Happy 30th Anniversary to Tom Petty’s second solo studio album Wildflowers, originally released November 1, 1994.
Tom Petty appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone's May 4, 1995 issue, just about six months after the release of Wildflowers. Petty sits at the counter of a nameless diner, his back to the grill, Telecaster resting comfortably in his lap. The recently-bearded Petty wears jeans and a plaid shirt. The outfit could have been worn by any number of popular ‘90s artists, but he doesn't look grunge-y due to the serene smile on his lips, looking simultaneously bemused and wise. The image is striking because Petty looks at peace with himself and the world, a decidedly un-rock star disposition.
The cover perfectly sums up Wildflowers, which Petty called his favorite Tom Petty/Heartbreakers album. It's a sprawling work, coming in at over an hour, with lots more songs written for the record. The length of the album allowed Petty to explore all of the sounds that influenced him. Wildflowers isn't a tribute album, though, nor is it Petty looking back. Rather, Wildflowers represents Petty looking inside of himself.
The album came about when Petty was approached by producer Rick Rubin. As Petty told Paul Zollo in Conversations with Tom Petty, "I think that Rick and I both wanted more freedom than to be strapped into five guys...With a Heartbreakers' record, you can't bring in a different bass player or a different drummer." Of course, the interesting part of that statement is that, as with Full Moon Fever (1989), Petty's previous solo album, all of the Heartbreakers contributed to the album, except for drummer Stan Lynch, with whom Petty had an often contentious relationship. Lynch left the Heartbreakers shortly after Wildflowers.
Rubin is famous for a flat production style. So it's no surprise that Wildflowers lacks the trademark, Byrds-inspired jangle that also defined Petty's sound. This album, like Petty's Rolling Stone cover photo, is earthy. Petty would never be accused of being a studio rat, but classic tracks like "Don't Come Around Here No More," produced by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, used enough production techniques that the listener might feel a distance between themselves and Petty. With Wildflowers, however, you feel like Petty is singing from right across the room.
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The title track, which is also the first song, immediately establishes the album’s tone. "Wildflowers" is gentle and timeless, sounding like a traditional American folk song and not like something written right before the start of the 21st century. It's a standard you can imagine being sung around campfires for years to come. Petty told Zollo that engineer Jim Scott came up with the idea to begin the album with that track. Petty was skeptical about starting the record with a quiet, acoustic number but what Petty and Rubin probably realized is that it established the vibe of the album, letting the listener know that while not all of the songs would be acoustic, that they would be getting unfettered access to Petty.
That unobstructed view goes for the production and lyrics, but also Petty's personality. "Honey Bee," an old-school blues vamp that could have regionally charted in the early 1960s, captures a spoken-word intro by Petty, trying to sound like an old blues artist: "Alright, here we go. This a little number we call ‘Give me some sugar, little honey natural bee.’" It's a goofy interlude, perhaps even inspiring Petty's eventual voiceover work for the animated King of the Hill TV show. But it shows a light-hearted looseness usually only seen in Petty’s slightly off-kilter music videos.
Given the album's hefty fifteen tracks, Petty and Rubin seemed to have no interest in just making an Americana album. So they also played with more expansive pop tracks, like "Crawling Back to You," which is piano-driven (with the piano coming from Heartbreaker Benmont Tench). In many ways the melody is vintage 1980s Petty, but Rubin's production pulls it out of time, as do Petty's vocals, which have a weariness that took him a while to grow into.
The album closes with a final piano track, this one played by Petty. "Wake Up Time" is a beautiful ballad, given just a bit of an edge from Petty's serviceable-but-not-particularly-pretty piano playing. Petty alternately sings and preaches over the track as a Michael Kamen score rolls into the track, somehow never overwhelming the song nor softening its edges. It's because of Petty's emotional directness, which simply can't be toppled by an army of violins and cellos.
Wildflowers also had some big hits. "You Don't Know How It Feels," which featured a lot of Petty's head in a close-up, was an MTV staple, even though his lyric about rolling another joint needed to be censored. "You Wreck Me," with its garage rock energy, became identified with the Heartbreakers, and given it was co-written with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, who's to say that wasn't always the intent?
Petty and the Heartbreakers, solo and together, released six more studio albums after Wildflowers. But while the band kept making music and touring, there's something conclusive about Wildflowers. It's almost like Petty put everything he had into that album and while there was plenty left creatively, he had made something so great and so perfect, it would be hard to top. Petty let us in for over an hour of music and while he never totally shut the door, he would never leave it open as much as he did for Wildflowers. And maybe thinking about that openness is what made him smile so beatifically in the diner.
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Editor's note: this anniversary tribute was originally published in 2019 and has since been edited for accuracy and timeliness.