Malcolm Gladwell Interviews Rick Rubin About Making Tom Petty's “Wildflowers” 

What a heartfelt tribute to the woman of your life 🙏 Lost my mom to cancer in 2014. May these beautiful ladies be connected to us forever. We made history, we are still family.

@@jakevendrotti1496 Thanks Jake....I am sorry about your mother.....I heard a good quote the other day " Dont cry because its over...But smile because it happened....You hang in there my friend

totally rips off, or he takes that guitar twang and makes it something his own? hmm? hmm? (hint: did The Jayhawks sue him?)

@@kevinryan4251 Just the hazards of being the opening band...And on the tour before TP & THB had The Replacements open for them for a string of shows and afterward TP nicks "rebel without a clue" from The Mats' "I'll Be You". Don't get me wrong, I am as big and respectful Petty fan as any. Saw him plenty of times. Started buying his records with You're Gonna Get It. I think Dylan mighta taught him to steal from the best.

That is false. The riff was written for Full Moon Fever, but never finished. It was finished because MCA wanted a Greatest Hits album before Petty fled to Warner Bros. so he used the skeleton of a song he already had. If anything, the Jayhawks stole it from him.

Cus he's Rick rubin

Yes

It’s incredible

Agreed!!! I put it on while doing things around the house. The songs and commentary are wonderful.

Best Music documentary ever made. I never get sick of watching it

Peter Bogdanovich approached Tom who was a big fan of PB and Orson Wells and spent countless hours down in the vaults -- I hear what you're saying -- there was all this amazing stuff and RR was right -- the supreme delegator best man for the job.

It's absolutely great.

well yes my friend and I mean that what was your 1st clue? I just can't get over Malcolm Gladwell's 2018 rock music podcast -- I just love it!!! People still need cheering up these days and this podcast cheered me up. Tom would be laughing in a vr good way. In another context I also didn't realize the HBs did a Tom Wait's cover I hope I don't Fall in Love with You - TP so unconsciously brilliant at sounding like the music he was listening to: I would love to hear that Tom /Tom Waits cover. Best wishes! And one day the rest of Wildflowers will be available -- not interested in what look like family squabbles, don't care all in good time.

baron didn't you hear. That issue was resolved, and Wildflowers and All The Rest will be released on October 26. It's available for pre-order on Amazon and tompetty.com.

Mojo was pretty awful. Otherwise I concur.

@@sotampacane I just listened to it last week over a good system. Love it. It's just different. There's a good documentary on yt about making it.

@@sotampacane I used to think that too. I really didn't like it when it came out because it was so different. I dug it out again about a year ago and listened with fresh ears - and now I love it.

Yes! Such a gem of a song. So much emotion in it. Great for driving at night, reflecting.

Yes I hear you it was the account of the band's beginnings -- some autobio stuff bound to be there to break our hearts -- I walk my dog early and this music just comes to mind looking at trees and an incurious rabbit wonderful time of day.

One of my favorite songs on Wildflowers

I used to listen to wildflowers around the time TP died. On the 405 prolly 10 miles away from him Rick, Mike, Ben. I remember thinking while on my way to work (I work in the film industry) something has to give. And boom turn on KLOS and they announced he was in the hospital, an hour later he was gone. Now with pandemic I feel like I sensed it coming. We were all working way to hard, it was great but we needed this break to re-evaluate the culture we have. It’s very odd. Anyway Wake Up Time was and still is my alarm. I wish TP could wake up and give us the love we crave. 🖤🖤🖤

Yes. Clearly a genius. Good name for an album...”mashed potatoes”

Agreed, I liked it from Day One. I can understand why he didn't personally like it, but I thought it was great. For me, probably, his last really great record.

I love Echo. Definitely overlooked.

My favorite Tom Petty record! Deep and from the broken heart he was dealing with.

I’ll give it a Listen

Echo and Room at the Top were as great songs as anything they ever did.

My income isn't over the moon but when Tom converted to vinyl I bought the canon and don't regret it. Older than you -- had ELO on vinyl god help me!!! Also Rolling Stones Brian Jones still alive; The Byrds goes on and on. Like the Rebus series of bks because central character spends a lot of time listening to this music, go Ian Rankin!!!

full moon fever is in the top 5 of all times

Agree

I had it on cassette. I was a metal head at the time but I loved Full Moon Fever.

I still love his early stuff - 1st two albums !!

Me too! You would have to figure out when Dana T's wife and Adria his elder daughter get out of litigation over his will which was not meant to foment this kind of confusion .... they both have a vested interested in keeping this music alive ; now could be the time, understand don't care we'll hear this great music which by the way was Tom's last project. Don't remember context but he said to an interviewer that tours to a hockey rink (prescient) were over but he wanted to do a limited tour small venues to promote this material. Mike Campbell was more informed than anyone. That's all I know, cheers!!

evelyn baron actually they came to an agreement last December www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tom-petty-estate-widow-daughters-settlement-926829/

Mike A just been announced yesterday!

Warner brother has just posted the wildflowers extended edition there will be a bunch of versions coming out for vinyl,and cd also included is a 60 page book featuring rick Rubin.seems like we all have waited a long time for this special version of wildflowers.the release date shows 10/20/20 from Warner brothers.

I posted a full 'box opening' of the 9 LP box set on the AnalogPlanet RU-vid channel...

They have released two of these songs in the past month and are preparing the box set.

@Don P thank you!!! This is fuckin awesome!!!!! I can't wait!

Me too dude...I still play my TPATH cassettes in my pickup

wesley strauss reissue announced yesterday!

Honestly, I’d put Hypnotic Eye up with the other Petty greats. Fault Lines, You Get Me High, All You Can Carry, Red River, Sins Of My Youth.. phenomenal

Tom Petty will always have a special spot in my heart..... First song I memorized from the radio... RIP!!!!

His music allowed us all to find our own lives there, unique.

Absolutely. I was fortunate enough to bring my daughter to see a Tom Petty concert in 2017 before he died. She was only 10 years old at the time, but loves his songs. She cried her heart out when we told her he died.

I wish I could have been Tom's friend, he was mine. . .

Tom made us all feel like his friends and that was his unique way of getting shit done and treating his fans like we were present at his concerts and thru his albums

The interviewer is the author and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell. His books are incredible and insightful, if you enjoy this.

rockturtleneck definitely agree. I would arguably say he had two ‘bad’ albums, Mojo and Let Me Up in his entire career. How many of the greats can say that? Springsteen, Dylan, Young have always seemed to be held in higher esteem than Petty but how many clunkers did they release?? Quite a few.

MOJO IS AN AMZOMG album. Wish it included HELP ME 😌

@@howtodocertainthings8452 because they also released much more work, probably under pressure. Dylan for instance has been releasing albums for 5 decades. It's only normal he'd release some shoddy albums..

I'm with you on that. In the mid and late 70's there was that head banger music like Fog Hat, Judas Priest, Ted (double live gonzo) Nugent, Kiss . Van Halen came along at that time. Arena rock like Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner. Disco and Punk to New Wave all in the mid 70's. TP kept cruising into the 1990's.

@@jake105 You're right ! That's why so much of his stuff doesn't sound dated.Good songs come first.

If you mean Hypnotic Eye, then yes. That came out of nowhere.

I just think of his music as a journey; don't think in terms of peaks, loved interview. Really glad you brought up Hypnotic Eye which was indeed brilliant. Tx for insight.

Completely true. What an album. Amazing he was creating so well that late in life.

I wish Dana and Adria Petty would get it together; it was not just any ol' rocumentary this was Peter Bogdanovich it was BRILLIANT and should be made available -- not saying free just vr timely now.

Yep

Not even close, The best American rock n roll band ever. He never sold out like Springsteen he always maintained his songwriting brilliance. Very little political positioning. Always delivered an exceptional show. Wildflowers remains 1 of my top 3 albums of all time.

Have you heard Song for Tom Petty? New band, some mandolin echoes of The Band, I cried. Not ashamed, yes to all you wrote!

evelyn baron no haven’t heard them but will try to, 👍👍

Dale Miller led zeppelin were a great band don’t get me wrong but if you look at the body of work Tom Petty produced over 40 years am sorry but I really have to disagree and such a humble man who had balls to stand up for all musicians over when the record company tried charging more for albums, the man had integrity and a lot of classs

Yes we do

i dont know about this interviewer thinking to had a california sound tom had a number of genres but their was a southern inference like southern accent

Tom Petty has the classic Americana sound, definitely not a California sound.

@@thatkidfromnhi do agree althoughTom himself has said he thought the album had a more California sound to it

As a former Californio for the first 40 years of my life, and having loved TP since my teens, I will say, Tom brought his style and sound to us out west, and we adapted it as sort of a California sound. It colored my own teen and early adult years, and therefore, I would say you could classify it-- if you must-- within the "California Sound". I don't tend to classify stuff in my life anymore, because it's a waste of time and so subjective....but for me, this was my youth and still speaks to me now. ❤️✌🏻🎶 Additionally, Rick Rubin is such a great resource of creative encouragement and also just life advice/personal/spiritual growth and living. I am so glad I discovered Rick and his observations at this pin t in my life.

Such an underrated gem

Gladwell is practically a legend himself at this point. Legends ain't what they used to be (since the advent of the internet, not to steal any glory from Gladwell).

you have to be "nice", that is morally billable, to become anything these days; the days of the evil genius, such a one was Disney, for instance, are over? Maybe after Armageddon we'll have our dastards back

Yeah I have to agree. I know it’s sacrilege, but I find the worship of Gladwell way overdone. He’s almost become a caricature of himself at times, especially when he lectures on high about the arts. Flame away!

Couldn’t agree. The guy sounds so stuffy and academic and pretentious. Like an NPR DJ.

So under the radar....Supernatural Radio. ....Give me Wildflowers,Shes The One and Echo and I’m good😎😎

I watched that silly film for the music only .....

Walls, Angel Dream, California...all amazing. Very underrated.

He is. Find that doc that Rick mentioned from Peter Bogdanovic "Runnin Down a Dream".

Watch the bogdonevitch film the Rubin mentions.

Plus his life situation at the time!

This is another myth of song writing up there with Paul McCartney writing Yesterday in a dream. Yes, you can have the initial inspiration for a song, but there's always going to be an editing and revision process. Saying it took 4-5 minutes to write a 3 minute song just isn't what took place. It's like Jesus could swim the 100 meter quickly and that was interpreted as walking on water. It creates a mythos.

Yeah I always tell that story when I play the album. Petty was a natural songwriter. So glad a got a chance to see him a couple times. This album was my go-to place as a child.

Yes...!!!! Dylan said a long time ago that songs came unbidden into his mind; Tom said when asked about inspiration, "don't like to stare too long into that light" same response from Sting and Springsteen, genius.

@@danjwalker Your point is fair but sometimes it does happen that cleanly.

thefilmandmusic there’s a great bit from Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes where he calls Rubin a piece of shit. Turns out he wanted to call the Crowes The Kobb County Krows; yes the KKK .

My thoughts exactly thanks for sharing them, see you and Tom in Heaven!🌟🦋

Okay, you are right. But it worked for him until around 1995. He did have a muse. he was able to make magical stuff. Mike Campbell also.

@@777jones I'm not saying that he ever lost his muse just that he always thought of his songs as coming from outside of himself and that he was always a bit skiddish about overthinking the process. I feel the same way. Songs just come and my best songs are just a flash of inspiration.

777jones I disagree. Have you heard Highway Companion (2006)? Holy shit, it’s fantastic. For me, that album is evidence that his muse had not left him.

@@777jones 95? Last DJ, Highway Companion, Mudcrutch albums, Mojo...all legendary albums...maybe is best

Tom was a Christian

I have it

I got a hand written letter from Tom...I wrote to him in 91 when I was 10yrs old...weeks later a letter came in the mail...wasn’t long, but just a few sentences handwritten by Petty...said, “hey buddy I really appreciate you liking our music....I was about your age when Rock n roll came into my life, never stop listening...never stop playing. Tom”....I told him in my letter I had started trying to learn the guitar. I treasure that letter. He was such a good man. Best rocker of all time

@@mr.smithgnrsmith7808 awesome story.

All being released next month: "Wildflowers and All the Rest" boxed set.

@@michaelnolan743 I should have known. Because nobody can do a podcast today if it isn't tied to promoting a book, movie, tv show, or other product. Lame.

andybaldman That’s not what’s happening here. This interview is from 2018 long before they announced a box set...making it an organic and pure conversation.

@@willhawkins627 What's happening is that they're conveniently reposting it here, with appropriate timing. Both of these men know marketing.

A crime.

Interview with Jian Ghomeshi "Bob Dylan has called you a masterful poet but you don't always get mentioned" etc. Tom: "Bob Dylan. Shakespeare pales in comparison w/ Bob Dylan" -- a must watch!

just saw this after I wrote the same thing!!!

@@thomasbusy3632 Great minds...