Pet Rocks! – Part 4

Why does Tom Petty drop “Joe Piscopo” from the ‘97 live version of “Jammin’ Me”- a biting, hilarious, pre-Internet lament Petty wrote with Bob Dylan (I still remember when it was released in 1987)? Maybe because by 1997 no one knew who Joe Piscopo was anymore which is the point of the song: most of what passes as “important” news and entertainment is just an onslaught of nothingness jamming our senses and damaging our souls and we’d be better off- and better informed- staring at a wall. Still, I’m mad at Petty for dropping the Joe Piscopo line. And I’m mad at Petty for becoming a heroin addict during the ‘90s (a fact he kept hidden but finally admitted in 2015) and I’m mad at him for- like Prince- getting addicted to fentanyl during the last days of his life before dying of an “accidental” drug overdose.

Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty

Was Petty’s life that bad that drugs were the only way out? What does that say to the rest of us about fame, money, and success? In the end you die alone on the bathroom floor of your Malibu beach house, or purple mansion- and then what? I’m mad at Tom Petty and Prince. If you had told Tom Petty when he was a teenager in Gainesville that he would get to grow up, be a rock star, and play music with- and befriend- his rock & roll heroes- Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Roger McGuinn, Bob Dylan, etc.- but he could only enjoy it for 40 years- I think Petty still would have said yes. I just wish Tom had been strong enough to overcome the drugs- yet stronger souls than Petty’s have fallen. Hopefully people will take notice and learn something from his death. Here are some more of my favorite Tom Petty songs. Enjoy!

Bob Dylan with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

01. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Runnin’ Down a Dream (Live)” (2006)
02. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (Live)” (1980)
03. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “The Waiting (Live)” (1981)
04. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me (Live)” (1997)
05. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Refugee (Live)” (1983)
06. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (Live) (1985)
07. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Breakdown” (1976)
08. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers feat. Stevie Nicks– “Learning to Fly (Live)” (2006)
09. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers feat. Stevie Nicks – “Insider (Live)” (1981)
10. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Live)” (2006)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...

Recommended Links:

Tom Petty – CBS Sunday Morning

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me”

Tom Petty on Prince’s guitar work at Hall of Fame gig: ‘he just burned it up’