Airport is a tight little bundle of keyboard virtuosity from Benmont Tench with a lazy, groove-soaked accompaniment from Howie Epstein and Chris Trujillo in the rhythm section. This piece may be completely unique in the catalogue in two different, very interesting ways. First of all, I’m pretty sure that Tom didn’t play on it. Second, given the melodic contributions would almost certainly have come spontaneously from the mind and fingers of Benmont Tench, it’s really curious to me that he isn’t at least co-credited on this one!

If you want to check out the song ahead of the episode, you can find the official video here: https://youtu.be/P5RbW82PVqs

If you want to check out Benmont Tench's fantastic new album, The Melancholy Season, you can find that here : https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kRJEygrs-WJ4ZzS39uwMLTJSUGArR8qDo

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

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All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.

A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producer: Paul Roberts

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's curious that the two songs that reference California were both left off the final Wildflowers release; perhaps Tom being self-conscious about being too prescriptive and direct in that vein. Hung Up and Overdue has a very simple, very direct lyric which sits atop a wonderful arrangement and doesn’t need to do too much of the heavy lifting. It’s almost like Mike’s more reserved guitar part. We do get a little shine and sparkle in a couple of places, but its part of the ensemble rather than taking a starring role.

If you want to check out the song ahead of the episode, you can find it here : https://youtu.be/bSl9ykaiNvw

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyproject

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyproject

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyproject

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.

A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producer: Paul Roberts

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I don’t think I’ve ever hidden or tried to hide the fact that Walls is one of my very favourite Tom Petty compositions. I think it’s essentially a perfect song. And this version is, as I say, an exercise in showing how to simplify and condense an arrangement to be as tight as you can make it without losing an ounce of its beauty.

Long time listeners will know that when I wrote one of my ten questions; which version of Walls do you prefer, I was astounded to find that most people picked Circus. And I’ve since talked about the fact that I definitely listen to that one way more than I ever did before I started the podcast, but I have to tell you, I think No 3 is still ever so slightly ahead of Circus for me. The harmonica solo and the really raw, stripped down arrangement still carries an emotional weight that the big, bold, multi-layered approach on Circus doesn’t achieve.

If you want to check out the song ahead of the episode, you can find it here : https://youtu.be/UHksHuZd_gw

You can find the Circus version here : https://youtu.be/_aoEIA38kTQ

The PBS live is here : https://youtu.be/zJl0pe-DWy8

And the Fillmore 97 live version is here : https://youtu.be/gX65I6FnR0s

Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyproject

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyproject

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyproject

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.

A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book "Petty, the Biography".

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producer: Paul Roberts

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.