Photo by NRK P3 via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
‘Breakthrough.’ ‘Powerful.’ ‘Confiding.’ These are some of the words that come to mind when I listen to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ third studio album, “Damn the Torpedoes.” The gruff three-word title is a southern U.S. expression for what one would commonly say before risking it all to do something. It is the cousin to the common “screw it, [insert daring action here].”
This name was not given by accident, as it coincided with the situation the band was currently undergoing in 1979. Petty and company were on a fast train to succumbing to the struggles of a newborn band in Los Angeles. With money issues that culminated in a file for bankruptcy, this was, quite possibly, their last chance to make it in the music world.
Their previous albums, “Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers” and “You’re Gonna Get It!” did not reach the success they had hoped for with a lack of commercial publicity caused by the band’s first producer Denny Cordell. The English producer of their first two albums who had discovered the band under his label, Shelter Records, encouraged the young group’s creativity and willingness to think outside the box which fostered the foundation for Petty and his sprouting career. MCA producer Jimmy Iovine and engineer Shelly Yakus would offer a more polished element to the group’s third album which was their launching pad to becoming national superstars.
They burst onto the scene with the mega-hit “Refugee,” with an iconic riff and impressive vocals. Petty and company spent over 200 takes on this piece to be sure it was perfect for the sound they were going for, and it paid off. “Refugee” takes a steady beat from drummer Lynch into Campbell’s riff and the song just drives itself. Crafted by an increasingly thoughtful mind in the more seasoned sentiments of Tom Petty and his impressive voice inflections, “Refugee” reaches newfound heights in several moments of musical ecstasy.
The group displayed their unique ability to combine the iconic Byrds and Beatles sound with an accent of the new wave of punk and hard rock. The hits keep rolling as the album transitions to “Here Comes My Girl”, an example of Petty’s tendency to appeal to the everyday person in his poetry. It starts with a Lynch beat into Campbell-written riff that melds into the spoken word confessions of Petty’s character. Benmont Tench’s keyboard responds to Campbell’s strings in an off-the-cuff beauty. “Sometimes, I don’t know why, but this old town just seems so hopeless,” reveals a mind filled with longing and neglect as Petty enters the scene.
The pre-chorus then uncovers an emotional savior: “When she puts her arms around me, I can somehow rise above it.” These confiding moments are what draws so many to Tom Petty. He is a guy who spoke the language of the fans. They felt and still feel his emotions as he translates profound thoughts into everyday speech with his band in a fantastic manner.
Following this hit is a masterfully written take on a memory of Petty as a 14-year-old boy. In this inspired piece, Petty recalls a date he had years ago and the emotions that swirled in his mind that stuck with him as he wrote “Even The Losers.” Words like “rocks hit the water like broken glass,” “time meant nothing; anything seemed real” and “God, it’s such a drag when you’re living in the past” are the soul-shaking yet ultra-confiding, moments that Petty stakes into the hearts of his fans with several works in this album and countless others in his career.
Next is “Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)” that melds Bob Dylan-esque lyrics with an upbeat rock background about a mysterious girlfriend that leaves Petty’s narrator always with “a shadow of a doubt.” The plucking sounds of electric guitar strings begin the following piece until the rest of the group chimes in as they introduce the listener to “Century City.” This rocker roars with the youth of the group as Tench strikes behind Petty’s spirited voice.
Tench and Lynch roll off another iconic introduction to the next song on the album, “Don’t Do Me Like That.” The piece was a recall from Petty, Tench and Campbell’s earlier stint with their hometown band, Mudcrutch, in 1974. Initially brushed aside and written in under an hour, the piece joined the list of monster hits as part of the 1979 release. Tench again shines in “You Tell Me” that takes a slower initial pace than the other songs on this album. One can sense the scent of a Doors influence on the play-style with it leaving listeners a sense of intrigue and mystery as they venture to the near-end of “Damn the Torpedoes.”
The shimmering beauty of Tench’s keyboard now takes a back seat to the roaring guitar in an embellishing intro to “What Are You Doin’ In My Life.” Petty sings of an overly-attached girl who follows his character around in the bumpy tune. You’ll notice toward the end of this one, Petty speaks something as the song fades away. A comedic anecdote documented in “Tom Petty: An American Treasure” reveals that this was Petty using a “mock-Elvis mumble” to repeat the name of the MCA engineer Shelly Yakus as part of goofing off in the group and, at the suggestion of the group, he ended up putting it in the song. “Louisiana Rain” again calls back to Mudcrutch days in a nostalgic-toned soulful piece that fittingly closes a masterful compilation of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ breakout album.
This work put Petty and his pals on the radio map. It also revealed the existence of their earlier work and people began to fall in love with their past hits, such as American Girl,” “Listen To Her Heart,” et cetera, on a more universal level. The group was making their way in the world with this landmark work and a bright future awaited.
Joseph Gill is a first-year English major in the writings track. JG923276@wcupa.edu