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Wildflowers (Tom Petty album)

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Wildflowers
Studio album by
Tom Petty
ReleasedNovember 1, 1994 (1994-11-01)[1]
RecordedJuly 20, 1992 – April 29, 1994
Studio
Genre
Length62:48
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Tom Petty chronology
Greatest Hits
(1993) 		Wildflowers
(1994) 		Playback
(1995)
Singles from Wildflowers
  1. "You Don't Know How It Feels"
    Released: November 7, 1994[5]
  2. "You Wreck Me"
    Released: 1995
  3. "It's Good to Be King"
    Released: 1995
Singles from Wildflowers & All the Rest
  1. "There Goes Angela (Dream Away)"
    Released: August 20, 2020
  2. "Confusion Wheel"
    Released: September 10, 2020
  3. "Leave Virginia Alone"
    Released: October 1, 2020
  4. "Something Could Happen"
    Released: December 8, 2020[6]

Wildflowers is the second solo studio album by American musician Tom Petty, released on November 1, 1994,[1] by Warner Bros. Records. It was the first album released by Petty after signing a contract with Warner Bros., where he had recorded as part of the Traveling Wilburys. It was the first of three of his albums produced with Rick Rubin. Wildflowers was very well-received by critics upon release and was certified 3× platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2020, Wildflowers was ranked at number 214 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[7]

Production

[edit]

Wildflowers was credited only to Petty and not to his usual band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers because, in Petty's words, "Rick [Rubin] and I both wanted more freedom than to be strapped into five guys."[8] Nonetheless, the Heartbreakers predominantly served as the musicians on the album. The album features all the band's members with the exception of drummer Stan Lynch. Petty auditioned numerous drummers for the album, and eventually chose Steve Ferrone. Petty fired Lynch from the Heartbreakers just before the album's release, and Ferrone officially joined the touring band the following year, and later became a full band member. (Lynch did play on one outtake from Wildflowers, "Something Could Happen").

Petty wrote and recorded numerous songs for the album, and the original plan was to have Wildflowers be a double album, with 25 songs in total. However, Lenny Waronker of Warner Bros. Records felt that the album was too long, and it was decided to reduce the album to 15 tracks.[9] Of the 10 tracks left out, one, "Leave Virginia Alone", notably became a hit single the following year when it was recorded by Rod Stewart, while another four were included, in modified form, in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' next album, the soundtrack album to the 1996 film She's the One. All ten songs, in their original form, were later released in the 2020 edition of Wildflowers, Wildflowers & All the Rest.

Outtakes

[edit]
  • "Girl on LSD" was released as the B-side of the "You Don't Know How It Feels" single (1994).
  • "Leave Virginia Alone" was another song written and recorded during the sessions and left off the finished album. It was given to Rod Stewart for his album A Spanner in the Works (1995).
  • The songs "California", "Hope You Never", "Hung Up and Overdue", and "Climb That Hill" were all included on the She's the One soundtrack album (1996), with various edits across the first three tracks, while "Climb That Hill" was a complete remake.[10]
  • In 2018, outtake "Lonesome Dave," recorded July 23, 1993, was released on Petty's posthumous box set An American Treasure.
  • In 2021, a cover of J.J. Cale's "Thirteen Days," recorded July 22, 1993, was released on the reimagined version of She's the One soundtrack album, Angel Dream.

Release and reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Initial reviews (in 1994)
Review scores
SourceRating
Chicago Tribune[11]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[12]
The Guardian[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]
NME8/10[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Select[17]
USA Today[2]
Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews (after 1994)
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]
Christgau's Consumer GuideB−[19]
Pitchfork8.8/10[20]

Reviewing Wildflowers for USA Today, Edna Gundersen wrote that, in contrast to the "adolescent fantasies" of fellow rockers such as Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones, Petty explored "middle-age reality" on an effective album of "sweet-and-sour heartland rock".[2] Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone stated that Wildflowers "is not as sonically adventurous ... or as instantly accessible" as previous Petty albums such as Southern Accents (1985) and Full Moon Fever (1989), but its "resolute passion and maturity grow more evident with each listen until the album acquires a haunting, enduring resonance."[16] The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan remarked that "misery suits Petty, and Wildflowers contains some of the best work of his career",[13] while Emma Forrest commented in NME that "an album that helps you sort your thoughts without interrupting them is just as significant as any furious paean to disgruntled youth."[15] In the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot said that Wildflowers, with its "subtle and painterly" sound, showed Petty moving further into musical "ambiguity", "and the music seems newly freed, however subdued it may seem at first."[11]

Although finding it inconsistent, Los Angeles Times journalist Chris Willman observed that Wildflowers "has such an interesting, subtle kind of resonance you may not bemoan the lack of instant anthems."[14] David Browne, however, opined in Entertainment Weekly that Petty had failed to progress musically or lyrically,[12] and music critic Robert Christgau felt that Petty sounded "wilted" and "torpid".[19]

Four singles were released from the album between 1994 and 1995, the most successful of which, "You Don't Know How It Feels", reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart for one week. It was followed by "You Wreck Me", "It's Good to Be King" and "A Higher Place" which reached Nos. 2, 6, and 12 respectively on the Mainstream Rock chart.[21] The title track, while not released as a single, charted at #16 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart[22] and at #3 on the Billboard Lyric Find.[23] and became one of Petty's most streamed and popular songs.[24][25]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found that Wildflowers is distinguished within Petty's discography by "its casual gait" and extended length, allowing it to capture "the full range of Tom Petty as a singer, songwriter, and rocker."[18] Pitchfork writer Sam Sodomsky said that it was Petty's best solo album, characterized by its "elegantly spare, personal, and intuitive" songs.[20] Rolling Stone listed Wildflowers as the twelfth-best album of the 1990s,[26] and later ranked the record at number 214 on its 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[7] Guitar World placed the album at number 49 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[27]

In April 2015, when Petty's back catalog was released in high-resolution audio, this was one of only two albums not included in the series (Songs and Music from "She's the One" was the other one), but a hi-res version was available on Pono Music.

The title of the 2020 book Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles comes from a lyric in the album's title song "Wildflowers".[28]

Wildflowers & All the Rest

[edit]

Petty's family and bandmates arranged a 2020 re-release of the album that includes deleted songs, demos, and live tracks, entitled Wildflowers & All the Rest.[29] Disc four, Wildflowers Live, consists of fourteen previously unreleased tracks, two of which had only been distributed to fan club members. These live tracks were recorded on various tours from 1995 to 2017.[30] The super deluxe edition of the box set included a fifth disc of alternate versions of the Wildflowers tracks, called Finding Wildflowers. In April 2021, Finding Wildflowers was released individually.[31]

Documentary

[edit]

The making of Wildflowers is the subject of the 2021 documentary film Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free – The Making of Wildflowers, directed by Mary Wharton. The documentary includes a significant amount of archival footage from the recording sessions, recorded by Martyn Atkins, which had only recently been unearthed following Petty's death; as well as new interviews with many of the producers and musicians who had been involved with the album. The film was released in November 2021 on YouTube.[32][33]

Track listing

[edit]
Wildflowers
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wildflowers"Tom Petty3:11
2."You Don't Know How It Feels"Petty4:49
3."Time to Move On"Petty3:15
4."You Wreck Me"
3:22
5."It's Good to Be King"Petty5:10
6."Only a Broken Heart"Petty4:30
7."Honey Bee"Petty4:58
8."Don't Fade on Me"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
3:32
9."Hard on Me"Petty3:48
10."Cabin Down Below"Petty2:51
11."To Find a Friend"Petty3:23
12."A Higher Place"Petty3:56
13."House in the Woods"Petty5:32
14."Crawling Back to You"Petty5:05
15."Wake Up Time"Petty5:19
Total length:62:48
All the Rest
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Something Could Happen"Petty4:35
2."Leave Virginia Alone"Petty4:16
3."Climb That Hill Blues"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
2:33
4."Confusion Wheel"Petty4:20
5."California"Petty2:38
6."Harry Green"Petty3:54
7."Hope You Never"Petty3:03
8."Somewhere Under Heaven"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
4:37
9."Climb That Hill"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
3:34
10."Hung Up and Overdue"Petty6:03
Total length:39:33
Home Recordings
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."There Goes Angela (Dream Away)"Petty3:50
2."You Don't Know How It Feels"Petty4:54
3."California"Petty3:44
4."A Feeling of Peace"Petty4:32
5."Leave Virginia Alone"Petty3:46
6."Crawling Back to You"Petty4:11
7."Don't Fade on Me"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
3:30
8."Confusion Wheel"Petty4:21
9."A Higher Place"Petty3:17
10."There's a Break in the Rain (Have Love Will Travel)"Petty3:37
11."To Find a Friend"Petty3:26
12."Only a Broken Heart"Petty3:56
13."Wake Up Time"Petty5:41
14."Hung Up and Overdue"Petty2:45
15."Wildflowers"Petty2:55
Total length:58:25
Wildflowers Live
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Don't Know How It Feels"Petty6:48
2."Honey Bee"Petty5:21
3."To Find a Friend"Petty3:57
4."Walls"Petty3:22
5."Crawling Back to You"Petty5:06
6."Cabin Down Below"Petty3:04
7."Drivin' Down to Georgia"Petty6:24
8."House in the Woods"Petty5:38
9."Girl on LSD"Petty5:21
10."Time To Move On"Petty2:44
11."Wake Up Time"Petty5:35
12."It's Good to Be King"Petty11:38
13."You Wreck Me"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
5:44
14."Wildflowers"Petty4:31
Total length:75:13
Alternate Versions (Finding Wildflowers)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Higher Place"Petty3:51
2."Hard on Me"Petty3:49
3."Cabin Down Below"Petty3:47
4."Crawling Back to You"Petty5:06
5."Only a Broken Heart"Petty4:56
6."Drivin' Down to Georgia"Petty4:58
7."You Wreck Me"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
3:31
8."It's Good to Be King"Petty5:07
9."House in the Woods"Petty5:06
10."Honey Bee"Petty5:21
11."Girl on LSD"Petty3:45
12."Cabin Down Below (Acoustic)"Petty2:45
13."Wildflowers"Petty3:32
14."Don't Fade on Me"
  • Petty
  • Campbell
4:28
15."Wake Up Time"Petty5:31
16."You Saw Me Comin'"Petty4:38
Total length:70:11

Personnel

[edit]

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for singles from Wildflowers
Year Single Chart Position
1994 "You Don't Know How It Feels" US Mainstream Rock Chart 1[69]
1995 US Billboard Hot 100 13[69]
"You Wreck Me" US Mainstream Rock Chart 2[70]
"It's Good to Be King" 6[71]
"A Higher Place" 12[72]

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for Wildflowers
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[73] 2× Platinum 200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[74] Silver 60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[75] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "25 Years on, Where's Tom Petty's Complete 'Wildflowers' Album?". November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Gundersen, Edna (November 15, 1994). "A rocking sensibility in full flower". USA Today.
  3. ^ "Rock Hall digs into Tom Petty's life through his 'Wildflowers' period". December 9, 2021.
  4. ^ Pitchfork Staff (September 28, 2022). "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 26, 2023. ...his second solo record was a turning point for the then-44-year-old rocker into a wiser era, strolling through folk, blues, and rock...
  5. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. November 5, 1994. p. 23.
  6. ^ "Tom Petty - Music" – via Tom Petty.com.
  7. ^ a b "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  8. ^ Petty, Tom: Conversations with Tom Petty, page 142. Omnibus Press, 2005.
  9. ^ Brown, David (September 16, 2020). "Three Years After Tom Petty's Death, His Dream Project Finally Emerges". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  10. ^ DeRiso, Nick (October 2, 2018). "The Tortured History of Tom Petty's 'Wildflowers' Outtakes". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  11. ^ a b Kot, Greg (November 4, 1994). "Out On The Edge". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Browne, David (November 4, 1994). "Music Reviews: 'Wildflowers' and 'You Got Lucky'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Sullivan, Caroline (November 4, 1994). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers (Warner)". The Guardian.
  14. ^ a b Willman, Chris (October 30, 1994). "Tom Petty 'Wildflowers' Warner Bros". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Forrest, Emma (November 19, 1994). "Florist Gumption". NME. p. 48.
  16. ^ a b Gardner, Elysa (November 3, 1994). "Wildflowers – Tom Petty". Rolling Stone. No. 694. pp. 95, 97. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  17. ^ CC (November 1994). "New Albums: Soundbites". Select. p. 106. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Wildflowers – Tom Petty". AllMusic. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  19. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (2000). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 245. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Sodomsky, Sam (October 10, 2017). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  21. ^ Tom Petty discography
  22. ^ "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Chart History". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Tom Petty". Spotify.
  25. ^ Kelly, Sean (November 2019). "Tom Petty's 'Wildflowers' Turns 25: The Stories Behind the Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  26. ^ "100 Best Albums of the '90s". The '90s: The Inside Stories from the Decade That Rocked. Harper Design. 2010. pp. 282–297. ISBN 978-0-06-177920-6. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  27. ^ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  28. ^ "Exclusive: Interview With Author of New Tom Petty Book". BestClassicBands.com. April 10, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  29. ^ Kreps, Daniel (August 20, 2020). "Tom Petty's Long-Awaited Wildflowers Box Set Detailed". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  30. ^ "Tom Petty's Long-Awaited Wildflowers Comprehensive Collection to be Released". TomPetty.com. August 20, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  31. ^ Shackleford, Tom (March 10, 2021). "Tom Petty 'Wildflowers' Alternate Recordings to Receive Stand-Alone Release [Video]". Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  32. ^ Farber, Jim (November 10, 2021). "Somewhere You Feel Free: behind the making of Tom Petty's Wildflower". The Guardian.
  33. ^ Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free – The Making of Wildflowers on YouTube
  34. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  35. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Petty – Wildflowers" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  36. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8012". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  37. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Petty – Wildflowers" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  38. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Petty – Wildflowers" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  39. ^ "Charts.nz – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  40. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  41. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  42. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  43. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  44. ^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  45. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  46. ^ "Ultratop.be – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  47. ^ "Ultratop.be – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  48. ^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  49. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  50. ^ "Tom Petty: Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  51. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  52. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2020. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  53. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  54. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  55. ^ "Charts.nz – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  56. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  57. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  58. ^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 43: del 16.10.2020 al 22.10.2020" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  59. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  60. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  61. ^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  62. ^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  63. ^ "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 16" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  64. ^ "Veckolista Vinyl, vecka 16" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  65. ^ @billboardcharts (April 26, 2021). "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200 (2/2)..." (Tweet). Retrieved April 27, 2021 – via Twitter.
  66. ^ "Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1995". BestSellingAlbums.org. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  67. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  68. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  69. ^ a b "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers You Don't Know How It Feels Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  70. ^ "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  71. ^ "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers It's Good To Be King Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  72. ^ "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers A Higher Place Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  73. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Music Canada. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  74. ^ "British album certifications – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  75. ^ "American album certifications – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Recording Industry Association of America.
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