Tom Petty Speaks Out About the Year’s Least-Requested Reunion: Mudcrutch

Jimmy Page has said that strangers often stop him on the street and beg him to reunite Led Zeppelin. It’s possible not a single person alive has ever asked Tom Petty to reunite his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch, but he’s doing it anyway. The group — which included future Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, along with drummer Randall Marsh and guitarist Tom Leadon — broke up in the mid-Seventies and hadn’t played together until earlier this year when Petty called them all to his Malibu house to cut a new album. He’s even mulling a tour next year. Keep reading for a Q&A where Petty explains why he got the old crew together again. Rolling Stone: You re-formed Mudcrutch recently, right? Tom Petty: Yes, I did. RS: What inspired that? TP: It was weird. It was one of those lighting bolts to the brain. A few years ago I just started thinking about how I missed those guys, Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh. We’ve stayed in contact over the years and we’ve all stayed good friends. I brought it up to Mike and everybody was up for it. We had a ball doing it. We made the album in two weeks flat. We played everything live — vocals, no overdubs. I was just mixing it yesterday. It’s really good. I think people will enjoy it. I moved over to bass, like I used to be. Everybody sings at least one song on it, though I did the majority of the singing. It has kind of a country/rock feel, but not as you think of it today. Maybe a little edgier country kind of feel. It’s pretty cool. RS: Are these all new songs or any older songs you recut? TP: They’re all new songs. RS: Are you guys doing any gigs? TP: I think we may play some gigs. This is another spoke in the wheel — are the Heartbreakers going to go on tour and how does that preclude Mudcrutch doing the same thing and do we have time to do both? RS: Mudcrutch could open up for Tom Petty & The Hearbreakers. TP: [Laughs] I doubt that will happen. RS: How did it feel to play with those guys aft
	Published: 2007-12-06 Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News