Tom Petty is on my Mt Rushmore of Music. I won't go into the other three faces on my Mt Rushmore so not to dilute this piece but his songs were more than songs to me.
His artistry and body of work are pictures and sounds in my head that have been there most of my life. Every time I've played one his songs on the radio or covered "Lucky" with my guys I had the same day dream of me and Tom Petty sitting on a back porch, watching a Florida sunset sipping on whiskey and smoking a hand rolled talking about life.
I vividly remember sitting in the back of my parents Ford Maverick picking my dad up from the body shop (we had one car) and hearing the first few notes of "Refugee". My dad turned it up and when the song went off I couldn't wait to hear it again!
Over the years the music just kept coming...almost to point that I think people and radio took the effortlessness for granted. I feel like the same thing has happend to Dave Grohl over the past few years. The bar is set so high as far as what you expect that the real good songs seem less than they are because they are compared to the legendary songs.
As an adult my friends and I covered "Lucky" and I remember always asking "any Tom Petty fans out there?" knowing damn well we couldn't go wrong playing that song. Here's to being one the best friends I've never met! I never got to sit down and watch that Florida sundown with you but you've been there through your "home grown" music many many times! Thank you thank you from Florida Boy to another THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC!!
Rest In Peace Tom Petty
The friend you never met but you knew you had,
Crash