Just saying his name is like a magical incantation used to summon great rock and roll music. She's seen shows at every major concert venue in Southern California, but most special was when Paul McCartney played the high-desert roadhouse Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown for a couple hundred fans in October 2016.Tom Petty. In June 2019, Poynter wrote about Vanessa and the Southern California News Group Entertainment Squad's approach to covering local entertainment journalism. She has reported on everything from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to the MLB All-Star Game as a reporter, photographer, videographer and on-camera personality. Vanessa became the pop culture reporter at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside in 2006 and later took on the music and casinos beats prior to becoming the Features Editor and then Assistant Managing Editor overseeing features and sports. Vanessa graduated from Boston University with a journalism degree and her first newspaper job was in her home state of Maryland working at The Capital in Annapolis, where she was a general assignment and breaking news reporter. Vanessa Franko is the Digital Director of Entertainment and Features for the Southern California News Group. And then it ends in this slow build, with fancy fretwork fading to black. Then there’s the boom-boom-boom bridge breakdown. Then you have the lyrics, opening with “Well, she was an American girl, Raised on promises” and before you get to the chorus where everyone would rather sing the backup “Make it last all night” than the lead. The opening guitar riff, the breathless “cha,” the handclaps and the “ahh” and “ooh” leading into the first verse are divine on their own. ![]() This one has the ultimate guitar riff in Petty’s repertoire and it references Del Shannon’s “Runaway.” The pinnacle is when the backup singer hits that “Aaaaah” and Petty as the Mad Hatter is about to cut into the Alice cake. The “Alice in Wonderland” video makes it even better. The “Wildflowers” entry has been one of the highlights of Petty’s live show, and not just because of the line “Let’s get to the point, let’s roll another joint.” The simple “We Will Rock You”-style drums play off a great harmonica riff. We all want to glide down, over Mulholland Drive, don’t we?Īnother classic off “Damn the Torpedoes,” the chorus is iconic, but the bridge into that organ solo from Benmont Tench is one of the highest points of the entire album. And if you live in Southern California, you can identify the spots named. Put it on, turn it up and hit the gas.Įveryone knows this one. “I Need to Know” is the closest Petty gets to punk. Off “Wildflowers,” this track, which is instantly identifiable by the opening three chords, kicked off the encore of the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 40th anniversary tour. It opens with “Well, it was nearly summer, we sat on your roof/Yeah we smoked cigarettes and we stared at the moon.” This power pop gem off “Damn the Torpedoes” has lyrics so descriptive that you can picture the scenes unfolding even on the first listen. With more than four decades of music, he had multiple albums that reached that iconic “must own” status across the decades, including “Damn the Torpedoes,” “Full Moon Fever” (1989) and “Wildflowers” (1994), but if you want to listen to some of his best, start with these. Petty picked up the torch from the sun-soaked Laurel Canyon of California country where the Eagles soared and plugged in for some of the greatest classic rock songs. ![]() Although Tom Petty, who died yesterday at age 66, hailed from Florida, the rocker, along with his band the Heartbreakers, became an electrified part of Southern California’s musical tapestry.
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