Tom Petty Southern Accents CD

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (vocals, acoustic, 12-string & electric guitars, piano, keyboards, tambourine); Mike Campbell (slide guitar, guitar, dobro, piano, keyboards, bass, background vocals); Benmont Tench (acoustic & electric pianos, keyboards, vibraphone); Howie Epstein

(bass, background vocals); Stan Lynch (drums, percussion, background vocals).

Few musicians can manage to produce simple, pop-inflected rock & roll with as much integrity as Tom Petty. Possibly the definitive FM rock radio star, Petty has been combining great hooks, unabashedly straightforward arrangements and a Dylanesque, clenched-teeth-whine on great records since the mid '70s. SOUTHERN ACCENTS, though not up to the snuff of his earlier efforts, still delivers in suitable fashion. SOUTHERN ACCENTS is notable chiefly for the unbelievably great, sitar-drenched, drone-groove of "Don't Come Around Here No More," a song that manages to be distinctly Petty and, at the same time, like nothing he's done before. While not Petty's best, SOUTHERN ACCENTS is still an example of the thing Petty makes best: honest pop music.

Addtional personnel includes: David A. Stewart (guitar, sitar, keyboards, bass); Daniel Rothmuller (cello); Marty Jourard, Molly Duncan (saxophone); Dave Plews (trumpet); Garth Hudson (keyboards); Dean Garcia (bass); Phil Jones, Bobbye Hall (tambourine); Jim Keltner (percussion); Stephanie Spruill, Sharon Celani, Marilyn Martin, Maxine Waters, Julia Waters, Clydene Jackson, Richard Manuel (background vocals).

The Heart Attack Horns: Jim Coile, William Bergman (tenor saxophone); Gregory Smith (baritone saxophone); Dick Braun (trumpet); John Berry Jr., Kurt McGettrick.

Producers: Tom Petty, Jimmy Iovine, Mike Campbell, David A. Stewart, Robbie Robertson.

Personnel: Tom Petty (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, piano, keyboards, 12-string bass, tambourine); Mike Campbell (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, dobro, harmonica, piano, keyboards); Dave Stewart (vocals, guitar, sitar, keyboards); Benmont Tench (vocals, piano, electric piano, keyboards, vibraphone); Stan Lynch (vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion); Clydene Jackson, Sharon Celani, Julia Tillman Waters, Howie Epstein, Marilyn Martin, Maxine Willard Waters, Stephanie Spruill (vocals, background vocals); Richard Manuel (vocals); Daniel Rothmuller (cello, clarinet); Jack Nitzsche (strings); Greg Smith (saxophone, baritone saxophone, horns, background vocals); Martin Jourard, Malcolm Duncan, Marty Jourard, Molly Duncan (saxophone); Jim Coile, William Bergman (tenor saxophone, horns, sound effects, background vocals); Dick Braun (trumpet, horns, sound effects, background vocals); John Berry, Jr. (trumpet, horns, sound effects); Dave Plews (trumpet); Kurt McGettrick (horns, sound effects, background vocals); Jerry Hey (horns); Garth Hudson (keyboards); Sean Lynch (drums); Phil Jones, Bobbye Hall (tambourine, percussion); Jim Keltner (percussion); Julia Waters (background vocals).

Audio Remixers: Don Smith ; Shelly Yakus.

Recording information: Church Studios, Crouch End, London, England; Gone Gator One; Sound City; Sun Set Sound, LA; Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA; The Village Recorder.

Photographers: Dennis Keeley; Steve Breitborde.Uncut (5/04, p.116) - "[The Heartbreakers] drop deftly into some sleek western swing, gliding from the speakers like a silver streamliner hurtling across Texas."