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American Girl (song)
Encyclopedia
"American Girl" is the second single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
' self-titled debut album. The single did not chart in the U.S., but in the UK it peaked at #40 the week ending August 27, 1977. The song was ranked 76th on the list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone
.
s, electric bass
, drums
, and keyboards. The tempo is fast and "urgent", and is built on a repeated jangling guitar riff based on a "Bo Diddley beat".
As described in Rolling Stone, "The supercharged riff set the template for decades of Petty hits, but it was also a homage to the Byrds
: Petty and Mike Campbell's twin guitars mirrored Roger McGuinn
's 12-string, infusing the folk-rock sounds of the Sixties with New Wave
energy."
residence hall at the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
, where Tom Petty grew up. (U.S Route 441
runs along the university campus right beside Beaty Towers.)
Carl Van Ness
, the University of Florida's official historian, says that a student may have committed suicide by jumping from one of the Beaty Towers between 1967, when the facility opened, and the early 1970s, when Tom Petty left Gainesville for California
. However, the residence hall does not have balconies.
When asked directly about the story in the book Conversations With Tom Petty, Petty responded:
In the same interview, Petty says that he wrote the song while living in California:
The opening lines, "Well, she was an American Girl / raised on promises" may have been influenced by a similar line from Francis Ford Coppola's directorial debut, Dementia 13
, a 1963 horror flick set in Ireland in which the character Louise Haloran, played by Luana Anders, has the line, "The mood around this place isn't good for her. Especially an American girl. You can tell she's been raised on promises."
(1978), Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(1982), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Chasing Liberty
(2004). Its use in The Silence of the Lambs made the list of Top 11 Uses of Classic Rock in Cinema at UGO
.
It was featured in the TV
series Scrubs
, in a scene of an episode titled "My Own American Girl", which was first aired on October 2, 2003. It was also featured in The Sopranos
, in season 6 episode "Join the Club
".
The song was recently featured on the "NBC
" comedy, "Parks and Recreation
", at the end of Season 3's "Harvest Festival" episode.
The song was frequently played during Hillary Clinton rallies or town hall meetings during the 2008 Democratic Primaries.
Michele Bachmann
used "American Girl" to kick off her 2011 Presidential campaign in Iowa, prompting Petty to demand that she not use his song
The Strokes
have admitted to taking the riff for their 2001 single, "Last Nite
", from this song. In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone
magazine, Tom Petty said "The Strokes took "American Girl", and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.' It doesn't bother me". This was brought up because of plagiarism accusations on the Red Hot Chili Peppers
for similarities between their "Dani California
" and Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance
". Petty has stated that he does not care about any similarities and The Strokes have actually played as an opening act for Tom Petty in summer of 2006.
"American Girl" has also been covered by the following artists: Cindy Alexander
, Angel City Outcasts
, Gin Blossoms
, Melora Creager
, Cruiserweight
, Dance Hall Crashers
, Def Leppard
, Val Emmich
, Everclear
, The Gaslight Anthem
, Goo Goo Dolls
, Humble Gods
, Ill Repute
, Jack's Mannequin
, Fun., Matchbox 20, Of Montreal
, Pearl Jam
, Rasputina, Saints of the Underground
, Six Going On Seven
, Sugarland, Sum 41
, Taking Back Sunday
, Taylor Swift
, Tokyo Police Club
, and Matthew Sweet
.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
' self-titled debut album. The single did not chart in the U.S., but in the UK it peaked at #40 the week ending August 27, 1977. The song was ranked 76th on the list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
Music
"American Girl" uses standard rock instrumentation of electric guitarElectric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, electric bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, and keyboards. The tempo is fast and "urgent", and is built on a repeated jangling guitar riff based on a "Bo Diddley beat".
As described in Rolling Stone, "The supercharged riff set the template for decades of Petty hits, but it was also a homage to the Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
: Petty and Mike Campbell's twin guitars mirrored Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
's 12-string, infusing the folk-rock sounds of the Sixties with New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
energy."
Lyrics and rumors
Due to lyrics mentioning cars rolling by "out on 441" and a desperate girl on a balcony, the song was rumored to have been written about a girl who committed suicide by jumping from the Beaty TowersUniversity of Florida student housing
Student housing at University of Florida is governed by the Division of Student Affairs, and provides housing for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students on and off-campus.Approximately 7,500 students live in single-student residence halls...
residence hall at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, where Tom Petty grew up. (U.S Route 441
U.S. Route 441 in Florida
U.S. Route 441 in Florida is a north–south United States Highway. It runs from Miami in South Florida northwest to the Georgia border north of the Lake City area....
runs along the university campus right beside Beaty Towers.)
Carl Van Ness
Carl Van Ness is the Curator of Manuscripts & Archives Department in the University of Florida Libraries' , and was appointed the University Historian for the University of Florida in 2006. He followed the former University Historian, Sam Proctor....
, the University of Florida's official historian, says that a student may have committed suicide by jumping from one of the Beaty Towers between 1967, when the facility opened, and the early 1970s, when Tom Petty left Gainesville for California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. However, the residence hall does not have balconies.
When asked directly about the story in the book Conversations With Tom Petty, Petty responded:
Urban legendUrban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
. It's become a huge urban myth down in Florida. That's just not at all true. The song has nothing to do with that. But that story really gets around... They've really got the whole story. I've even seen magazine articles about that story. 'Is it true or isn't it true?' They could have just called me and found out it wasn't true.
In the same interview, Petty says that he wrote the song while living in California:
I don't remember exactly. I was living in an apartment where I was right by the freeway. And the cars would go by. In EncinoEncino, Los Angeles, CaliforniaEncino is a hilly district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Specifically, it is located in the central portion of the southern San Fernando Valley and on the north slope of the Santa Monica Mountains...
, near Leon Russell'sLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
house. And I remember thinking that that sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean. My Malibu. Where I heard the waves crash, but it was just the cars going by. I think that must have inspired the lyric.
The opening lines, "Well, she was an American Girl / raised on promises" may have been influenced by a similar line from Francis Ford Coppola's directorial debut, Dementia 13
Dementia 13
Dementia 13 is a 1963 horror thriller released by American International Pictures, starring William Campbell, Patrick Magee, and Luana Anders. The film was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Roger Corman...
, a 1963 horror flick set in Ireland in which the character Louise Haloran, played by Luana Anders, has the line, "The mood around this place isn't good for her. Especially an American girl. You can tell she's been raised on promises."
Single track listings
- "American Girl" b/w "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)"
Shelter 62007 (US) - "American Girl" b/w "The Wild One, Forever"
Shelter WIP6377 (UK) - "American Girl" b/w "Luna" (Live) *
Shelter WIP6403 (UK)
* taken from The Official Live BootlegOfficial Live 'LegOfficial Live 'Leg a.k.a. The Official Live Bootleg is a one-sided live promotional LP by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers issued by Shelter Records in 1977. It was recorded at one of the bands' earliest gigs, opening for Al Kooper at Paul's Mall in Boston on December 12, 1976.-Track listing:U.S...
Charts
| Chart (1977 & 1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 36 |
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 | 9 |
Usage in recent media
The song has been featured in several Hollywood films, most notably FMFM (film)
FM is a 1978 directed by John A. Alonzo, and starring Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras and Cleavon Little. The screenplay was written by Ezra Sacks.This film was produced by Universal Pictures, and originally released to movie theaters in 1978....
(1978), Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
(1982), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Chasing Liberty
Chasing Liberty
Chasing Liberty is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Cadiff, and starring Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode.-Plot:Anna Foster is the daughter of President James Foster and First Lady Michelle Foster . After Secret Service agents ruin a first date, Anna demands some freedom...
(2004). Its use in The Silence of the Lambs made the list of Top 11 Uses of Classic Rock in Cinema at UGO
UGO
UGO Entertainment, Inc. is a website providing coverage of online media in entertainment targeting males age 18–34. The company is currently based in New York, New York, United States. On July 24, 2007 it was announced that Hearst Corporation would acquire UGO Entertainment...
.
It was featured in the TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
, in a scene of an episode titled "My Own American Girl", which was first aired on October 2, 2003. It was also featured in The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, in season 6 episode "Join the Club
Join the Club (The Sopranos episode)
"Join the Club" is the second episode of the sixth season and sixty-seventh episode overall of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, which premiered on March 19, 2006 in the United States...
".
The song was recently featured on the "NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
" comedy, "Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...
", at the end of Season 3's "Harvest Festival" episode.
The song was frequently played during Hillary Clinton rallies or town hall meetings during the 2008 Democratic Primaries.
Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
used "American Girl" to kick off her 2011 Presidential campaign in Iowa, prompting Petty to demand that she not use his song
The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
have admitted to taking the riff for their 2001 single, "Last Nite
Last Nite
"Last Nite" was covered in 2003 by Vitamin C. The song was produced by Dave Derby, Michael Kotch, and Fred Maher. The single features a sample from Blondie's "Heart of Glass". After Elektra Records dropped Vitamin C when her second album, More, did not sell as expected, she signed to V2 Records in...
", from this song. In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, Tom Petty said "The Strokes took "American Girl", and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.' It doesn't bother me". This was brought up because of plagiarism accusations on the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
for similarities between their "Dani California
Dani California
"Dani California" is a single from the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers's ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and then was officially released on May 2, 2006...
" and Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance
Mary Jane's Last Dance
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" is the title of a song written by Tom Petty and recorded song by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded on July 22, 1993 while Petty was recording his Wildflowers album, and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Campbell, and Tom Petty...
". Petty has stated that he does not care about any similarities and The Strokes have actually played as an opening act for Tom Petty in summer of 2006.
Cover versions
Roger McGuinn of The Byrds (a major influence on Petty's music), released his own version of "American Girl" a few months after the original. The similarity between Petty's record and The Byrds' musical style was so strong that when his manager first played "American Girl" for him, McGuinn asked "When did I write that song?"."American Girl" has also been covered by the following artists: Cindy Alexander
Cindy Alexander
Cindy Alexander is an American indie singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She currently resides in greater Los Angeles, California....
, Angel City Outcasts
Angel City Outcasts
Angel City Outcasts is a band that originated in Los Angeles, California in 2002. Their music consists of a style somewhere between punk rock and rock n' roll. The band consists of 4 members that all live in Los Angeles....
, Gin Blossoms
Gin Blossoms
Gin Blossoms is an American pop rock band formed in 1987, in Tempe, Arizona. They took their name from a photo of W.C. Fields which bore the caption "W.C. Fields with gin blossoms", referring to what appeared to be the actor's gin-ravaged nose, but was actually a skin condition known as rosacea...
, Melora Creager
Melora Creager
Melora Creager, formerly Melora Mather, is an American cellist and singer-songwriter best known for her role as lead singer and chief composer of the cello rock trio Rasputina....
, Cruiserweight
Cruiserweight (band)
Cruiserweight was an American rock band from Austin, Texas. The band consisted of vocalist Stella Maxwell, guitarist Urny Maxwell, bassist David Hawkins, and drummer Yogi Maxwell. The band's sound was defined by poppy female vocals, as well as fast, sometimes aggressive instrumentals, while still...
, Dance Hall Crashers
Dance Hall Crashers
Dance Hall Crashers is an American ska punk band formed in 1989 in Berkeley, California.-Early years:The original incarnation of the Dance Hall Crashers was formed in 1989 by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong, formerly of the seminal Bay Area ska-punk band Operation Ivy, after both musicians...
, Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
, Val Emmich
Val Emmich
Val Matthew Emmich is a pop rock singer-songwriter and actor from New Jersey. In 2001 he became the first unsigned artist to be featured on MTV's Total Request Live. As an actor he has appeared in such television shows as 30 Rock and Ugly Betty.-Early life:Emmich was born in Manalapan Township,...
, Everclear
Everclear (band)
Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
, The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, consisting of Brian Fallon , Alex Rosamilia , Alex Levine and Benny Horowitz...
, Goo Goo Dolls
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are a Grammy-nominated American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist and bass guitarist Robby Takac. Since the end of 1994, Mike Malinin has been the band's drummer, a position previously held by George Tutuska...
, Humble Gods
Humble Gods
Humble Gods is a Punk Rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. Kottonmouth Kings' frontman Daddy X created the band. October 17, 1995 the band released its debut self-titled album Humble Gods on Wea Records. The band had a number of members come and go throughout its career, including two untimely...
, Ill Repute
Ill Repute
Ill Repute is an American hardcore punk band from Oxnard, California, formed in 1981. They are noted for popularizing the "Nardcore" sound in the mid-1980s hardcore punk scene, and recorded for Mystic Records....
, Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin is an American rock band formed in 2004, originally hailing from Orange County, California. The band began as a side project of Andrew McMahon, the frontman for Something Corporate, and is composed of guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Mikey "The Kid" Wagner, and drummer Jay...
, Fun., Matchbox 20, Of Montreal
Of Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Rasputina, Saints of the Underground
Saints of the Underground
Saints of The Underground is a hard rock project that was formed in 2006 by Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer and Alice Cooper guitarist Keri Kelli who recruited ex-Warrant singer Jani Lane and Ratt bassist Robbie Crane...
, Six Going On Seven
Six Going On Seven
Six Going On Seven was a pop band from Boston, Massachusetts. Members included Josh English , James Bransford and Will Bartlett ....
, Sugarland, Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...
, Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday is a rock band from Long Island, NY, formed in 1999 by guitarist Eddie Reyes. Current members of the band are Adam Lazzara , John Nolan , Eddie Reyes , Shaun Cooper and Mark O'Connell ....
, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
, Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks , keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook , and drummer Greg Alsop ....
, and Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
.
All appearances
- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- Pack up the Plantation: Live!Pack up the Plantation: Live!Pack Up the Plantation: Live! is the first live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1985. It was primarily recorded at the Wiltern Theatre during their 1985 tour but also includes several tracks from previous tours...
- Greatest HitsGreatest Hits (Tom Petty album)Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1993. It is Petty's best selling album to date and was certified 10x Platinum by the RIAA on November 13, 2003. The single "Mary Jane's Last Dance" became one of Petty's most popular songs reaching #14 on the...
- Playback
- Anthology: Through the YearsAnthology: Through The YearsAnthology: Through the Years is a double compilation album featuring the best of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It contains a new song, "Surrender", written by Petty during the You're Gonna Get It! sessions, but recorded in 2000 especially for this release...
- Runnin' Down a DreamRunnin' Down a Dream (film)Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream is a 2007 documentary about Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The 4-hour documentary chronicles the history of the band, from its inception as Mudcrutch, right up to the 30th anniversary concert in Petty's home town...
- The Live AnthologyThe Live AnthologyThe Live Anthology is a live box set by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The box set was released by Reprise Records on November 23, 2009, in a number of formats, with the standard CD and download formats, composed of 48 tracks .The album's cover artwork and packaging was...
- Mojo Tour 2010Mojo Tour 2010-Musicians:*Tom Petty - lead vocals, 6 and 12 string acoustic and electric guitars, percussion*Mike Campbell - lead guitar, slide guitar, 12-string guitar, mandolin, electric sitar...
(Live Version)
Personnel
- Tom PettyTom PettyThomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
- rhythm guitar (played in unison with Campbell), lead vocals - Mike Campbell - lead guitar, rhythm guitar (played in unison with Petty)
- Benmont TenchBenmont TenchBenjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...
- piano, Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard... - Ron BlairRon BlairRon Blair is the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was the band's bassist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002, he returned to the group after a 21-year hiatus, replacing his own replacement, the late Howie Epstein.His father was a Navy man, so the family relocated every few years...
- bass guitar - Stan LynchStan LynchStanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch is an American songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994.- Early years :...
- drums - Phil SeymourPhil SeymourPhil Seymour was an American power pop drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for the singles "I'm On Fire" and "Precious to Me". He had a major role in the seminal pop group Dwight Twilley Band...
- backing vocals - Dwight TwilleyDwight TwilleyDwight Twilley is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" and "Girls"...
- backing vocals