Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks and the Heartbreakers

[Hawkeye]

I copied and pasted this from what I wrote in the article on tom thread, but feel it deserves its own seperate thread.

This article reminds myself of an idea I've had in my head for awhile as a somewhat dream scenerio:

Stevie and Tom go on tour together, but not performing one after the other (with Stevie the opener) But basically Stevie getting her wish from back in the late 70's and she'd actually BE one of the heartbreakers. And the tour would be billed Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks and the heartbreakers. they call her an honary member. Shes the only girl in the band, so lets make that girl work. They basically did what I'm saying on a smaller scale in 06. But in this new scenerio she wouldn't be a speradic special guest. It wouldn't be a suprise and she'd be there the whole time next to Tom. Shed leave frequently as she does in Fleetwood Mac and Tom would be the focus of the show still. But I, and I know Stevie as well would have zero problem with that.

Tom usually does an 18 song set now but I feel he could go longer if Stevie is sharing vocals. And stevie usually does 15 but can do 20's if shes not the sole vocalist. So lets go 22 songs. Stevie could be the lead vocalist on lets say 8-10 of those songs. SDMHA and I Need To Know are givens but dont forget the heartbreakers played on Outside the Rain originally, maybe thats included. Maybe they do I Will Run to you. I would imagine Tom would allow any of her songs that would fit in with a heartbreakers set. I think Stand Back is a definite no (no tears here) But now that we know Stevie can play an abreviated Edge, she'd be able to play her most well known and rocking solo hit. The final 2 songs of the main set would be Edge then Refugee. And in my mind (remember this is all complete fantasy, it doesn't have to be possible since they already have non stevie plans booked) This super tour was taking place this summer taking the place of Stevie's next leg of the IYD tour, So I'd hope the band let her make half of her 8 songs from IYD. FWIW is a given if this tour existed. I feel the band would LOVE to play Ghosts are Gone and Tom can duet on Soldiers Angel.

But the absolute #1 thing that popped into my head when i first had this vision was Tom saying this halfway thru the show:

(in laid back tom petty voice) Wow yea you guys are great. This next song is one of Stevie's thats not really well known. I was originally singing on this song back in the mid 80's. Stevie took me off the song, now im uh putting myself back in the song. its a uh really really cool song and its called Battle of the Dragon.

Yea I know, this tour is feasible at some point except for that last part. So it wold look something like this

22 Songs

Stevie is lead vocalist on 9, 7 of which are actually Stevie Nicks songs EO17, SDMHA, OTR For What Its Worth, Soldiers Angel Ghosts are Gone and Battle of the Dragon. Then shed sing Tom's songs I Need To know and You Wreck Me. I'm sure theyd also do Insider but I wont even count that as Stevie getting a song. Tom fans can consider that getting one of his deep cuts.

The rest would be straight up tom songs, Stevie singing back up when appropriate and exiting the stage when she felt the need to. They could throw in a fun cover or two. theres really so much possibilities with this non existent tour.

Now I still much prefer Stevie stay on her current path of being seemingly focused on making some more new music and going out and promoting it herself, But if we had a time machine this would've been perfect for say, 2008 when Stevie just toured for the summer for no reason other then pay tribute to Dave Mathews and Bob Seger

And this whole intertwined concert experience could only work with Tom. It couldn't have even worked with don henley. in fact there really aren't ANY combination of 2 artists where this could work. I realize superbands have been created in the past (The man of this thread in one of the them ironically) but thats still totally different. The only thing that resembles this scenerio is when Pearl Jam toured with Neil Young, pearl jam being neil youngs band.


So guys, any thoughts. I've obviously thought about it A LOT. And yea its next to impossible to actually happening, but its still more possible then that all members of Fleetwood Mac concert we all like to fantasize about. (and thats not meant to be a bad joke about how 2 of them are dead, i'm refering to before that and even for the other 14 to get together)

[Macfanforever]

This this going to happen.I rather see her tour by herself.

[Hawkeye]

I agree if its following more albums too, but I would've prefefer my scenerio to like i said her 2008 tour and its a million times better then what she did on the rod stewart tour.

And i guess this is only true if you are at least a moderated Tom Petty fan as well, which if I were to take a guess as to the artist Stevie has the most shared fans with, I'd guess tom petty.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I copied and pasted this from what I wrote in the article on tom thread, but feel it deserves its own seperate thread.

This article reminds myself of an idea I've had in my head for awhile as a somewhat dream scenerio:

Stevie and Tom go on tour together....

I think this is a kickass idea, and a show I'd definitely love to see.

[Macfanforever]

Stevie is more of a match with Tom then Rod or Chris Issac.I did like the Stevie Don Henley combo tour.But I rather see her by herself or she's the headliner and the guys are guests.It takes away time for her to add tunes.I not going to fork out tons of money to travel to see her perform short digest of her tunes with verses cut out.I do like Tom and gang .but I rather see Stevie on her own.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I agree if its following more albums too, but I would've prefefer my scenerio to like i said her 2008 tour and its a million times better then what she did on the rod stewart tour.

And i guess this is only true if you are at least a moderated Tom Petty fan as well, which if I were to take a guess as to the artist Stevie has the most shared fans with, I'd guess tom petty.

I definitely agree with you on the shared fans argument. I gathered from those that attended last years Heart & Soul tour, that Rod Stewart and Stevie has very little crossover fans. I'd see a TP & The Heartbreakers & Stevie Nicks double bill hands down over Rod Stewart & Stevie!

[jcalzaretta]

What about Needles and Pins, The Apartment Song and Insider?

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by Christopher

I definitely agree with you on the shared fans argument. I gathered from those that attended last years Heart & Soul tour, that Rod Stewart and Stevie has very little crossover fans. I'd see a TP & The Heartbreakers & Stevie Nicks double bill hands down over Rod Stewart & Stevie!

She belongs with Tom Petty or Lindsey. Rod is more Las Vegas and he is practically a skeleton with hair.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by jcalzaretta

What about Needles and Pins, The Apartment Song and Insider?

Yes! Those are exactly the songs I thought of. Certainly Tom Petty's audience would be more receptive to Stevie than Rod Stewart's audience.

[priestofnothing]

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

Stevie is more of a match with Tom then Rod or Chris Issac.I did like the Stevie Don Henley combo tour.But I rather see her by herself or she's the headliner and the guys are guests.It takes away time for her to add tunes.I not going to fork out tons of money to travel to see her perform short digest of her tunes with verses cut out.I do like Tom and gang .but I rather see Stevie on her own.

You know, I really loved the Henley and Petty tours with Stevie. Even Rod was OK. Stevie prides herself as a harmony singer and she does a beautiful job when singing with others, I agree. But I was really disappointed with the Chris Isaak tour, I mean they didn't even sing a single song together, when they both had done so for his TV shows and appearances and at her AHI benefit.... Why didn't they at least sing a song or two together on that tour (since they are friends and all....) perplexes me to this day.... I could see her not performing with Rod Stewart since they had nothing to do with each other previously... but for her & Chris Isaak not to sing together was a crime...
Just my opinion of course...

[michelej1]

[Excerpt from an interview with Benmont Tench about the Heartbreakers in The Hollywood Reporter]

2/25/2014 by Chris Willman


He’s a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the keyboard player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but Tench would also be a candidate for induction someday in the sideman category if we only considered his studio session work and live gigs with the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks, U2, the Rolling Stones, and a veritable who’s-who list of rock greats.

***

Anything happening with the Heartbreakers?

We’re hard at work on another record. I think it’s close to done. And as far as touring, I don’t know. Especially the last several tours have been really a blast, so I certainly hope so, but I don’t have any information on it yet. They never tell me anything. I’ll get to Paris on a vacation, and one day into my vacation the phone will ring and it’ll be “Tom wants to record tomorrow.” I’m like, you could have given me the heads-up! Can we wait a week? There was a running joke with me and Stevie Nicks for a long time. If Stevie gives me a call, within 10 minutes I’m getting a call that the Heartbreakers are busy the same day.

[mitzo]

Sorry, but yuck. Her dealings with the Heartbreakers ruined her music way back.

[Tango]

To Stevie, Tom is one of the greatest artists EVER:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/li...petty-20110426


In 1976, I'd been in Fleetwood Mac for about a year when I heard Tom Petty's debut. I became a fan right then. I loved the way Tom's Florida swamp-dog voice sounded in cahoots with Mike Campbell's guitar and Benmont Tench's keyboards. Tom had the same influences we had — the Byrds, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills and Nash — but he dropped in lots of serious old blues. And Tom is such a great singer and so charismatic onstage. I became such a fan that if I hadn't been in a band myself, I would have joined that one.

When I started doing my first solo album, Bella Donna, my first thought was, "Who produces Tom Petty?" When they said Jimmy Iovine, I got Jimmy, because I wanted my solo work to be as much like Tom's as possible.


I first met Tom in the studio, and he was pretty much what I expected. There's not a fake bone in his body. Jimmy and Tom decided to give me "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," which they had written with Campbell. When they showed it to me, I was like, "Is this the right thing to do? I only get 11 songs and one of them won't be mine." And both Tom and Jimmy said to me, in a brutally honest way, "You don't have a single on this record. And here's a single for you."

Tom is a great and loyal friend, but he's also honest like that. In 1994, I had just gotten out of rehab, and Tom and I had dinner. I wanted to make a new record but I was scared. I said to him, "Will you help me write a song or two?" I didn't really expect the reaction I got, which was, "No, I won't. You are one of the premier songwriters in this business. Go home and turn off the radio. Don't be influenced by anything. Just write some great songs — that's what you do." He reinforced that I was still Stevie Nicks. I wrote a song about him I've never recorded, but I will someday. It goes, "Sometimes he's my best friend, even when he's not around."

In 2006, I did 27 shows with him. Tom made me a little platinum sheriff's badge that had 24-karat gold and diamonds across the top and said "To Our Honorary Heartbreaker, Stevie Nicks." On the back it says "To the Only Girl in Our Band." I keep it on my black velvet top hat. It goes with me everywhere. It's probably the most beautiful piece of jewelry a man has ever given me, ever.

[fairydust75]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Sorry, but yuck. Her dealings with the Heartbreakers ruined her music way back.

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by fairydust75

Yeah I know, my opinion is not mainstream. But I feel that her dealings with them from BD days ruined her music, destroying the mysticism and allure, making it harsh and cheap. I always search her solo catalogue for work involving others. Petty and the boys are great themselves.

But not for Stevie. She wasted her talents at her creative peak with them.