The ultimate Tom Petty playlist

Tom Petty’s first single came with the Heartbreakers on the band’s self-titled debut album in 1976. Written by Petty and performed by him, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, “Breakdown” clocks in at less than three minutes. Though when performed live, Petty nearly doubled its runtime because of an added guitar solo, which was actually part of the original recording. On that same note, the distinctive guitar riff that begins “Breakdown” was actually intended to just be used at the end, but when a fellow musician suggested weaving it throughout the song, Petty called his band back into the studio in the middle of the night to re-record the now-famous version.

Although it eventually became one of Petty’s signature songs (and often closed out his shows), “American Girl” didn’t receive much attention when it was first released on his band’s debut album. The song failed to chart, but it was re-released in 1994 and found a bit more success. Many fans have speculated about the meaning of “American Girl,” with an urban legend suggesting it’s about a suıcide on the University of Florida campus, which is located close to where the musician grew up. But Petty had a different explanation. He said he penned the lyrics while living in Encino, California, where he “could hear the cars roll by / on the 441.” Although he was far from the coastline, the sound had an ocean-esque soothing effect, “like waves, crashin’ on the beach.”

“I Need to Know” was the first single released from Tom Petty’s second album, “You’re Gonna Get It!” One the most driving rock songs in Petty’s repertoire, “I Need to Know” was actually inspired by Wilson Pickett’s “Land of a Thousand Dances,” one of Tom’s favorite records. “I Need to Know” quickly became a favorite of fans too, as the song reached No. 41 on the charts, as well as a favorite of other artists. It has been famously covered by both Poison and Stevie Nicks, among others.

After Petty’s then-wife, Jane, told him about a party she attended at Ike Turner’s house where the host locked all the guests inside to prevent them from leaving, Tom penned “Listen to Her Heart,” the second single from “You’re Gonna Get It!” The tune only managed to reach No. 59 on Billboard’s Hot 100, but don’t let that fact fool you; “Listen to Her Heart” was hindered by a lack of airplay because the second line mentions cocaine. (“You think you're gonna take her away / With your money and your cocaine.”) The artist was asked to change the word to “champagne,” but he refused. “First of all, it’s anti-cocaine. I don’t even like the stuff,” Petty told Rolling Stone. “And second, what’s champagne going for these days? Two bucks a bottle?”

Tom Petty’s 1979 album “Damn the Torpedoes” is often referred to as his best album, and the best song off it is “Don’t Do Me Like That.” Based on its upbeat sound and piano usage, the tune was almost offered to the J. Geils Band, but Petty’s producer convinced him to include it on his third studio album. It’s a good thing Petty did, as “Don’t Do Me Like That” hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 — his highest-charting song to date.

“Damn the Torpedoes” is a pushback in response to the pressures of the music industry, and “Refugee” is its anthem. Driven by an ominous organ, the song only lasts for three minutes and 24 seconds, but it was apparently quite difficult to get on tape, according to Campbell. The result, however, was good enough to reach No. 15 on the charts.

Like “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl” was also released on 1979’s “Damn the Torpedoes,” and it also had its recording difficulties. Although the riff and chorus (the latter of which was inspired by The Byrds) came right away, Petty struggled with the verses. In the end, he decided to half-talk these sections, which created its signature sound and the balance between heartbreak and excitement, a unique element for which the song is now known.

Unlike the previous songs in this slideshow, “Even the Losers” was never released as a single. Still, the song is regarded as one of Petty’s best, and in addition to “Damn the Torpedoes,” it also appeared on the artist’s 1993 greatest hits album, aptly entitled “Greatest Hits.” “Even the Losers” was written after Petty spent a night with a former crush of his — someone who didn’t care for him back in his younger days but suddenly had an interest in the rising rocker. In that moment, Petty realized he shouldn’t dwell on the past and decided to pursue his dream of becoming a star.

The first track from Tom Petty’s fourth studio album, “Hard Promises” (1981), was also the record’s first single. Like many of his songs at the time, “The Waiting” is also about finding fame — or, more specifically, waiting for your dreams to come to fruition. The track hit No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Petty was so popular by the time of the album’s release that MCA considered charging $9.98 for it, an additional $1 more than other records in the company’s catalog. However, after pushback by Petty (who even threatened to name the album Eight-Ninety-Eight), MCA nixed the price increase.

Stevie Nicks has become so successful as a solo artist that it’s easy to forget her first solo single, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” was actually a duet with Tom Petty. In fact, Nicks didn’t even write or co-write the song, which was instead penned by Petty and Campbell for Nicks’ 1981 record “Bella Donna.” The tune soared up the charts, reaching No. 3 and staying there for a solid six weeks. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” became a mainstay of Nicks’ concerts, and she and Petty performed it together as recently as the summer of 2017, just a few months before Petty’s death.

Most Tom Petty fans probably asked, “Where’s the guitar?” when they first heard the beginning of “You Got Lucky,” the first single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ fifth album, 1982’s “Long After Dark.” The synthesizer was an obvious departure from the band’s earlier songs, but fans were still treated to some great guitar work, though even that was a bit different than the usual sound. Petty suggested to Campbell that he use a surf guitar with some vibrato, and the guitarist ended up crafting a sound that might feel more at home in the Clint Eastwood Western film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

“Don’t Come Around Here No More” had a decidedly ‘80s sound at its start thanks to the electronic drum machine and synthesizer, but a sitar soon kicks in. The tune changes directions, sounding more psychedelic than both the intro and most of Petty’s previous work with the Heartbreakers. To match the sound, the video for the song (which was released in 1985 as the lead single from “Southern Accents”) famously features an "Alice in Wonderland" theme, with Petty playing the Mad Hatter. At the video’s end, Alice becomes a cake that is eaten by the band — a scene that was controversial enough to garner a second version of the video in which the cannibalistic segment was cut.

“Jammin’ Me,” the lone entry on this list from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ seventh album, 1987’s “Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough),” sounds like it was written in the style of Bob Dylan, and this was no accident. While Campbell arranged the music, he handed the lyrical responsibilities over to Petty, who eventually chatted about it with his good friend, the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan himself. After picking words from TV broadcasts and newspapers, the duo crafted a now-classic song about media overload, which eventually topped the Album Rock Track chart and made its way up to No. 18 on the Hot 100.

When George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan got together to write a bonus track for Harrison’s European release of the “This is Love” single. The result, entitled “Handle with Care,” was turned down by Warner Bros. No, not because it wasn’t good enough; in fact, it was the opposite. The label said the song was too good to simply be a throwaway, and that’s what inspired the five men to form a quintet called the Traveling Wilburys. Not only would “Handle with Care” be the first song by the supergroup (released via “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1” in 1988), it would also be their most successful.

“Handle with Care” was the most successful Traveling Wilburys song on the Hot 100, but “End of the Line” actually performed just as well on the Mainstream Rock chart (No. 2), and even better on the Adult Contemporary chart (No. 28 vs. No. 30), with some considering it a better track...or at least one more fitting for the supergroup. Helmed by Petty on the verses and Harrison, Lynne and Orbison taking turns on the choruses (with all four plus Dylan as writers), “End of the Line” epitomizes the group’s nomadic persona with a railroad theme and title to match. Sadly, Roy Orbison died between the song’s recording and the shooting of its music video, so when Orbison’s part came up in the latter, the band immortalized him by simply showing a photo of the legendary musician aside a rocking chair with his guitar on it.

When Tom Petty went solo with 1989’s “Full Moon Fever,” he had to make an immediate statement, and that statement was “I Won’t Back Down.” “That song frightened me when I wrote it,” Petty said after its release. “There’s not a hint of metaphor in this thing. It’s just blatantly straightforward.” In addition to providing the acoustic guitar parts and background vocals, George Harrison was also a cheerleader for the song, pushing Petty to get the track on his first solo record. Harrison was right, as “I Won’t Back Down” reached No. 12 on the charts and became one of Petty’s most iconic songs.

If you’re hopping in the car for a road trip and want to crank some Tom Petty, there’s no better song to start with than “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” Campbell’s imposing riffs carry into a speedy and searing solo (which he perfected in one take) accompanied by Petty making references to his new friend at the time, Del Shannon, who famously penned the No. 1 hit song “Runaway” in 1961. “Runnin’ Down a Dream” didn’t fare quite as well as Del’s number, although it managed to reach No. 23 on the Hot 100 and provide a solid second single from “Full Moon Fever.”

“Free Fallin’” became one of Petty’s most popular songs, despite it being mostly ad-libbed by the artist during a studio session with producer Jeff Lynne. Making matters more complicated, MCA initially said they didn’t hear any potential singles on “Full Moon Fever,” putting the album’s future in jeopardy. However, a company shakeup changed the label’s tune, and the album would eventually reach platinum status five times over, with “Free Fallin’” sticking on the charts for an astounding seven months. “There’s not a day that goes by that someone doesn’t hum ‘Free Fallin’ to me, or I don’t hear it somewhere,” Petty once said. “But it was really only 30 minutes of my life.”

Although the acoustic guitars are layered heavily in “Learning to Fly” — Petty’s first single from his sophomore solo effort, 1991’s “Into the Great Wide Open” — they feature four simple chords: F, C, A minor and G. The guitar parts paired perfectly with Petty’s simple lyrics, which also have a simple explanation: He pulled a line from a TV interview he once saw with a pilot. Learning to fly is easy, the pilot explained; the difficult thing is coming down. In addition to reaching No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Learning to Fly” also held the top slot on the Album Rock Tracks chart for six weeks.

Petty painted some beautiful pictures with his lyrics, and “Into the Great Wide Open” might be one of his biggest masterpieces. For years, Petty wrote about wanting to make it in the music industry. Although he clearly did, the spotlight didn’t shine quite so brightly on a “rebel without a clue” named Eddie, the fictional subject of “Into the Great Wide Open.” The music video is arguably as famous as the song because it featured an up-and-coming young actor named Johnny Depp in the lead, alongside Faye Dunaway, Gabrielle Anwar, Terence Trent D'Arby, Chynna Phillips and Matt LeBlanc.

Neither Petty, nor Jeff Lynne, nor Campbell wrote “Something in the Air.” The song was actually penned by Speedy Keen and recorded by Thunderclap Newman way back in 1969, with it soaring to No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the UK Singles chart. Petty included his own version as the final track of his 1993 “Greatest Hits” album, which was a worthy addition, as Petty has arguably made the song even more famous than the original. Although it didn’t crack the Hot 100 (but earned the No. 19 spot among Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks), “Something in the Air” contributed to the record selling some 12 million copies.

“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” took quite the journey to fruition. An early draft of the song was written during the “Full Moon Fever” recording sessions in the late ‘80s, and it was actually recorded during the “Wildflower” tapings in the early ‘90s. However, instead of appearing on that album, Petty sneaked it onto his incredibly popular 1993 “Greatest Hits” record, and you gotta believe the now legendary song had a part in the album’s success. Originally titled “Indiana Girl,” Petty changed both the title and some of the lyrics, which ended up blurring the line for listeners who couldn’t tell if it was about a girl or drugs. The song hit No. 24 on the charts, and the video, which featured Petty portraying a morgue assistant and Kim Basinger playing a cadaver, earned the artist an MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.

“So let’s get to the point / Let’s roll another joint.” That’s the lyric that most people remember from “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” the harmonica-bookended lead single from Tom Petty’s 1994 album “Wildflowers.” Ironically, people recall this line mostly because it was edited out of many radio airings — or, strangely, the word “roll” was replaced with “hit,” which was supposed to soften the line but actually made it even worse. In addition to topping the rock charts, “You Don’t Know How It Feels” hit No. 13 on the Hot 100, and ended up being Petty’s final top-40 hit.

In contrast to the bluesy “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” “You Wreck Me” is a straight-up rock track. And the timing of its release on Petty’s second solo album, “Wildflowers,” was absolutely perfect. The rapid-fire guitar-focused song sounded like it should have been released 15 years earlier by the Heartbreakers, but it also fit in seamlessly with the alternative rock sound that was taking over the airwaves in 1994. The quality of the music was enough for Campbell, bassist Howie Epstein and drummer Steve Ferrone to stand behind recording the song, even though they thought the original title line, “You Rock Me,” was a bit too ordinary and cliche. However, when Petty suddenly had the idea to switch “rock” to “wreck,” all the pieces came together to give the song the extra dose of attitude and emotion it needed.

Pardon the bias toward Petty’s earlier years, but we’re suckers for the classics. Still, Petty continued to produce quality music later on in his life, and as a latter-day example, we’ll go with “I Should Have Known It,” an up-tempo, foot-stomping hard rock track released in 2010 off Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 12th studio album, “Mojo.” The album marked the return of bassist Ron Blair after a 29-year absence and was the second-to-last album released by Petty.