Track Listing

1. Shady Grove
2. Scare Easy
3. Orphan Of The Storm
4. Six Days On The Road
5. Crystal River
6. Oh Maria
7. This Is A Good Street
8. Wrong Thing To Do
9. Queen Of The Go Go Girls
10. June Apple
11. Lover Of The Bayou
12. Topanga Cowgirl
13. Bootleg Flyer
14. House Of Stone

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15508 in Music
• Released on: 2008-05-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .16 pounds

CD Description
In the early-to-mid 1970s, Tom Petty's band Mudcrutch was one of the biggest things in Gainesville, Florida, but when they went to L.A. to make it big, only about half the group survived the transformation to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.Three decades later, Petty decided to go back to his roots by re-forming Mudcrutch for a long-overdue debut album, along with Heartbreakers/former Mudcrutchers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell and long-lost cohorts Tom Leadon (brother of former Eagle Bernie) and Randall Marsh.
Petty spontaneouslybanged out a batch of new tunes for the album, but the bandstays true to the original Mudcrutch template of country-tinged roots rock, even attacking a couple of old cover tunes from the Mudcrutch setlist ("Six Days on the Road", "Shady Grove"). Whether it's the reconnection with his youth, the off-the-cuff working methods, or just a change of pace, Petty wound up turning out his most consistently rewarding album since the '80s.

Customer Reviews

Tom went back in time and found some jems!
I have been a Tom Petty fan for as long as I can remember, but I was un-sure about his idea for a Mudcrutch album after all these years, why not just make that long awaiting Heartbreakers album?.

Now that I have heard it I can see why. This doesn't sound like a Heartbreakers album, there is a more country feel to it as well as some Rock n' roll. But to me, the Mudcrutch sound is definately a worthy addition to Tom's catalogue.

Tom doesn't sing lead on all the songs here, and personally the weakest songs are where the mic is handed to another band mate. I'm not saying the other vocals are bad, it's just hard to beat Tom's Southern style!

The stand out songs are: Scare Easy, Wrong thing to do, Lover of the Bayou and Bootleg Flyer. But I don't skip though any of the others as I don't feel there is a bad song here at all. Even Crystal River, which is over 9 minutes long!

If you are a Tom Petty fan, then you should own this album, and if you are not? buy it anyway!

Petty goes to Nashville
This is more like it. When I saw this I thought it was a reissue of an old album as I knew the name in relation to Tom Petty. Further investigation reveals a true gem. Petty's voice was made for this sound. It has elements of his past work entwined with a more countryish feel and it works! Old stalwarts Campbell and Tench add their individual styles to the pallet with the latter even taking lead vocals on one track.
This CD will not offend the die-hard Petty fans. It slots in amazingly well with his catalogue of fine albums. Think of it as just another TP & The Heartbreakers album with a slightly more laid back feel. It still rocks and it still rolls.

Mudcrutch
It has to be said from the start that there isn't a bad track on this album and anyone buying it is going to be getting some music of the highest order. I could end my review there, but this album has so much to offer, from the amazing album opener 'Shady Grove' to 'Scare Easy', addictive 'Lover of the Bayou' and more besides, this album delivers great music in spades. Some tracks have a real country-rock feel to them and I found them quite reminiscent of the Eagles (which is no bad thing) and others have that distinctive Tom Petty sound, but tweaked and altered by this bands own playing style. It is wonderful, as ever, to hear Tom singing in his own unique way and Mike Campbell's playing is as excellent as ever (ably complimented by Tom Leadon), as is all the musicianship on this album. One minor gripe, and it is very minor, is the terrible digipak format and lack of any booklet. You do get some photos and the usual album credits, but that's about it. Considering how good this CD is it is very difficult to lose many marks for this. This is one to turn up loud, feel that grin spread on your face and enjoy every second. Simply superb!