When you have collaborators that you trust, you tend to return to them again and again. Tom Petty had a few of those fellow musicians/producers with whom he liked to work, especially when outside the bounds of The Heartbreakers.
Perhaps the most famous of Petty’s collaborators in that vein was ELO frontman Jeff Lynne. In 2006, the two men got together one more time for a wonderful album that demonstrated their symbiotic professional relationship.
Dynamic Duo
At first glance, the combination of Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne seemed an odd fit, at least in musical terms. Petty gained his reputation as a straightforward rock and roller who put songwriting front and center.
Meanwhile, Lynne, although also a stellar songwriter, festooned the songs of ELO with orchestral trappings and bold production flourishes to set them apart. Yet when Lynne connected with Petty to begin work on Full Moon Fever, which became Petty’s first-ever solo album, the two men hit it off.
Lynne also produced Into The Great Wide Open, Petty’s reunion with The Heartbreakers, in 1991. And, of course, the two men played together on a pair of highly acclaimed albums with the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys.
‘Companion’ Piece
When Petty reached out to Lynne again for the making of Highway Companion, released in 2006, it had been 15 years since the men last worked together. When they collaborated on Full Moon Fever, it was more like they formed an ad hoc group featuring Petty, Lynne, Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, and drummer Phil Jones.
But this time around, Petty was more the driving artistic force, even with Lynne and Campbell once again helping out. Lynne mostly sidelined his more overt production touches this time around. That allowed the wistful side of Petty’s songwriting to take center stage time and again.
Carefree ‘Highway’
Highway Companion is also somewhat unique in the Petty catalog in that he plays drums on the album. Even without the band behind him, Petty and his cohorts stir up quite a racket on tracks like his first single “Saving Grace” and “Turn This Car Around”.
But for the most part, Highway Companion is given over to wry, bittersweet ruminations that originated from a relatively settled point in Petty’s life and career. Happy in his second marriage and with nothing to prove, he delivered one of his subtlest triumphs.
On the standout track “Damaged By Love”, Petty and Lynne harmonize beautifully in the refrain. It would be their last time working together. And in moments like those, you can hear why their musical partnership was so indelibly special.
(Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)
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