"SPEED---BUMP!!"

"This Just Showed Up In My Newsfeed!" 😢

So originally this was withheld from the public online and only printed in Rolling Stone magazine but they posted it up on their website for all to read... it is a 2014 interview with Mike, Ron, x Benmont on Tom... and I just dunno how I'm gonna read this without tearin' up!  This is only Mike's you'll have to search for the others via Google... 😢

Heartbreakers Guitarist Mike Campbell on His Life With Tom Petty

In a 2014 interview, Petty's guitarist and frequent co-writer shared memories from their long career together

Hours before Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wrapped up their 2014 Hypnotic Eye tour at the The Forum in Los Angeles, we conducted extensive interviews with three core members of the band: guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench and bassist Ron Blair. The conversations were intended for a special edition of Rolling Stone that chronicled Petty's life and career, so we ran through the musicians' entire history in the band. Here, for the first time online, is our discussion with Mike Campbell.

What's your first memory of seeing Tom Petty?
I was living in Gainesville, and at that time the whole city was based around the college. There's a lot of musicians, and bands would play in the college out on the lawn or whatever. The first time I saw Tom Petty, he was playing in a band called Mudcrutch with Tom Leadon. They were in a park doing country-rock type stuff. I think Tom was playing bass, and Tom Leadon was playing guitar. They had a couple of other guys, and they were doing a Flying Burrito Brothers style of music, which at the time I thought was really cool because most of the time bands were doing really bluesy, jammy stuff and here was this band with harmonies with beginnings and endings. The first thing I remember about Tom was that he was writing songs, and pretty good songs. Not many players I've been in bands with were that tuned in to the songwriting thing.

You spent the next few years playing guitar in Mudcrutch. Why do you think that band never made it big?
I guess it was timing and, maybe, personalities and frustration over things not happening fast enough. We got to California, went into the studio and things seemed to grind to a halt because we didn't have any idea how to record. Long story short, the band kind of dissolved, and the label decided to keep Tom as a songwriter. Tom said, "You know, I want Mike with me, and Ben," because he felt an affinity to us. So we kind of tagged along on his songwriting skills for a while, and slowly the Heartbreakers got together.

What impressed you about Tom back then?
Well, to be honest, that day, he didn't stand out per se. He was the bass player in the group, so I didn't focus on him particularly. I just thought the group was really good.

You transitioned from an equal member of Tom's band to part of his backing band. Did that change bother you?
Maybe on a small level in the beginning, because we started out sharing every dollar as a group like a total democracy. When we changed it to a group with his name in front, there was a twinge of, "Well, wait a minute. That is not the way I'm used to doing things." But when I stepped out of my ego and looked at it, I said, "Well, he's writing the songs, he's singing the songs, and he's leading the band. He's kind of the driving force behind it." I've never had a problem with it since.

Tell me about the first time you wrote together.
First time we wrote a song together would be "Rockin' Around With You" on our first album. At that time, I wasn't as developed as a songwriter as Tom was. I guess I'm still not, but my input at the time was guitar riffs and chords and things. And that was just something I played in the studio one day. I had a little demo of it I think that I messed around with, and he took it home and said, "Maybe I can write some words to this." Then he came back the next day and took some of the extraneous chords out of it and simplified into a nice song, and that was the first song we ever wrote together. It's always a thrill to write with somebody.