Tom Petty Solo Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
 

I was listening to the radio while driving today, and I heard the first few notes of "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," and was getting ready to jam, and low and behold, no Stevie Nicks, but Tom Petty started it off. In my many years as a Stevie Fan, and casual Tom Petty fan, I never knew he did that song solo. As much as I love that song, and Tom Petty, it wasn't the same.

Well Tom said he only knew it was going to be hit after he heard her sing it. Jimmy also talked about how sometimes a female voice can bring out the greatness in a male song.

Yes it had been completely recorded for Petty's album and then he decided not to use it and Iovine got it for Stevie. This is why Stevie sings harmony on the chorus with Tom singing the melody rather than vice versa

But did that version ever get an official release? How is it out for radio play? Surely it'd still be classed as a "demo"?

To be honest, this song is my least favourite off Bella Donna, and I find the story of it being recorded as a necessity to bypass radio politics and actually get solo Stevie some airplay kind of depressing. I have a hard time loving it anyway. I'm sure the Tom Petty solo version would be no better or worse, to my ears.

Gimme Insider any day.

It was officially released in 1995 on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' boxed-set, 'Playback.' It's labelled as "demo version," and included with the other demos and outtakes on Disc 5. (Fun trivia: The track that directly follows it on the disc, is a demo version of "The Apartment Song" featuring Stevie. The album version -- on 'Full Moon Fever' -- doesn't include her.)

Even though it's not a favorite of yours, I recommend giving the demo version a listen (which, really, is more like an "outtake" since the instrumentation is the same as Stevie's version). If nothing else, it serves as a great example of how Stevie is able to put her own stamp on someone else's song and make it her own. She may not have written it, and it may not have been recorded for her album -- but the original version falls completely flat without her contribution.

Thanks for the info and the link, Johnny Stew! I agree with you, the song just plain-old doesn't work with his vocal. I can totally see why they left it off of its intended album. Even though the final track doesn't really do it for me as a whole, I can still see what it does well that this version lacks. The difference is quite interesting.

It does make me wonder why this version was played on the radio, though? Unless the DJ's intention was just to be as deep-cut-y as possible.

Its my least favourite too. I don't mind his vocal on it, its some of the guitar parts that I really don't like. There are parts of the song I do like, so sometimes I play it, and sometimes I skip it depending on my mood. I didn't know there was a story behind it regarding radio politics.

My understanding was that Jimmy Iovine had concerns that Stevie didn't have enough "credibility" to be played on radio stations as a solo artist. So having her first single come with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers attached was done to give her the rep she needed.

I guess I'm just a product of a different time, because the idea of needing "cred" to be played on mainstream radio nowadays is just hilarious. It's such an alien concept to me.

I didn't know about that - thanks for the interesting background on it. And yes I'm sure she would have been fine releasing something on her own.

Well take it with a grain of salt as now I can't even remember where I read it. Probably on here somewhere.

Stevie always just said that Jimmy told her she "needed a single" and Bella Donna didn't have one. But I never completely bought that. I know hindsight is 20/20, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone being unable to recognise at least Leather and Lace as a hugely commercially viable song, if not Edge of 17 as well.

I also heard that they wanted to downplay the airy-fairy image a bit. She was already popular with girls, and Jimmy thought something with more of a rock edge would sell her to the guys and get her played on rock radio, as opposed to just soft-rock and pop stations.

Yea after the song was done playing, I thought the DJ would say something special about the track, but literally he nonchalantly said, "That was a little Tom Petty," and then announced upcoming artists that would be played after the commercial break.