''Wildflowers'' is the second solo
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American musician
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 ...
, released on November 1, 1994. The album was the first released by Petty after signing a contract with
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
(where he had recorded as part of the
Traveling Wilburys
The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Originating from an idea discussed by Harrison and Lynne during the sessions for Harrison's 1987 album ...
) and the first of three albums produced by
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
Rubin helped popula ...
. The album was certified 3× platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In 2020, the album was ranked at number 214 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
s
Greatest Albums of All Time list.
Production
''Wildflowers'' was credited only to Petty and not to his usual band,
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 ...
because, in Petty's words, "Rick
ubin
Pulau Ubin, also simply known as Ubin, is an island situated in the north east of Singapore, to the west of Pulau Tekong. The granite quarry used to be supported by a few thousand settlers on Pulau Ubin in the 1960s, but only about 38 villagers ...
and I both wanted more freedom than to be strapped into five guys." Nonetheless, the Heartbreakers predominantly served as the musicians on the album. The album features all the band's members with the exception of drummer
Stan Lynch
Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch (born May 21, 1955) is an American musician, 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
Lynch was born in ...
. Petty auditioned numerous drummers for the album, and eventually chose
Steve Ferrone
Steve Ferrone (born 25 April 1950) is an English drummer. He is known as a member of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1994 to 2017, replacing original drummer Stan Lynch, and as part of the "classic lineup" of the Average Whi ...
. Petty fired Lynch from the Heartbreakers soon before the album's release, and Ferrone officially joined the touring band the following year, and later became a full band member. (Lynch did play on one outtake from ''Wildflowers'', "Something Could Happen").
Petty wrote and recorded numerous songs for the album, and the original plan was to have ''Wildflowers'' be a
double album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
, with 25 songs in total. However,
Lenny Waronker of
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
felt that the album was too long, and it was decided to reduce the album to 15 tracks.
Of the 10 tracks left out, one, "
Leave Virginia Alone
"Leave Virginia Alone" is a song written by American musician Tom Petty and performed by British rock and pop singer and songwriter Rod Stewart on Stewart's seventeenth album, ''A Spanner in the Works'' (1995). The song reached number one on the ...
", notably became a hit single the following year when it was recorded by
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
, while another four were included, in modified form, in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' next album, the
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...
to the 1996 film ''
She's the One''. All ten songs, in their original form, were finally released in the 2020 re-released edition of ''Wildflowers'', ''Wildflowers & All the Rest''.
Release
Four singles were released from the album between 1994 and 1995, the most successful of which, "
You Don't Know How It Feels
"You Don't Know How It Feels" is a song and the lead single from Tom Petty's 1994 album, '' Wildflowers''. The track features candid lyrics describing the songwriter's desire for personal and professional autonomy.Greenwald, Matthew. You Don't Kn ...
", reached No. 13 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topped the
Album Rock Tracks chart for one week. It was followed by "
You Wreck Me
"You Wreck Me" is a song by American musician Tom Petty, the fourth track on his second solo studio album, '' Wildflowers'' (1994). The song was released as the second single from the album and became a concert staple. While the song did not cha ...
", "It's Good to Be King" and "A Higher Place" which reached Nos. 2, 6, and 12 respectively on the Mainstream Rock chart. The title track, while not released as a single, charted at #16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rock Songs chart and at #3 on the ''Billboard'' Lyric Find. and became one of Petty's most streamed and popular songs.
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' placed ''Wildflowers'' at number 12 on their list of the best albums of the 1990s. ''
Guitar World
''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
'' placed the album at number 49 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.
In April 2015, when Petty's back catalog was released in
high-resolution audio
High-resolution audio (high-definition audio or HD audio) is a term for audio files with greater than 44.1 kHz sample rate or higher than 16-bit audio bit depth. It commonly refers to 96 or 192 kHz sample rates. However, there also ex ...
, this was one of only two albums not included in the series (''
Songs and Music from "She's the One"'' was the other one), but a hi-res version was available on
Pono Music.
The title of the 2020 book ''Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles'' comes from a lyric in the album's title song "Wildflowers".
2020 re-release
Petty's family and bandmates arranged a 2020 re-release of the album that includes deleted songs, demos, and live tracks, entitled ''Wildflowers & All the Rest''.
The super deluxe edition of the box set included a fifth disc of alternate versions of the ''Wildflowers'' tracks, called ''Finding Wildflowers''. In April 2021, ''Finding Wildflowers'' was released individually.
Documentary
The making of ''Wildflowers'' is the subject of the 2021
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
''Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free - The Making of Wildflowers'', directed by Mary Wharton. The documentary includes a significant amount of archival footage from the recording sessions, recorded by Martyn Atkins, which had only recently been unearthed following Petty's death; as well as new interviews with many of the producers and musicians who had been involved with the album. The film was released in November 2021 on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.
Track listing
''All the Rest''
Outtakes
*"Girl on LSD" was released as the B-side of the "You Don't Know How It Feels" single (1994).
*"
Leave Virginia Alone
"Leave Virginia Alone" is a song written by American musician Tom Petty and performed by British rock and pop singer and songwriter Rod Stewart on Stewart's seventeenth album, ''A Spanner in the Works'' (1995). The song reached number one on the ...
" was another song written and recorded during the sessions and left off the finished album. It was given to
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
for his album ''
A Spanner in the Works
'' A Spanner in the Works '' is the seventeenth studio album released by Rod Stewart on 29 May 1995. It ended a four-year gap since his previous studio album. At that time, it was Stewart's longest break between albums. It was released on Warne ...
'' (1995).
*The songs "California", "Hope You Never", "Hung Up and Overdue", and "Climb That Hill" were all included on the
''She's the One'' soundtrack album (1996), with various edits across the first three tracks, while "Climb That Hill" was a complete remake.
Article in ''Ultimate Classic Rock''
/ref>
* In 2018, outtake "Lonesome Dave," recorded July 23, 1993, was released on Petty's posthumous box set ''An American Treasure
''An American Treasure'' is a 2018 compilation album and box set of Tom Petty, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch released by Reprise Records on September 28, 2018. The set includes several rare and unreleased songs alongside more ...
''.
* In 2021, a cover of J.J. Cale
John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and sound engineer. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knop ...
's "Thirteen Days," recorded July 22, 1993, was released on the reimagined version of '' ''She's the One'' soundtrack album'', ''Angel Dream''.
Personnel
* 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 ...
– vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
(all tracks), acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
(1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16-19, 20, 21, 23, 25), electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
(2-5, 7, 10, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24), harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
(2, 12, 20, 21), bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
(2, 12, 20), harmony vocals
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...
(2, 5, 14, 20-22, 24), Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
(14), piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
(15), percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
(16), harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
(22)
* Mike Campbell – electric guitar (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9–14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22-25), bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13–15, 20, 23, 24), slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
(3, 25), acoustic guitar (8), coral sitar
An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...
(11), harpsichord (1), piano (20), Hammond organ (23), drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
(23)
* Benmont Tench
Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Early years
Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...
– piano (tracks 1, 3–7, 9, 10, 12–14, 16, 17, 25), grand piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
(2), electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...
(2, 24), Hammond organ (4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 22), Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
(6, 14, 25), tack piano
A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ham ...
(11), harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
(1, 6, 12, 16, 17, 19), zenon (11), orchestron
The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard instrument made in the 1970s, that produces its sound through electronic amplification of sounds pre-recorded on an optical disc. It is the professional version of the Mattel Optigan, an earlier and lower-priced ...
(12)
* Howie Epstein
Howard Norman Epstein (July 21, 1955 – February 23, 2003) was an American musician best known as a bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Early life
Epstein was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in a musical household. His ...
– harmony vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 24), bass guitar (4, 7, 10, 16, 19, 22, 25), backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
(7)
* Steve Ferrone
Steve Ferrone (born 25 April 1950) is an English drummer. He is known as a member of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1994 to 2017, replacing original drummer Stan Lynch, and as part of the "classic lineup" of the Average Whi ...
– drums (tracks 1-7, 9, 10, 12–15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24)
Additional musicians
* Lenny Castro – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 25)
* Brandon Fields
Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) is a former American football punter who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Michigan State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. He ...
– saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
(track 13)
* Greg Herbig – saxophone (track 13)
* Jim Horn
James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician.
Biography
Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for f ...
– saxophone (track 13)
* Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone (track 13)
* Phil Jones – percussion (tracks 4, 10, 20, 22)
* Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician.
Biography Early life
Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
– orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...
, conductor (tracks 1, 3, 5, 12, 15)
* Stan Lynch
Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch (born May 21, 1955) is an American musician, 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
Lynch was born in ...
– drums (track 16)
* John Pierce – bass guitar (track 9)
* Marty Rifkin – pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
(track 13)
* Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
– drums (tracks 11, 25)
* Carl Wilson
Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...
– backing vocals (tracks 7, 25)
Production
* Joe Barresi
Joe Barresi (nicknamed "Evil Joe") is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Chevelle, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive, New Model Army, Ba ...
– assistant engineer
* David Bianco – engineer
* Mike Campbell – producer
* Richard Dodd – engineer, mixer
* Steve Holyrod – assistant engineer
* Kenji Nasai – assistant mixer
* Tom Petty – producer
* Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
Rubin helped popula ...
– producer
* Jim Scott Jim or Jimmy Scott may refer to:
Music
* Jimmy Scott (1925–2014), American jazz vocalist
* Jim Scott (producer), music engineer and producer
* Jim Scott (musician), acoustic guitar player and songwriter
* Jimmy Scott (songwriter), British-born mu ...
– engineer
* Jeff Sheehan – assistant engineer
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Tom Petty albums
1994 albums
Albums produced by Rick Rubin
Albums produced by Tom Petty
Warner Records albums
Albums recorded at Sound City Studios
Albums produced by Mike Campbell (musician)
Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical