Tag Archives: 1976

Today: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers released their debut album in 1976

Tom-Petty-The-Heartbreakers-cover (1)

Well it was kinda cold that night
She stood alone on her balcony
Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by
Out on 441 like waves crashin’ on the beach
And for one desperate moment
There he crept back in her memory
God it’s so painful when something that’s so close
Is still so far out of reach

Oh yeah, all right
Take it easy, baby
Make it last all night

– American Girl

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the eponymous debut album by the band of the same name, it was released on November 9, 1976 by Shelter Records.

I was 10 years old when I heard this great album for the first time, a neighbour had got it from some relatives in The States. I was blown away, it was fantastic. It was so fresh and so “impatient”. It sounded as they stood on their toes when they played. It wasn’t punk, but it sounded like it anyway. I loved it then and I love it now!

Following its release, the album received little attention in the US. Following a British tour, it climbed to #24 on the UK album chart and the single “Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll” became a hit in the UK. After nearly a year and many positive reviews, the album reached the U.S. charts, where it climbed to #55 in 1978 and eventually went Gold. The single “Breakdown” cracked the Top 40 in the U.S. and “American Girl” became an FM radio staple which can still be heard today.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Breakdown (Live, France 1980):

Continue reading Today: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers released their debut album in 1976

Video of the day: Willin’ – Little Feat

Little Feat performing Willin’ probably their best known song. Written by and sung here by the hugely talented and sadly missed Lowell George Live at Rockpalast, Germany in 1977.

 

Lyrics, Willin‘:

I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I’m drunk and dirty, don’t ya know,
And I’m still willin’
Out on the road late last night,
Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
Alice, Dallas Alice

I’ve been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that’s ever been made
I’ve driven the back roads so I wouldn’t get weighed
If you give me: weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign
I’ll be willin’ to be movin’

I’ve been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet
Had my head stoved in, but I’m still on my feet
And I’m still… willin’
Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico
Baked by the sun, every time I go to Mexico
And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah

I’ve driven every kind of rig that’s ever been made
I’ve driven the back roads so I wouldn’t get weighed
And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign I’ll be willin’ to be movin’

I also love Linda Ronstadt’s cover version from the classic album, Heart Like a Wheel (here live on Old Grey Whistle Test 1976):

 
– Hallgeir