I had the day off today and while doing
some errands I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in five years or more and
we went for an impromptu coffee. Then I ran into another friend, had another
chat, and ended with a visit to the CD store, so it was a pretty pleasant day
all around.
At the CD store I bought five
albums (two Drive-By Truckers, a Bonnie Prince Billie, an Alejandro Escovedo
and another Uncle Tupelo). Based on my purchases lately, it is clear that
southern-fried rock is appealing to me, so it is timely that I rolled another
album in that genre.
Disc 868 is….Southern Accents
Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Year of Release: 1985
What’s up with the Cover? An 1865 painting by Winslow Homer
entitled “The Veteran in a New Field.”
It is a fitting title for an album where an old rock ‘n’ roller like Tom Petty is
trying on the trappings of a new age (the eighties). Tom should have taken a
deeper lesson from the painting and noted that the old veteran is relying on a
traditional scythe. No need for synthesizers and drum machines to mow down this
field of grain.
How I Came To Know It: Some time ago I decided to plunge
with both feet into Tom Petty’s discography. I knew “Don’t Come Around Here No More” from the Alice in Wonderland video
for the song, and liked it. I was hoping for the best, but to be honest I was
just happy to find more Tom Petty to buy. When I like an artist I get a little
insatiable.
How It Stacks Up: I have 15 studio albums by Tom Petty (some
solo, some with the Heartbreakers). Of these, “Southern Accents” comes in at
number 9. It is a good album, but Tom Petty has made a lot of good records and
a few great ones, so competition is stiff.
Ratings: 3 stars
I had bad memories of eighties production on “Southern
Accents” and when I rolled it, I braced myself for a negative experience.
Instead I was pleasantly surprised.
That isn’t to say there isn’t some annoying eighties
production on this record, because there is. The drums have no oomph throughout,
and the horn flourishes on “Make It
Better (Forget About Me)” and “The
Best of Everything” are ill-placed and awkward.
“Mary’s New
Car” is the worst offender, with Petty trying to do his best Cars’ New Wave
impersonation and falling far short. “Mary’s
New Car” also has the worst saxophone
touches. It is like the dung in a wattle and daub house, except it makes
everything fall apart, instead of holding it together.
Fortunately, the album features some of Petty’s
strongest songwriting and the good songs are very good. They are so heartfelt and
honest that they overcome the production to the point where you hardly notice
it at all.
The album opens with “Rebels” which compares the rebellion of the south with a disaffected
youth in the modern south. The rebel in “Rebels”
is loaded with individual faults, keenly aware of his heritage of defeat, and
feeling it in his daily life. The music is brash and angry, feeding perfectly
into its subject matter.
The title track, “Southern Accents,” finishes side one the way “Rebels” starts it, with an examination of what it is to be from the
south. Unlike the brazen “Rebels,” “Southern Accents” is introspective and thoughtful.
The character makes just as many mistakes, but seems more resigned to it. The
song is laced with a dignity for surviving against the odds, and on your own
terms. The character dreams small and slow, but he is earnest:
“Now that drunk tank in Atlanta’s
Just a motel room to me.
Think I might go work Orlando
If them orange groves don’t
freeze
I got my own way of workin’
But everything is run with a southern
accent
Where I come from.”
The album is most famous for “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” which is co-written with Dave
Stewart of the Eurythmics. Stewart knows how to make eighties production work
to his advantage, and combined with Petty’s brilliance at turning three chords into
something amazing, this song is the perfect blend of new wave and old southern
rock. It is rightfully famous, and not just because of the music video.
Side Two (or the second half of the CD, if you
prefer) was a bit of a letdown for me, and features all the songs I was
complaining about earlier in the review. That said, while “The Best of Everything” is marred by bad horn, it is held together
with some well-placed piano bits from Benmont Tench. It ends the whole album on
an up-note and reminded me that in the final tally, “Southern Accents” rises
above a few mis-steps to land as a solid rock album worth more of my attention
and praise than I have given it in the past.
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