5150 Never Helped Me With the Ladies, But It Is Still My Favorite Van Halen Record - by Colin Gawel

Part One:

Somewhere along the way, it became very easy to slag Sammy Hagar. Sure, he ventures too close to Bon Jovi territory for comfort. And sure, the whole "Red Rocker," "VOA" and "Mos Tequilla" thing reeks of corporate marketing and Gene Simmons-type condescension but... taken in the context of the times, minor infractions indeed. What's maybe most offensive about Sammy is how successful and well-adjusted he is. It's just plain annoying that one man can have it all and enjoy it so much. But I digress, allow me to take a moment and give Sammy Hagar some credit where credit is long overdue. At least among my peers. A couple pro Hagar thoughts.

- One record EVERYBODY agrees is amazing is the debut Montrose record. Prog-rockers, metal heads, dandy hipsters and punks can all dig on Bad Motor Scooter and Space Station #5. Guess who sang lead and wrote most the lyrics on that? Our pal Sammy. Ever notice Ronnie Montrose never did anything after Sammy took his talents to mountain biking?

- And if you could afford it, Sammy's booze was life-changing. Hell,  I thought gagging and holding your nose was just part of the tequila experience until some folks bought us some Cabo Wabo at a club in Marquette, MI. I remember my first sip like seeing KISS for the first time on the Paul Lynn Halloween special. "Wait a minute, tequila can actually taste good?" ($90 a bottle though)

- Dude could write a mean power-pop hook. Sure, he was dolled up as the Red Rocker, but songs like "I've Done Everything For You," "Two Sides of Love" and "I'll Fall in Love Again" are songs Hall & Oates can only dream of and Nick Lowe surely cranks up with a fat J late at night on occasion. Dig this.. (editor's note: Colin, the next time you mention Nick Lowe and Sammy Hagar in the same breath and/or sentence, sanctions WILL be imposed.)

Sammy Hagar - I've done everything for you 1980 Well, this one way love affair, it ain't fair It ain't no kind of fair to me It's all give and take, and you just take And I can't take it, you see And I'm givin' up on love this time

--- And when, after a decade of struggling to find an audience his career shifted into - ahem - high gear on the strength of "I Can't Drive 55," Sammy left his deal, and took a pay cut to join Van Halen.

Let that sink in for a minute. Sammy Hagar walked away from a platinum record to follow a frontman who was considered impossible to follow. In his excellent memoir, RED, Sammy recounts his label boss David Geffen telling him, "Let me get this straight, you are going to break your contract with me, go from getting paid as a solo artist, selling out arenas, to join a band taking the place of David Lee Roth and getting a 1/4 split of everything?" Sammy also went from 100% of publishing to 25% share in V.H. That might be the literal definition of putting your money where your mouth is. Oh, he also insisted the band keep the name Van Halen even though Diamond Dave had left and there was big pressure for a change to be made.  

Sammy said, "I'll give it all up and sign everything away to play in this band. We are that good." David Geffen, for all his faults, deserves credit for basically tearing up Sammy's deal and allowing him to sign with Van Halen and Warner Brothers. Paraphrasing...."I would never stand in the way of an artist who felt that strongly, even though I disagreed. I let him go and asked for one more solo release to complete the deal. I could have held out for a piece of Van Halen, but I didn't." 

OK, before all you Diamond Dave followers start barfing at the thought of Sammy taking over, let's take a long hard look at what Van Halen had become by this time. 

I know it hurts to say it, but V.H. was running on fumes by 1984. Sure, the band could still rock it live, but between the song Jump and Dave doing his Just a Gigolo and California Girls thing and it was getting kinda lame. And when my little sister put up a smiling Eddie Van Halen poster on her wall, Van Halen were officially NOT COOL. I even traded my copy of 1984 for Steve Miller's Greatest Hits with a kid down the street. Sure, I'd miss Drop Dead Legs, but I could watch Van Halen anytime on MTV and The Stake was kind of groovy. 

Doubt me? watch this..

David Lee Roth - Just a gigolo from Crazy from the heat.

Part Two:

Enter Sammy Hagar the spring before my senior year of high school. I bought my copy of 5150 on both album AND cassette. Why both? Well duh, I had to mow the lawn right when I got home from Buzzard's Nest and I couldn't wait that long to crank up the new tunes. And mind you, at this point in time, earbuds were just a gleam in some future nerd's Dad's eye. I had to CRANK that SONY Walkman past 11 to Pete Townshend headphone levels to hear the music above the noise of our green Lawn Boy. And crank I did. From the first notes of "Good Enough" to the final strains of "Inside," 5150 became the official record of my senior year of high school. If you drove past my Pinto, Summer Nights was coming at you. I wanted the best of both worlds. Whatever those worlds were. Biggie and I even willed 5150 to each other in our senior yearbook. If that's not rock n roll, I don't know what is. Though in full disclosure, despite it's promises, Van Hagar didn't seem to do it for my stalled romantic life. Love never walked in. I only beat out one infield hit to reach "first base" my entire senior year. One goddamn hit. Goes to show a Red Rocker may never be a Gigolo, but as long I had the beer and rock n roll, I could make do without the sex. Though the following Van Hagar records slowly declined in both novelty and quality, I still have a copy of Van Halen 5150 in my 1999 model car today. And yes, it's a cassette. And yes, it's still my favorite Van Halen Record. - Colin G.

Yeah , you heard him, Colin Gawel likes 5150 better than any other Van Halen record. He plays in Watershed and The League Bowlers and founded Pencilstorm while standing behind the counter at Colin's Coffee.  

Released in 1986, 5150 (pronounced "fifty-one-fifty") is the seventh studio album by American Hard Rock band Van Halen. The album was the first to be recorded with new lead singer Sammy Hagar who replaced David Lee Roth.

 Hidden Track: 

Just because 5150 is my favorite Van Halen record doesn't make it the best Van Halen record. I'm just one dude who liked to crank Get Up cruising to his job at Bill Knapps in high school. If forced to argue the best Van Halen records I suppose I would say:

#1 - Van Halen - Groundbreaking, mind-blowing debut. Musicality smashes head on into showmanship. Like Queen on piles of blow.

#2 - Van Halen II - Proves they are no one hit wonder and Dance the Night Away is a pop gem

#3 - 5150 - Replacing a frontman such as David Lee Roth is a historic achievement and the single Why Can't This Be Love is perhaps the strongest single in the Van Halen catalog. 

#4 All the David Lee Roth Van Halen records. Except that new one. And that awful Live in Tokyo disaster. Gawd.

In fact, hold on.... watch this..

Jun. 21st , 2013 Live at TOKYO DOME , Japan

In fact, that is so bad, I should have led the story with it. I buried the lead. 

#5 All the other Van Hagar records. I like OU812 and Unlawful fine. Some fat, but some good tunes too. 

#6 That one where the guy from Loverboy sang. Or was it Don Dokken... whatever. 

But forget best. What Van Halen records am I going to play in my driveway today? Right here, right now?  I'm writing this on the 4th of July. Yes, I'm a loser but I just read the excellent Van Halen Rising by Greg Renoff and the less excellent but still fun Running With the Devil by Noel Monk and I've got V.H. on my mind. And the driveway will rock. . 

I am now going to listen to Van Halen in this order. 

5150 and then Van Halen II (light the grill) and then... Diver Down...(put brats on) and then Fair Warning and then Van Halen I (take off burnt brats and throw in the trash, put on more brats) and then that one new song Tattoo and then Hot For Teacher and then Poundcake and the new Cheap Trick record.

Colin Gawel really did write this on the 4th of July. Flag. 

Censorship at Comfest: Noble or Treasonous? - by Pete Vogel

On Saturday, June 24th, a band by the name of Chickenhawk Birdgetters took the stage at the I Wish You Jazz stage at ComFest. They bill themselves as a “Jazz Offensive” and planned a “ComFest Offensive” for their 7pm performance.  Chickenhawk Birdgetters have a vision for creating jazz music that “is dangerous once more.”  They want to remove the shirt-and-tie formality of the genre and “give it a black eye.”  They planned on playing “Fuck tha Police” by N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) and improvise their own version of the tune.  Somehow word got to ComFest officials - and Columbus police - that the band was going to perform the song and they stepped in: They politely asked the band to refrain from playing it because they were fearful it would “incite a riot.”  Here are some of the lyrics to “Fuck tha Police:”

         Fuck that shit cause I ain’t the one / For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun / Ice Cube will swarm on any motherfucker in a blue uniform / A young nigga on the warpath / And when I finish it’s gonna be a bloodbath / Of cops dying in LA.

You get the gist: I listened to all 5:45 of it and it had over 90 curse words and threatened violence on cops four different times.  To perform a jazz improv rendition doesn’t mean the band was going to perform the song verbatim, but the message was pretty clear: this was a provocative piece that would definitely raise eyebrows.

As a musician, I’d normally side with the artist and claim he/she has the right to perform whatever song they desire.  But after learning the band’s intentions - and hearing the song in question - I actually sided with the police and ComFest officials on this one.  This song, quite frankly, is in poor taste and isn’t a good fit for an open-air, free festival where ages range between 7 and 70.  It’s also an affront to law enforcement everywhere: I am friends with several cops and they’d take offense to hearing this song played at a community festival.  I had no problem with ComFest officials - and Columbus police - pulling the plug on this tune.  

Granted, there’s so much more to the story and I wasn’t present at the show: I’ve heard all of this second-hand.  The narrative has changed a lot the past three days as well: rumors circulated that the band was actually threatened by cops - and Comfest officials - and I’m not always sure who, or what, to believe.  But I think the deeper question is this: Is censoring this type of music a noble act or treason?

Censorship used to carry an air of rarified dignity with it.  I often think of Rushdie’s exile from Iran after writing The Satanic Verses or Kurt Vonnegut raising ire after penning Slaughterhouse Five.  But in today’s climate, I’m not sure if people truly feel the sting of censorship anymore.  We all have the freedom to voice our thoughts, opinions and art any way we want, any time we want, with little fear of reprisal.  Sadly, we suffer from the opposite problem: we clearly lack the ability to censor ourselves, even when we should.  In this 24/7, wild-west of social media, it’s not uncommon to take 29 pictures of our Cobb Salad when only one will do.  [Or post too many cat videos.]  Self-censoring is a welcome blessing in this regard.  

Chickenhawk Birdgetters deciding to cover a hateful song about cop violence is simply not appropriate at an all-ages festival.  And they shouldn’t have cried foul when the plug was pulled on them.  Granted, there is a time and place for this type of music, and I’m not condemning the artists for creating it.  But ComFest isn’t it.  I wouldn’t walk into a church and play Nine Inch Nails: it’s in poor taste.  I wouldn’t attend a children’s birthday party and play “Lick it Up”: it’s inappropriate.  Artists have a responsibility to their audience and not the other way around.  I think we’ve lost sight of that.

ComFest officials politely asked the band to censor themselves and not play a tune that could incite violence.  They refused.  Instead, they told ComFest officials that they wanted ComFest to admit “they were censoring a band.”  The band wanted to pin themselves as victims: percussionist Joey Gurwin even put duct tape over his mouth to prove the point.  

Of course, this warrants more questions than answers.  To my knowledge, ComFest has never censored a band in the 40-plus-year history of the event.  No band has ever had to provide setlists or even discuss their sets with officials.  So how did the police and ComFest folks even learn of this?  

After giving it some thought, I came upon a possible conclusion: the “leak” was intentional.  Someone in their camp got word out about their N.W.A. selection and ComFest officials - and police - responded accordingly.  But why would a local band cause such a commotion in the first place?  One word: Publicity.  [Call it “The Trump Effect”—it obviously works.]  The band wanted to earn free publicity - and become heroes in the process - by becoming the first band to ever be censored by ComFest.  It worked: an article was written about them in Columbus Alive, one of the organizers resigned and they have blown up the Internet the past four days.  

It was a publicity stunt.

In this new era of publicity-at-all-costs - led by our Executive-in-Tweet - it’s no wonder that people are divided over this issue.  But there is nothing treasonous about pulling the plug on such a hateful song as “Fuck tha Police.”  To stand in front of a microphone and shout “motherfucker” at a bunch of ten-year-olds isn’t noble, it’s stupid.  In my mind the ComFest Committee - and Columbus Police - got it right: they pulled the plug on an act that wasn’t willing to censor themselves.  When artists don’t have the temerity to govern themselves for the well-being of the community, then others must step in and do it for them.  Well done.

Pete Vogel is a drummer, musician, teacher, movie director and many other things. Click here to visit his website. 

Listen to Colin on The One You Feed Podcast. Happy Father's Day!

As I mentioned in the recently published story "Got Any Gigs, Yes i Do", I was honored to be a guest on the acclaimed The One You Feed podcast. It posted this week just in time for Father's Day. The interview is a little different as though we talk about songs such as "Dad Can't Help You Now" and "Words We Say", we touch on parenting, addiction and many other non rock n roll subjects. It might be the first interview I've ever done where Cheap Trick isn't mentioned once.  Please give it a listen and support the show. - Colin G.

Click here for The One You Feed Podcast Episode 182 - Colin Gawel   

Official music video for Colin Gawel's "Dad Can't Help You Now." The single is available on "Superior: The Best of Colin Gawel" released by Mike Landolt's Curry House Records. More at www.colingawel.com. Video directed by Wal Ozello, produced by Maria Clark, director of photography Alex Williams, edited and visual effects by Eric "Bing" Ringquist, and features Sam Ozello and Tim Baldwin.

"I Wish Sgt. Pepper NEVER Taught The Band To Play" - by Ricki C.

“June 1st, ’67, something died and went to heaven / I wish Sgt. Pepper NEVER taught the band to play”
- from “Who Will Save Rock & Roll?” / The Dictators / written by Adny Shernoff

Obviously we at Pencilstorm should have run this blog entry on June 1st – the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band release – but we didn’t, so now we’re gonna run it a coupla weeks late.  Whattya think this is, Pitchfork?

I was 14 years old on June 1st, 1967, and I think that even as a child I was somehow fleetingly aware that the Sgt Pepper’s record was going to have an adverse effect on my beloved rock & roll.  First off, I was a singles boy: I believed in 45 revolutions per minute.  I believed then as I believe now that a hit single with a GREAT non-LP b-side was rock & roll’s most perfect form of expression, something that “concept albums” – as Sgt. Pepper’s and its descendants (and I DO mean DE-cendants) came to be known.  Put simply: The Rolling Stones single “19th Nervous Breakdown” b/w “Sad Day”; The Who’s  “Pictures Of Lily” b/w “Doctor Doctor”; and/or The Doors “Light My Fire” b/w “We Could Be So Good Together” (to choose just three out of possibly FIFTY others if I took the time to go through my 60’s singles collection) were INFINITELY more exciting (and a better value, at 59 cents as opposed to $3.68 albums) than Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Let’s face facts, there are at least three flat-out unlistenable songs on Sgt. Pepper’s (and I would challenge even such an authority on all things Beatles as Joe Peppercorn to refute this): George Harrison’s “Within You Without You,” and Lennon & McCartney’s oh-so-preciously groovy/psychedelic & overblown “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!”  “She’s Leaving Home” is McCartney treacle that wouldn’t have even been considered for inclusion on Revolver or Rubber Soul and “When I’m 64” is the kind of English music-hall ephemera that Ray Davies of The Kinks carried off better in his sleep, when he wasn’t half trying.  (I believe Colin may be making a point very much like that one in a blog post later in the week.)

So that leaves the Sgt. Pepper’s “theme song” segueing into “With A Little Help From My Friends” (done better by Joe Cocker & the Grease Band, incidentally, for those of you scoring at home), “Getting Better,” “Fixing a Hole,” “Good Morning Good Morning,” and the Sgt Pepper’s reprise as six pretty good pop songs and “Lovely Rita” and “A Day In The Life” as two quintessentially great Beatles songs. 

Huh, I guess those last two would’ve made a snappy little 45 rpm single with a non-LP b-side.          

I’m bringing this blog entry in under 600 words with the following contention/bellyaching/assertion: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band forever killed off the 45 rpm single that I believe was the lifeblood of rock & roll.  I understand that people like Jann Wenner DESPERATELY wanted rock & roll to progress beyond its simple, hummable, humble beginnings: I do NOT understand that they wanted rock & roll to become PONDEROUS, BLOATED, PRETENTIOUS “rock music” in the process. 

I do not understand how (or why) FUN became removed from the rock & roll equation.

Thank God that the Rolling Stones woke up from “Their Satanic Majesties Request” and ROARED back with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

Thank God.  – Ricki C. / June 13th, 2017
 

Got Any Gigs? Yes, I Do - by Colin Gawel

"Got any gigs?" is a question I get quite often at Colin's Coffee. The following should get everybody caught up for the summer of 2017. Any help spreading the word is always appreciated.  And thanks for reading Pencilstorm. - Colin 

June

Dad Can't Help You Now

I have been working the song/video "Dad Can't Help You Now" leading up to Father's Day. It has been sent to about 80 radio stations / online programs and blogs. If you would like to help, the following link has the video, press and the song. Just cut and paste and pass along to somebody who might enjoy it. Click here for Dad Can't Help You Now promo page. 

Also, I will be taping an episode with Eric Zimmer and his acclaimed podcast The One You Feed on Friday June 9th. It should air sometime around Father's Day. I'll keep you posted. 

Watershed Returns (but don't call it a comeback)

Biggie is getting the van washed and waxed and we will be playing a couple of shows towards the end of June. We have a new record in the works, but no plans for release at this point.

Thursday June 22nd Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland. Click here for details.

Friday June 23rd Frankie's Toledo, OH  Click here for details.

Saturday June 24th Watershed returns to Comfest! Goodale Park - Main stage 6:30 pm

And some more fun stuff:

Tune into the CD1025 the week of June 19th as Brian Phillips will be spinning a Watershed twofer at 8:30am every morning to get you primed for the Comfest show.

Pencilstorm.com will be re-running the complete Watershed song rankings by Nick Jezierny for a week starting Sunday, June 18th.

Watershed will be hanging out at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Friday, June 23rd. Meet us in the lobby at 1 pm if you want to join in. 

And last but not least - we will be having a post-Comfest party featuring a Watershed / Willie Phoenix mix at Little Rock Bar from 9 pm until??? (editor's note: Willie's mighty Soul Underground follows Watershed on the Main (Bozo) Stage at Comfest at 8 pm or so. You've gotta stay for that, then head over to Little Rock for some rock & brews.) It's walking distance from Goodale Park and has a rooftop bar. Drop by and say Hello.

July

The League Bowlers are playing the Ohio State Fair!

Yup. Fire up a lemon squeeze and some Tom Thumb donuts and come out to the Ohio State Fair Wednesday, July 26rd for McGuffey Lane, The League Bowlers and Erica Blinn. The show is free with fair admission and being held in the Celeste Center - which seats about 10,000 people - so I suspect you might be able to find a spot in the grandstand. Click here for the League Bowlers facebook page. 

August

Remember that band Colin Gawel and The Lonely Bones? The one that did that "Superior" song everybody loved so much? They have sort of been on the back burner with Herb and Rick tied up with Watershed and Dan tied up with the Bowlers and Four String Brew. However, we will be playing the Fashion Meets Music Festival  Saturday, August 19th at Fortress Obetz. It's going to be a blast. Click here for details. 

And to top it all off, The League Bowlers will be opening for our personal heroes The Yayhoos at the Rumba Cafe Wednesday, August 23rd. Click here for more info. 

And to top off the top off, The League Bowlers are playing the Ox Roast in Grandview Friday, September 8th. It will be held at Pierce Field. Click here for details. 

Bonus gig: Rumor has it Watershed will be playing another festival the weekend of September 16-17th. 

Whew. There you go. Hope to see you sometime. - Colin

Petty: The Biography. An Interview with Author Warren Zanes - by James A. Baumann

You Don’t Know Tom Petty

by James A. Baumann

Click here to purchase Petty: The Biography

Anyone who grew up within earshot of an FM radio during the last three decades thinks they know Tom Petty. Depending on their age and inclination, they may think of him as the young punk who, armed with a Rickenbacker, celebrates the American girls and urges us not to live like a refugee. Or maybe he is the displaced Florida son who still speaks with a southern accent. He could be the video star who refuses to back down while running down a dream. Or maybe he even is the elder statesman who has the pull to play a Super Bowl halftime show as well as the rebel spirit to sing about the over-commercialization of his beloved rock and roll.

All of these could be parts of Tom Petty, but to pigeonhole him in one of these descriptions would be greatly missing the bigger picture. It’s a portrait that was mostly uncovered in the 2008 documentary film Runnin’ Down a Dream, but it wasn’t until Warren Zanes’ new book, Petty: The Biography, that the complete story (or, at least as complete as the world is likely to get) has been told.

Warren Zanes first crossed paths with Petty, like all of us, through his radio speakers. Later, as a member of the garage-rocking Del Fuegos, they came face-to-face as compatriots when the band served as Petty’s opening act. 

After the Del Fuegos split, Zanes would earn a PhD in visual and cultural studies. He since has successfully blended both sides of his life, writing for the 33 1/3 book series and a variety of publications. He’s been a vice president at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is the executive director of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation. 

He and Petty came back together as Zanes helped power the Runnin’ Down a Dream documentary directed by the legendary Peter Bogdanovich. It was the documentary research that continued and, eventually, led to this biography. 

While the documentary is expansive, Petty had the final cut. With this biography, though, he put all editorial decisions about what would or would not be included in Zanes’ hands. The result is a rather unflinching look at Petty’s life. 

In the promo materials Petty says, “At this point in my life, there’s no reason to do anything but tell the whole story.” And he does even as that story includes an abusive and opportunistic father, a wife saddled with mental health issues, the twisting ride of a professional music career, business deals gone sour, lost band members, and Petty’s own depression and heroin addiction. 

Fortunately, the book never falls into the “Behind the Music” template trap of success-flameout-redemption. Zanes delivers the downsides of Petty’s story with empathy. He also balances them with the top-of-the-world times as well. Of course there are all the hits and critical acclaim of his career that lead to fame and fortune. But the story also celebrates the less tangible opportunities such as being the (relatively) young pup in the Traveling Wilburys. The value of friendships and loyalty is shown through individuals like Stevie Nicks, George Harrison and  roadie Alan “Bugs” Weidel. Petty’s second wife overcomes his skeptical circle of friends and becomes a saving grace.

And, of course, there is Petty’s lifelong bond with the Heartbreakers, without whom there is no story. The narrative repeatedly winds around the relationships, the trust, the hard decisions, the creativity, the hurt feelings, and the striving for greatness that are part of any collaborative relationship. Zanes spoke with all of the Heartbreakers past and present (except bassist Howie Epstein who overdosed before the project began) and let them tell their side of the story. He also spoke with members of Mudcrutch, the precursor that would, eventually leave the Gainesville, Florida bar scene, head out west, and send Petty’s story into overdrive. 

There can’t be many people that know Petty better than this group. Throughout, their insights are honest, illuminating, and – in many cases – include some variation of the phrase, “Hey, it’s Tom’s band.” In the end, one gets the feeling that the reason behind so much of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ success came from the fact that they were a true band, but they weren’t a democracy.

Zanes took time out from his parade of radio interviews and promotion for the book to answer a handful of questions for Pencilstorm about relationships, the story behind the songs, and knowing what to cut.

Baumann: You were in a band and a rock & roll peer of Tom Petty. You’ve also been a writer and an academic for several years now. Were there times when you were researching and writing this biography where you felt one side of your life pulling against the other? Conversely, were there specific times where you really felt the two sides most came together?

Zanes: Really, both sides of my life were in the mix at all times. That was the only way to do this project. Not that it was a conscious thing. I merely responded in relation to the subject, one of America's best songwriters and record makers, and the job, writing his biography. I wanted readers to get closer to this musical life, while also giving them something with an intelligence reflective of someone as smart as Petty. I had to be both an academic and a rock & roller.
 
Baumann: A lot of the focus in the book is on Petty’s relationships and many of those – Petty’s father, his first marriage, record label execs, etc. – are contentious. Even the productive ones – such as with Mike Campbell and all the different band members through the years – are touched with stories about unpopular decisions and sacrifices he had to make in service of those relationships. Was that a story line you had in mind when you began work on the book or was it something that evolved organically as you worked on it?

Zanes: When writing about a bandleader, one has to delve into the psychological. Being a bandleader is an impossible job. I wouldn't say his relationships are "contentious," unless we're willing to admit that any long-term creative relationship is going to have some of that. Petty is just one of several musicians in bands that have managed to stay together for decades that has complicated relationships in his past. The good news - and perhaps the difference - is that he had the willingness to talk about those relationships in an unguarded fashion. Did I know we needed to go there? Absolutely.
 
Baumann: You make a good point:  what relationship as close as family and a marriage, or a band that lasts more than three decades, isn't going to have some contention in it at one point or another? And you did give equal weight to those relationships that would buoy him up, such as those with Stevie Nicks or George Harrison and the rest of the WIlburys. The creative foil of Mike Campbell & Benmont Tench, and Scott Thurston's contributions later in the band's career. 

I particularly enjoyed the passages talking about Petty's and Harrison's relationship. Many, many years ago my grandmother was visiting in England. She was at the house of an acquaintance who was a minister. An old church had been damaged in a storm and, by pure coincidence, she was there that afternoon when George stopped by for afternoon tea and to talk about donating some money to help with repairs. She obviously was before Beatlemania's time, but she wasn't stupid. After George left, she grabbed half a cookie that he had eaten and slipped it into her purse. That half a cookie now sits in a box in my office.

From that time she would buy his records and, after she died, I found a bunch of newspaper and magazine clippings in her house about George's passing. I don't know how much she was ever a fan of his music, but just in an afternoon tea he made a great impact on her. So, your stories of his ukulele playing and bear hugs certainly rang true.

Zanes: That cookie story is as good as it gets, James. Wow.

Baumann: When the advance word got out that you were able to get Stan Lynch to submit to an interview for this book, fans reacted like you had found a missing Dead Sea Scroll. How were you able to make that happen and why do you think it was such an important part of the story?

Zanes: Tom Petty's story is a band story. So I needed the band to talk. Stan played a big role in the first half of the group's history, but it was the half in which they came together, faced early success, defined a power structure, experienced their first personnel change, tasted elation and disappointment. It was the time of becoming. And Stan was the lone extrovert. He was the band's greatest champion and its greatest internal threat. An amazing, complicated guy. I needed him. After several refusals, he accepted a visit. But I went to his door, and asked only for twenty minutes. Though I got eight hours.
 
Baumann: There are a handful of times in the book where you purposely jump out of the narrative and tell a first-person anecdote. What motivated or inspired you to utilize that device? (Which, for what it’s worth, I found to be effective.)

Zanes: That was something I had to ponder, had to work on at length. But I'm no different from many Petty fans: I've spent my life getting the next Tom Petty record. He's followed us through life, just as we've followed him, and we're lucky for it. I wanted to show some of that, just as I wanted to detail the crossing of our paths. We've known one another over thirty years, in a few different contexts. That needed to be understood, though it couldn't take too much space. I trimmed it, a lot.
 
Baumann: What was the one thing you learned while researching the book that surprised you the most?

Zanes: That Tom Petty is a worker, a tremendously hard worker. The decisions that get made on both the art and business sides are his decisions. The songs have an ease that we love, like Buddy Holly and Hank Williams have an ease, but to achieve that requires a fastidiousness and intuition and talent and work, work. I see him in the same light as the legends of country, like George Jones and Johnny Cash: he's going to keep doing this, probably as long as he can, because it's who he is.
 
Baumann: Two elements that many people are going to focus on from the book are Petty’s previously undisclosed heroin use and how his first wife suffered from mental illness. Obviously this information hasn’t widely circulated before now. To that end, it appears that you had unfettered access to most everyone around him from band members to friends and even his daughters. Why do you think he chose now to open up about those issues? 

Zanes: I think he was ready to do it, and I was in the right place. My relationship with him has always been a professional relationship, based around various projects, but he must have felt enough trust to do this. He was nothing short of unguarded when it came to talking. At times I was surprised at the degree to which he was opening up. 

But, really, he's a reader. He's read books that put a high gloss on things, just as he's read books that go after the truth. He knows that the latter books are the ones that mean something. When he read Peter Guralnick's Elvis books, he didn't love Elvis less. Tom wanted a good book, a smart book, a well-written book, but, above all, I think he wanted an honest book. He empowered me to write one. He never told me what could be in or out, never told me how I had to think.

Baumann: Many times you make the connection about how what was happening in Petty’s life at the time had an impact on the album he was working on. Now that you're done with the book, what albums – for better or for worse – do you listen to differently than you did before? 

Zanes: I listen to them all a bit differently. I haven't lost my old connection to them, but I have new information that is somewhere in me that affects how I process the content. It's a combination of the conscious and unconscious minds I think. But if you know that a songwriter was physically abused as a kid, or that he was lost in his own marriage, you're going to hear the reverberations of that, the longing and loss that you know is inside that person. 

At the same time, great songs and records have lives beyond the people who made them - so the biographical details never own a song. And Tom's are good enough that they have had rich and full lives in worlds far beyond his front yard.

Baumann: I know you were taking requests to put together a Tom Petty playlist on Spotify. What tracks would you choose for readers to listen to as they read the book? These shouldn’t necessarily be your favorite songs, but the ones that paint a picture of who Petty is.

Zanes: "Lost In Your Eyes" is an important Mudcrutch song that I refer to. "Dreamville" captures a Petty who is seeing the great rock and roll era tarnished and at risk, its world slipping from view. "Even the Losers" is his anthem. "Forgotten Man" is a guy out in Malibu trying to figure out what his connection is to the strange, shifting world in which we live. "Southern Accents" is Tom saying good-bye to his mother, I think. Frankly, I wouldn't know where to stop with this question. This is only as finite as his catalogue.

Baumann: When I would interview bands I always liked to ask them when they knew to stop messing with their records in the studio and declare them to be finished. So now I’ll ask you this: How did you know when to stop writing and editing this book?

Zanes: I didn't know. I had help, which is often the case with people making records. My editor, Gillian Blake, helped a lot. Petty's life and career are worthy of an 800-page biography, but I don't think that would have been the right experience for the fan and reader. Some of them, yes. But, most of them, not. 

I know Tom Petty songs that are so good that I'd love a twelve minute version, but he keeps it to three and half minutes. I know Hitchcock movies I'd love to see clock in at three hours, but he sticks to 90 minutes. I had to remember that and make this feel right as a reading experience. 

Baumann: You must have a bunch of leftover Tom Petty stories that you could put out as literary B-sides or outtakes. What’s your favorite story or quote that, for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the final version?

Zanes: Well, we're talking about a very quotable, very funny, very sharp guy. So there's always more. It was no mistake that artists like Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Johnny Cash were drawn to Tom Petty. But, in particular, I remember him talking about his dogs. He has a real connection. And when he talked about one of the dogs dying, it was very moving. But he cut through the emotion with a line something like this: "I was so torn up about losing that dog, I went out and got another, exact same model." He was referring to a yellow labrador.

Click here to purchase Petty: The Biography

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Santa Monica Dec 31 1978 legendary Santa Monica, CA New Year's show on December 31, 1978 1. Intro 2. I Need to Know 3. Surrender 4. Fooled Again (I Don't Like It) 5. Casa Dega 6. Refugee 7. You're Gonna Get It 8.

30th Anniversary Concert from Gainesville, FL

Tom Petty-Taxman,I Need You Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne-Handle With Care Eric Clapton & Billy Preston-Isn't It A Pity