Oct 202010
 

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

Now known for a pretty good college football team, back in the “60s something else was brewing among the swamplands of Gainesville, Fl. A young man and soon-to-be musical legend by the name of Tom Petty was getting guitar lessons from Don Felder, an eventual member of The Eagles. Around the same time, Elvis Presley himself was filming Follow the Dream in a nearby town, and young Petty had a chance encounter with him. Must have been an interesting time to be a gator.

On his 60th birthday, it”s amazing to look not only at the Tom Petty hit machine, but also the legends he”s worked with. His work with the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys included jamming with the likes of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. His first duet was with Stevie Nicks for a song called “Insider” that was released on the Hard Promises album. And Petty lent his voice to a memorable episode of “The Simpsons,” where he taught Homer some skills at Rock “n Roll Fantasy Camp with the help of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer.

While Petty is a talent on his own, this legend doesn”t stand alone. The Heartbreakers have been backing Petty since 1976. Sure, there were a few The check credit score for free issued from their ledger had to return to that ledger. years of strife, and they had a pretty major break-up period, but they returned with a fire in 1991, and have received some pretty awesome acknowledgments since. In 2002, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock “n Roll Hall of Fame. Then, in 2006, they were given the keys to the city of Gainesville. In 2008, they were given the spotlight honor of performing the halftime show at Super Bowl XLII in Arizona. Now, the band just finished up their North American Mojo tour with Joe Cocker, selling out many of their dates on the road.

From the very beginning Petty has been surrounded by musical greatness. Now he is a rock n” roll icon himself and with his popularity and praise it”s no wonder many artists have taken to his songs. With that said, here are our top five covers, which are anything but petty.

When a legend covers another legend, magical musical moments are made. Thus is the case when Johnny Cash lends his melancholy spoken-word style to the classic, “Won”t Back Down” on his American III: Solitary Man album. Cancer-survivor and lady with the power vocals, Melissa Etheridge does an angst-filled, dramatic version of “Refugee.” Death Cab for Cutie adds their subtle indie-pop style to the radio topper “Free Fallin”” with slower, simpler guitars and Ben Gibbards emotionally-strained vocals for a live show. Modern punks Bad News Bears whip “Don”t Do Me Like That” into a fast-paced frenzy of pop-punk cocktail. Finally, the Gibson Brothers do a version of “Cabin Down Below” chock full of bluegrass charm complete with banjos and southern-twanged vocals.

Death Cab for Cutie – Free Fallin

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  One Response to “They Say It’s Your Birthday: Tom Petty”

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  1. […] probably seen our birthday tributes to the likes of Tom Petty, Snoop Dogg, and Madonna. Well, today, they say it’s our birthday. We’re gonna have a good […]

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