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I find myself mystified by all the adulation. Shurely Refugee must be the whiniest song in the entire rock canon.

I think I can hear what you mean but I quite like that distinctive sound of his voice. I would not have been a big fan of Mr Petty but I liked some of his stuff. I look on him as one of the stalwarts of the rock world, a dying breed I think.

RORY

It's just you.

His voice is kind of different I'll grant, but he was a good writer and a serious musician who didn't take himself too seriously. Unusual in a rock star.

s1m0n wrote:I find myself mystified by all the adulation. Shurely Refugee must be the whiniest song in the entire rock canon.

Saturday Night Live just had a reply from an early season (5th?) with Tom Petty as the musical guest. He sounded a lot like Bob Dylan.

s1m0n wrote:I find myself mystified by all the adulation. Shurely Refugee must be the whiniest song in the entire rock canon.

I find myself mystified that you would suggest one song defines Petty's entire body of work.

But in all fairness, you can't hit it out of the ballpark every time. I too never took to "Refugee", but otherwise I do like his music in general.

I've never particularly thought of Tom Petty as being whiny. Then again, we are over-supplied with whiny artistes here in the UK. If you think Tom Petty is whiny, you should try Oasis.

benhall.1 wrote: Oasis.

Ooh. I'm with you on that one.

kkrell wrote:

s1m0n wrote:I find myself mystified by all the adulation. Shurely Refugee must be the whiniest song in the entire rock canon.

Saturday Night Live just had a reply from an early season (5th?) with Tom Petty as the musical guest. He sounded a lot like Bob Dylan.

I heard Petty & the Heartbreakers supporting Dylan (and the Dead) back in 86. My friends were there for the Dead, but I was there for Bob Dylan. I can deal with a nasal voice. But the Heartbreakers set betwixt the two was agony. It was like the helicopter gunship scene in Apocalypse Now, only instead of choppers, it was a vast squadron of giant mosquitos, and instead of The Ride of the Valkyries, it was Tom Petty whinging out "Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around some".

Nanohedron wrote:I find myself mystified that you would suggest one song defines Petty's entire body of work.

Sometimes, a single example is la Crème de la Crap.

I used the word whiny to describe him the other day. Even the folks at the table who like him agreed.

When I found out he was in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame I just about spit my beer out my nose.

Mind you, Dylan worked with him on the tour I mention above, and again with the Wilburys, so he must have virtues I fail to appreciate.

Chacun à son goût.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't take to all of his work; "American Girl" is another that I can leave. But for me, "Free Fallin'" has everything in it that I do like about his music.

I've always felt that much of Petty's appeal, at least in the States, lay in his sound being (to my ears) somehow quintessentially American. In that all-too subjective category I would include the likes of Johnette Napolitano and Iggy Pop.

For whiny, Neil Young does it for me.

Yeah, but with Petty, the lyrics whine, too.

I'll see your Tom Petty and raise you a Steve Perry.

Heres a proper whinger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTKORcr1jhY

RORY