Tom Petty: A Retrospective, Vol. 2: The Best Of The Rest

As promised, in continued tribute to the long and memorable career of Tom Petty, here's "The Best of the Rest" of his music. These songs may not have topped the charts (at least here in the United States), but most artists would be more than happy to count these tunes among their "Greatest Hits." Once again, these are in chronological order from oldest to most recent. Also included are several "bonus" tracks you're sure to enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  “Breakdown”  (And The Heartbreakers)

2)  “American Girl”  (And The Heartbreakers)

3)  “Anything That’s Rock ’n’ Roll”  (And The Heartbreakers)

4)  “I Need To Know”  (And The Heartbreakers)

5)  “Listen To Her Heart”  (And The Heartbreakers)

6)  “Here Comes My Girl”  (And The Heartbreakers)

7)  “Letting You Go”  (And The Heartbreakers)

8)  “Insider”  (And The Heartbreakers ft. Stevie Nicks)

9)  “Straight Into Darkness”  (And The Heartbreakers)

10)  “Love Is A Long Road”  (And The Heartbreakers)

11)  “She’s My Baby”  (with The Traveling Wilburys)

12)  “Inside Out”  (with The Traveling Wilburys)

13)  “Wilbury Twist”  (with The Traveling Wilburys)

14)  “King’s Highway”  (And The Heartbreakers)

15)  “Too Good To Be True”  (And The Heartbreakers)

16)  “Room At The Top”

17)  “Swingin’’”  (And The Heartbreakers)

18)  “Have Love Will Travel”  (And The Heartbreakers)

19)  “Saving Grace”

20)  “Don’t Pull Me Over”  (And The Heartbreakers)

21)  “Jefferson Jericho Blues”  (And The Heartbreakers)

22)  “Something Good Coming”  (And The Heartbreakers)

23)  “Good Enough”  (And The Heartbreakers)

24)  “I Should Have Known It”  (And The Heartbreakers)

25)  “U Get Me High”  (And The Heartbreakers)

MUDCRUTCH was Tom Petty’s original band, but the group was disbanded by their record label after only recording a few demos. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers formed shortly thereafter with three members of Mudcrutch joining the new band. Thirty-plus years later, most of the original lineup, including Petty, re-formed the band and finally recorded a couple of albums. In fact, Mudcrutch’s second release in 2016 was Petty’s last recorded work. Here’s a small sampling of the band’s output.

1)  “Scare Easy”

2)  “Lover Of The Bayou”

3)  “I Forgive It All”

BONUS TRACK:  Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers  ~  “Christmas All Over Again”  (The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without hearing this song at least three dozen times while out shopping or channel-surfing through those all-Christmas-all-the-time radio stations.)

Tom Petty: A Retrospective, Vol. 1: All The Hits

Like many rock music enthusiasts, I was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Tom Petty. I've been a fan for easily over twenty years now. In memory of Tom and his legendary musical career, here's a chronological retrospective of all his biggest hits, both with The Heartbreakers and as a solo artist...as well as a few big tunes from his side projects. Volume 2 (coming soon to a music blog near you!) will cover "the best of the rest" of Petty's lesser-known songs, including more of his side-project output. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  “Don’t Do Me Like That”  (And The Heartbreakers)

2)  “Refugee”  (And The Heartbreakers)

3)  “The Waiting”  (And The Heartbreakers)

4)  “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)”  (And The Heartbreakers)

5)  “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”  (Duet with Stevie Nicks)

6)  “You Got Lucky”  (And The Heartbreakers)

7)  “Change Of Heart”  (And The Heartbreakers)

8)  “Don’t Come Around Here No More”  (And The Heartbreakers)

9)  “Make It Better (Forget About Me)”  (And The Heartbreakers)

10)  “Rebels”  (And The Heartbreakers)

11)  “Jammin’ Me”  (And The Heartbreakers)

12)  “Handle With Care”  (with The Traveling Wilburys)

13)  “End Of The Line”  (with The Traveling Wilburys)

14)  “I Won’t Back Down”  (And The Heartbreakers)

15)  “Runnin’ Down A Dream”  (And The Heartbreakers)

16)  “Free Fallin’”

17)  “A Face In The Crowd”

18)  “Yer So Bad”

19)  “Learning To Fly”

20)  “Into The Great Wide Open”  (And The Heartbreakers)

21)  “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”  (And The Heartbreakers)

22)  “You Don’t Know How It Feels”

23)  “You Wreck Me”

24)  “It’s Good To Be King”

25)  “Walls (Circus)”  (And The Heartbreakers)

Songs About Hills & Valleys, Vol. 1

In every lifetime, there are hills and valleys – high point and low points. This set of songs, and the ones in the two volumes to come, will cover all the bases. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Tauren Wells  ~  “Hills And Valleys”

2)  Nneka  ~  “Valley”

3)  Led Zeppelin  ~  “Over The Hills And Far Away”

4)  Marina And The Diamonds  ~  “Valley Of The Dolls”

5)  The Weeknd  ~   “The Hills”

6)  The Head And The Heart  ~  “Down In The Valley”

7)  Julie Andrews  ~  “The Sound Of Music”  (The memorable refrain goes: “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” Close enough for government work.)

8)  Caedmon’s Call  ~  “Valleys Fill First”

9)  Mark Knopfler  ~  “Hill Farmer’s Blues”

10)  Jimi Hendrix  ~  “Valleys Of Neptune”

11)  Celtic Woman  ~  “Hills Of Ireland”

12)  The Civil Wars  ~  “From This Valley”

13)  Passenger  ~  “House On A Hill”

14)  Big Country  ~  “Thirteen Valleys”

15)  Nightwish  ~  “Over The Hills And Far Away”

16)  Stevie Nicks & Chris Isaak  ~  “Red River Valley”

17)  The Tallest Man On Earth  ~  “Over The Hills”

18)  The Monkees  ~  “Pleasant Valley Sunday”

19)  Emmylou Harris & Mary Black  ~  “Green Rolling Hills”

20)  Widespread Panic ft. Derek Trucks  ~  “Surprise Valley”

21)  Coldplay  ~  “Violet Hill”

22)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Peace In The Valley”

23)  David Bowie  ~  “Up The Hill Backwards”

24)  Mississippi John Hurt  ~  “You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley”

25)  The Pretty Reckless  ~  “House On A Hill”

“If,” “And,” & “But” Songs, Vol. 1

Here begins a three-part series (yes, another one!) featuring songs with the words "If," "And," and "But" in their titles. Because...why not? So that the songs I had to choose from wouldn't be limitless, I only allowed myself to pick songs with one of these words at the beginning of the title. Still...there were a lot to choose from. Here's my best effort at narrowing down only the best. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Bread  ~  “If”

2)  The Avett Brothers  ~  “And It Spread”

3)  Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga  ~  “But Beautiful”

4)  Kurtis Blow  ~  “If I Ruled The World”

5)  Passenger  ~  “And I Love Her”

6)  Shirley Temple  ~  “But Definitely”

7)  Stevie Nicks  ~  “If Anyone Falls”

8)  Frankie J  ~  “And I Had You There”

9)  Emarosa  ~  “But You Won’t Love A Ghost”

10)   Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band  ~  “If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me”

11)  Angus and Julia Stone  ~  “And The Boys”

12)  Faith Hill  ~  “But I Will”

13)  Sting  ~  “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”

14)  The Cardigans  ~  “And Then You Kissed Me”

15)  Siouxsie and the Banshees  ~  “But Not Them”

16)  Yvonne Elliman  ~  “If I Can’t Have You”

17)  Deep Purple  ~  “And The Address”

18)  Harriet Hilliard  ~  “But Where Are You?”

19)  Huey Lewis And The News  ~  “If This Is It”

20)  The Hooters  ~  “And We Danced”

21)  Gilbert O’Sullivan  ~  “But I’m Not”

22)  Barbra Streisand & Vince Gill  ~  “If You Ever Leave Me”

23)  The Beatles  ~  “And I Love Her”

24)  David Cook  ~  “But You Won’t”

25)  Cher  ~  “If I Could Turn Back Time”

26)  Van Morrison  ~  “And It Stoned Me”

27)  Jamie Cullum  ~  “But For Now”

28)  Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark  ~  “If You Leave”

29)  Della Reese  ~  “And That Reminds Me”

30)  Bert & Ernie  ~  “But I Like You”