Petty Talks About Stevie

[bombaysaffires]

there's a really interesting interview with Tom Petty in the current Men's Journal. He talks about both Lindsey and Stevie.

He says that after working with Lindsey on some stuff for a movie soundtrack he asked Lindsey to join the Heartbreakers because he was sick of being the only front man in the band. But it was Stevie who reallllllly wanted to be in The Heartbreakers.

He says she showed up at his house 'every night for a like a year' and then she just followed us around on tour. He's like "every f***in night". They would get the word that "Stevie's in room such and such" and he said they just gave her a totally hard time about coming to sessions or whatever, make fun of the clothes she was wearing and stuff. He said the fact that she stuck around was amazing.

Isn't really all that flattering a picture of her actually.

There's a kind of highlights of the interview bit on their website, but not alas the Stevie stuff. For that you'll have to check out the mag on the newsstand.

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/...-down-20140717

[Jondalar]

uh, ok, not very flattering.

[Dex]

Doesn't strike me as all that unflattering, and is pretty consistent with stories she's told us in the past.

She was a friend/fangirl combo of the Heartbreakers, and this behaviour would be a predictable result of that. They probably found it equal parts annoying and endearing, as I imagine most people who knew Stevie personally in the 80s probably felt about her. If she'd actually bugged them much they would've been unpleasant to her and she wouldn't have come back every night and remained friends with them for decades thereafter.

[gssmith]

Not a whole lot of that text was in quotes so it's hard to say exactly how Tom meant what he said. Plus tone of voice ect. I don't think it was too unflattering anyway. She always said she was a groupie. If they were too mean to her she wouldn't have stayed around and remained good friends. I'm sure they did tease her a lot. Girls love that!! They enjoy that attention. They obviously had great times together and lots of times too.

[BlueDenimLamp]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

there's a really interesting interview with Tom Petty in the current Men's Journal. He talks about both Lindsey and Stevie.

He says that after working with Lindsey on some stuff for a movie soundtrack he asked Lindsey to join the Heartbreakers because he was sick of being the only front man in the band. But it was Stevie who reallllllly wanted to be in The Heartbreakers.

He says she showed up at his house 'every night for a like a year' and then she just followed us around on tour. He's like "every f***in night". They would get the word that "Stevie's in room such and such" and he said they just gave her a totally hard time about coming to sessions or whatever, make fun of the clothes she was wearing and stuff. He said the fact that she stuck around was amazing.

Isn't really all that flattering a picture of her actually.

There's a kind of highlights of the interview bit on their website, but not alas the Stevie stuff. For that you'll have to check out the mag on the newsstand.

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/...-down-20140717

Stevie talks about this in some of those 80's interviews about how she would drop by and not leave for 9 hours...She knew Tom & the band didn't take her seriously (just another girl singer/hanger on ) so she wasn't going away till they knew she was serious about her relationship (working/personal) with the band...

Can you imagine if FM had broken up during the Rumours days and Stevie/Lindsey had joined the Heartbreakers now that would have been something...I've always thought that Stevie & TP should have made a whole record together but it doesn't look like that will ever happen...
Not to compare apples to oranges but has anyone heard the new TP record yet?
"Hypnotic Eye" is a very diverse record and with any luck the new FM record will be just as diverse and not just "California Pop"...

[Dex]

I'm mostly weirded out by the idea that Lindsey was asked to join The Heartbreakers. I can't imagine such a weird musical combination. My head is just like "no".

But then, I'm not really a fan of The Heartbreakers most of the time anyway. So maybe I'm just biased.

[AnthonyMI]

Originally Posted by Dex

I'm mostly weirded out by the idea that Lindsey was asked to join The Heartbreakers. I can't imagine such a weird musical combination. My head is just like "no".

But then, I'm not really a fan of The Heartbreakers most of the time anyway. So maybe I'm just biased.

The soundtrack that TOm is talking about is "Shes The one" from 1996ish. THis was about the time LB and SN did "Twister" Soundtrack together. If FM had not gotten back to gether in late late 1996 and had the tour and album ready to go by early Spring 1997 I wonder if LB would have seriously joined TPATHB?

[WatchChain]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

there's a really interesting interview with Tom Petty in the current Men's Journal. He talks about both Lindsey and Stevie.

He says that after working with Lindsey on some stuff for a movie soundtrack he asked Lindsey to join the Heartbreakers because he was sick of being the only front man in the band. But it was Stevie who reallllllly wanted to be in The Heartbreakers.

I'm just speculating that the time frame for Lindsey being asked to join The Heartbreakers was around 1995-1996. "Walls (Circus)" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in July 1996 as the only single from their soundtrack album Songs and Music from "She's the One". The song features Lindsey Buckingham on background vocals in a sheer Fleetwood Mac style. Since Tom refers to Lindsey working on a movie soundtrack, I guess this is it. It's interesting that this was about a year or two before THE DANCE. Do you think Lindsey considered joining? If so, that would be an interesting combination. I'm sure the idea of reuniting for THE DANCE was already being thrown around.

As for Tom's quote about Stevie. I've heard him speak this way before. In a documentary on the band, he states something to the effect that "Stevie just forced her way into our lives". I guess back in the day, they just saw her as an annoying little sister. I'm sure that Tom has grown a greater respect toward Stevie with time and age.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Dex

Doesn't strike me as all that unflattering, and is pretty consistent with stories she's told us in the past.

She was a friend/fangirl combo of the Heartbreakers, and this behaviour would be a predictable result of that. They probably found it equal parts annoying and endearing, as I imagine most people who knew Stevie personally in the 80s probably felt about her. If she'd actually bugged them much they would've been unpleasant to her and she wouldn't have come back every night and remained friends with them for decades thereafter.

Agreed. Benmont toured and recorded with her, hell the whole band recorded with her on some of the Bella Donna sessions, Mike co wrote with her and when she most recently toured with them Tom referred to her as "our little sister."
Being a female rock star in that era wasn't for the faint of heart. It was a very masculine driven business and both Stevie's resilience and vulnerability is what made her so special. It's why she has endured and is now both an icon and legend.
I would also imagine that they could be easily reminded that one of their hugest hits and the song that really helped catapult them in to the stratosphere was on a Stevie Nicks record with Stevie singing lead. Muahahahaha...

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by Dex

Doesn't strike me as all that unflattering, and is pretty consistent with stories she's told us in the past.

She was a friend/fangirl combo of the Heartbreakers, and this behaviour would be a predictable result of that. They probably found it equal parts annoying and endearing, as I imagine most people who knew Stevie personally in the 80s probably felt about her. If she'd actually bugged them much they would've been unpleasant to her and she wouldn't have come back every night and remained friends with them for decades thereafter.

We all knew Stevie can be a whole lot of trouble, because when she wants something, she gets it.

[ricohv]

Sorry the outline looks so crazy (my first time using the Microsoft snipping tool) but I had the magazine so thought I would scan and post. Ricoh

[bombaysaffires]

Thanks for posting the attachment ricohv. I finally got my own copy of the magazine (I read it originally off of someone else's copy) so I could clarify for some of the folks who commented here just what Tom's own words were. Even with your attachment I will go ahead and add the section where he talks about Stevie here (the formatting is directly from the article):

But at least the session produced one good anecdote, “I do remember trying to talk Lindsey into joining the band that night,” he says. “Stevie wasn’t playing with them at the time, so I said, ‘Why don’t you just join our band and get the heat off of me?’ I never wanted to be the front guy—I got that job and I’ve been stuck with it ever since.”

Buckingham’s bandmate had a different vision: Stevie Nicks, Petty says, was dying to join the band. “Oh, she wouldn’t quit,” Petty says. “Stevie showed up at my house every night for a year—maybe more.” But Petty was firm: “There’s no girls in the Heartbreakers.” Nicks followed them on tour anyway—“every f***ing night,” Petty says. “ ‘Stevie’s in room so-and-so’ ‘Stevie wants a song.’ We gave her a hard f***ing time: ‘No way you’re coming to a session. Look at the f***ing clothes you’ve got on.’ The fact that she stuck around was amazing.” (They eventually did team up for what would be one of the all-time great rock duets: “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”)

[BlueDenimLamp]

Yep I'd say she's a "Heartbreaker" fan

[michelej1]

Nice article. Thanks BombaySaffires and RicohV.

Michele

[MikeInNV]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

Thanks for posting the attachment ricohv. I finally got my own copy of the magazine (I read it originally off of someone else's copy) so I could clarify for some of the folks who commented here just what Tom's own words were. Even with your attachment I will go ahead and add the section where he talks about Stevie here (the formatting is directly from the article):

But at least the session produced one good anecdote, “I do remember trying to talk Lindsey into joining the band that night,” he says. “Stevie wasn’t playing with them at the time, so I said, ‘Why don’t you just join our band and get the heat off of me?’ I never wanted to be the front guy—I got that job and I’ve been stuck with it ever since.”

Buckingham’s bandmate had a different vision: Stevie Nicks, Petty says, was dying to join the band. “Oh, she wouldn’t quit,” Petty says. “Stevie showed up at my house every night for a year—maybe more.” But Petty was firm: “There’s no girls in the Heartbreakers.” Nicks followed them on tour anyway—“every f***ing night,” Petty says. “ ‘Stevie’s in room so-and-so’ ‘Stevie wants a song.’ We gave her a hard f***ing time: ‘No way you’re coming to a session. Look at the f***ing clothes you’ve got on.’ The fact that she stuck around was amazing.” (They eventually did team up for what would be one of the all-time great rock duets: “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”)

That really doesn't paint Stevie in that bad of a light. Makes Tom come across as a bit sexist, though.