"Breakdown" is the first single from

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer S ...

' self-titled debut album. It became a Top 40 hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Played live, Petty sometimes incorporated "Breakdown" with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

's "

Hit the Road Jack "Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961, and won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signat ...

". A live recording of this variation appears on ''

The Live Anthology ''The 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 ...

''.

Background

"Breakdown" was a song written and recorded for the band's debut album. Initially, the song had lead guitarist Mike Campbell with a distinct guitar lick being played only near the end of the song. While playing it back one night,

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...

and

Dwight Twilley Dwight Twilley (born June 6, 1951) is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984). His music is associated with the power pop style. Twilley and Phil Seymour performed ...

, a friend of

Phil Seymour Philip Warren Seymour (May 15, 1952 - August 17, 1993) was an American drummer, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for the singles "I'm on Fire" (with The Dwight Twilley Band), his own solo hit "Precious to Me" and for providing backi ...

, were in the studio, and Twilley enjoyed it. He suggested that the lick should be used throughout the song, and Petty obliged. At 2 AM, he gathered the Heartbreakers to join him in re-recording the song. Their final take was seven to eight minutes long, but it was pared down to 2 minutes and 39 seconds on the album. Guests on the song's recording include guitarist Jeff Jourard, a common collaborator with the band in their early days, and Phil Seymour, who sings backing vocals.

Reception

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' called it a "slow, sultry rocker, dominated by guitar, with Petty's distinctive vocal again standing out."

Track listing

*7" Single (US, 1976) :A. "Breakdown" – 2:39 :B. "The Wild One, Forever" – 3:01 *7" Single (US, 1977) :A. "Breakdown" – 2:39 :B. "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" – 3:54 *7" Single (Germany, 1977) :A. "Breakdown" – 2:42 :B. "Luna" – 3:59 *7" Single (Spain, 1978) :A. "Breakdown" – 2:42 :B. "Strangered in the Night" – 3:32

Chart performance

Album appearances

*''

'' (1976) *'' FM'' (1978) *'' Pack Up the Plantation: Live!'' (1985) *''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

(1993) *'' Playback'' (1995) *'' Anthology: Through the Years'' (2000) *''

Mojo Tour 2010 ''Mojo Tour 2010'' is a live album released by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. It was released exclusively through Tom Petty's official website on December 14, 2010 as a free download to anyone who purchased a ticket for his 2010 summer tour. Prev ...

'' (2010)

Grace Jones version

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n singer

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

recorded a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-inflected version of the song on her 1980 album ''

Warm Leatherette "Warm Leatherette" is a song by Daniel Miller's project the Normal, released in 1978. The Normal original Overview The lyrics of "Warm Leatherette" reference J. G. Ballard's controversial 1973 novel ''Crash'', which had heavily influenced Dani ...

''. Petty wrote a third verse of the song specifically for Jones to record; "It's OK if you must go / I'll understand if you don't / You say goodbye right now / I'll still survive somehow / Why should we let this drag on?" The song was edited from its full, 5:30 album version to a 3-minute-long track on single release. It was released as a US-only single in July 1980 but did not chart.

Track listing

*7" single :A. "Breakdown" – 3:00 :B. "

" – 4:24 *12" single :A. "Breakdown" – 5:30 :B1. "Breakdown" (edit) – 3:10 :B2. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:24 *7" promotional single :A. "Breakdown" (stereo edit) – 3:00 :B. "Breakdown" (mono edit) – 3:00

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breakdown (Tom Petty Song) 1977 debut singles 1980 singles Grace Jones songs Tom Petty songs American soul songs Songs written by Tom Petty 1976 songs Island Records singles Shelter Records singles Song recordings produced by Denny Cordell