It all came together.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40I think, if anything, he was just beginning.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42It was a beautifully crafted album,
0:53:42 > 0:53:47it was a rock'n'roll album which had more thought and arrangement
0:53:47 > 0:53:49than many people may realise.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53When you make that noise together, all the guys, and they play,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56only that thing sounds like that.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59So it can take all the flaws, all the inexperience...
0:54:01 > 0:54:04..and yet all the uniqueness of the guys that are playing,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and when you put that together,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and put a shaker on top,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11you have an extraordinary record.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15If there's longevity to it, it's cos the songs are really good,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18you can tell there's a lot of genuine passion in it,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22not some amped-up, hyped-up, fake strutting stuff.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24But a lot of genuine caring about it.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28It was the hardest one. Emotionally, um...
0:54:28 > 0:54:31but in a lot of ways, the most rewarding one.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35It was within our grasp and we knew it, we just had to do it.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44# Baby, I hear thunder
0:54:46 > 0:54:50# I woke up, middle of the night
0:54:59 > 0:55:02# Baby, I saw fire
0:55:03 > 0:55:07# I went left, I went right
0:55:10 > 0:55:13# So you tell me
0:55:13 > 0:55:15# What you want me to do
0:55:15 > 0:55:17# This might be over, honey
0:55:17 > 0:55:20# It ain't through
0:55:20 > 0:55:24# Let me know when you're finished with me
0:55:24 > 0:55:26# What you want me to be
0:55:26 > 0:55:28# Baby, you tell me
0:55:28 > 0:55:30# Baby, you tell me... #
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:55:32 > 0:55:34E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk