Tom Petty Essay, Research Paper
The song is Mary Jane s Last Dance , by Tom Petty. It s a story about a girl that grew up in an Indiana town. She moved when she was 18 years old to a new town where all the guys fell for her.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded Mary Jane s Last Dance in 1993. The song earned Tom the best male video award at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Tom was presented with the highest honor in the production of a music video, the Video Vanguard Award, which highlighted the evening.
On October 20,1950 Tom Petty was born. In 1961, at the age of eleven, he met Elvis. Elvis, The King was in Florida to film the movie Follow that Dream. Right then and there Tom decided to follow his own dream to be a rock star. Tom recalled, in Rolling Stone Magazine, That day was the end of doing anything other then music with my life. I didn t want anything to fall back on because I was not going to fall back (Tom Petty Online Magazine). The very next day Tom traded his Wham-O slingshot for a friend s set of records, which included Elvis, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Tom Petty was a marvelous musician who began his career in Gainesville, Florida. In high school Tom s schoolboy band was called the Sundowners. Later they changed their name to the Epics and by 1970 they were the Mudcrutch. After recording a demo disc Mudcrutch drove west to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune. Within a week of arrival in LA Mudcrutch had many offers to choose from. In the spring of 1974 they sign with Shelter Records and after a disappointing release of their first Shelter album the band broke up.
Later on Tom met up with two of his former Mudcrutch members, Mike Campbell a guitarist and Benmont Tench a keyboardist. The three of them met up with two other musicians from Gainesville, bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch in a demo session. The group came up with the name Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
In 1993 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers still owed MCA a Greatest Hits album. With some reluctance agreed to cut a couple new songs for the album. Tom and the Heartbreakers went to Mikes house and went through everything from Elvis Presley numbers to new rockers such as Mary Jane s Last Dance and Come on Down to My House (iMusic Rock Showcase). The album certified quadruple platinum and has consistently charted on the Billboard Top 200 Albums since it s release in 1993 (Tom Petty Online Magazine). The video for Mary Jane s Last Dance won Tom the best male video award at the 1994 MTV music video awards. In April of 1996 Tom received the UCLA s George and Ira Gershwin award for Lifetime Musical Achievement. Also in 1996 Tom received his own star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.
Some interesting news about Tom Petty we got off of the Internet stated that he had died, but another source stated that Tom s death was only a rumor. The site Why Tom Petty is Dead seems to have the idea Tom Petty died after going into a coma, but they didn t know how or why he went into a coma and died. The other site Tom Petty Is Not Dead announced that it was just a rumor and if you had been fooled by it don t worry it s happened before just like when Mark Twain had been living in London and everyone in the U.S. thought he had died (Tom Petty Is Not Dead). Which of the web sites is telling the truth I don t know.
I think that this song was relevant to the time period because of the title and it coming to the point of closer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Mary Jane s Last Dance means to me that it was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Last Dance . This song was one of two songs written for their Greatest Hits album ending the groups time together.
Works Cited
Internet Sources:
Dustin s Unofficial Tom Petty Bio Page. The Unofficial Tom Petty Bio Page. 1999. http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/8813/BIOPAGE.html
iMusic Rock Showcase- Tom Petty. Tom Petty. 1999. http://club.imusic.com/showcase/rock/tompetty.html
Tom Petty. Tom Petty. 1999.
http://wallofsound.go.com/artists/tompetty/home.html
Tom Petty Is Not Dead! TOM PETTY IS NOT DEAD! 1999. http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Backstage/5314/petty.html
Tom Petty Online Magazine- Tom Petty Full Biography. Tom Petty Biography the Beginning of a Great Adventure. 1999. http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/PettyOnline/bio1.html
Why Tom Petty is Dead. Why Tom Petty is Dead. 1999. http://www.redrival.com/whytomisdead/pid1.shtml