Mike Campbell is one of the original members of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. You’ll hear Mike playing lead guitar on all of Tom Petty’s Heartbreaker albums, solo albums, and Mudcrutch albums.
Mike Campbell’s book Heartbreaker compellingly takes us from when he first started playing guitar to how he met Tom Petty, and then gives us the details on the complete journey of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
People might expect that a teenage Rock & Roll guitarist was a rebel who was so obsessed with guitar playing that he had little time for schoolwork. So, who would have thought the reason Mike Campbell met Tom Petty was because he was a straight-A student in high school? Those grades helped Mike get a scholarship to the University of Florida. That move from Jacksonville to Gainesville was how he met Tom Petty and the other musicians who eventually became The Heartbreakers. There were a lot of bands playing around Gainesville in the 70s, and Tom added Mike Campbell to his band that somehow came up with the name Mudcrutch.
The original lineup of Mudcrutch…guitarist Mike Campbell, bassist Tom Petty, guitarist Tom Leadon, and drummer Randall Marsh. When Tom Leadon left for L.A. to join his brother Bernie (who helped form the Eagles), keyboardist Benmont Tench and bassist Ron Blair joined. Tom Petty then switched to rhythm guitar.
The book Heartbreaker is well written, and does a great job of detailing the struggles it took for those musicians to eventually make it in the business of Rock & Roll. There were a lot of days of doubt and living in poverty before there was success.
Eventually of course, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers broke through in 1976 and had a career that lasted over 40-years.
Mike Campbell fills us in on so much of what it took to create all those albums. Plus, we learn about some of the interactions they had with many of the other musicians, producers, and friends in the music industry. That music industry tended to take advantage of young musicians, and the group had to fight for their rightful place in the business.
One of the stories about the effects of having a poor contract was that even after several successful albums, Mike Campbell and his wife, Marcie, almost lost their home. What saved them was a song Mike had written. He gave his instrumental demo to Don Henley. Don added his own lyrics, and recorded what is probably his best solo hit, “The Boys Of Summer”. The massive hit provided Mike with an enormous royalty check.
Probably not all Tom Petty fans realized that Mike Campbell was a major songwriting contributor to the success of the band. Songs he cowrote with Tom Petty include “Rufugee”, “You Got Lucky”, “Love Is A Long Road”, “Runnin’ Down A Dream”, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”, and “You Wreck Me”. Mike recorded demos of the music he wrote. He played guitars, bass, and a drum machine onto a 4-track recorder at his home. He’d give the recordings to Tom, who would further develop the melodies and write the lyrics.
In an unusual full circle moment, Mudcrutch was put back together. The three Heartbreakers that were on every Tom Petty album, Mike, Benmont, and Tom, added back in Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh. Imagine what it meant for those two to finally be in a successful band with their old friends. The first Mudcrutch album came out in 2008, and the second in 2016. It was the last album Tom Petty recorded.
Also shown above are the two major collections of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ best known songs. Greatest Hits takes us through 1992, and the double album The Best Of Everything covers the entire career of Tom Petty. Some of his best songwriting and recordings are in the second half of his career, which followed the first Greatest Hits album.
We all know the ending of The Heartbreakers came with Tom’s death at the age of 66 in 2017. He had just completed a 40th Anniversary Tour, which he had done with a broken hip, and he died from an accidental overdose of pain killers.
Tom Petty and Mike Campbell were close. Even when the band broke up for a while, and it looked like they wouldn’t make it in L.A., Tom kept Mike Campbell with him. After we’ve gotten to know so much about everyone involved, the book brings us through the emotional moments surrounding Tom’s death.
Heatbreaker is obviously for Tom Petty and Mike Campbell fans, and for anyone who wants to know the behind the scenes story of a great American band.
Bonus: Thought you guitar fans might like to see some of Mike Campbell’s instruments. The book includes some interesting details about his guitars and how he developed his skills.
Extra note: The book has been out for a while now, so there are some low prices available on hardback copies. I read the digital version.