As requested, more TOM PETTY And The Heartbreakers, and your Classic Rock collection is not complete without their third, defining album “Damn The Torpedoes”. This ”Damn The Torpedoes [Deluxe Edition]” is out of print now and used copiers are expensive, but this is the one to pick up as the remaster is very good, and the bonus disc is really worth of material.
Released on October 19, 1979, “Damn The Torpedoes” is widely regarded as one of Petty’s best albums. Before this reissue, in October 2009, thirty years almost to the day after this album came out and changed his rock & roll life, Tom Petty recalled what it was like during the year he and The Heartbreakers, his loyal and stubborn band, fought to make ”Damn The Torpedoes”: battling major-label executives with a plantation-boss attitude while sweating over every guitar lick, vocal harmony and fish-hook chorus on what Petty knew was a turning-point record.
Among the bonus gems there’s 2 previously unreleased studio tracks from the recording sessions, completely finished, but finally didn’t make it in the final track list.
On CD2, the tracks “Nowhere” and “Surrender,” both were written by Tom Petty and recorded and completed during the ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ sessions.
The never-before-heard “Nowhere” was thought to have been lost in 1979 when the tape boxes were being moved daily to avoid the possibility that court bailiffs would claim them as part of Petty’s assets in the lawsuit at the time. Recording engineer Ryan Ulyate found the recording while he was listening to tapes searching for alternate versions of songs to be included on the current release.
The original 1979 recording of “Surrender” is also included on the bonus disc. “Surrender” was a mainstay of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ concert setlists for many years although this original studio version recorded for ”Damn The Torpedoes”, which includes Stan Lynch on drums, never saw the light of day until now.
Also included on the bonus disc is an original demo for the B-side “Casa Dega” and an alternate take of “Refugee” as well as a trio of live performances at London’s Hammersmith Odeon (March 6, 1980), including “Don’t Do Me Like That,” the first hit single from the album.
On CD2, the tracks “Nowhere” and “Surrender,” both were written by Tom Petty and recorded and completed during the ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ sessions.
The never-before-heard “Nowhere” was thought to have been lost in 1979 when the tape boxes were being moved daily to avoid the possibility that court bailiffs would claim them as part of Petty’s assets in the lawsuit at the time. Recording engineer Ryan Ulyate found the recording while he was listening to tapes searching for alternate versions of songs to be included on the current release.
The original 1979 recording of “Surrender” is also included on the bonus disc. “Surrender” was a mainstay of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ concert setlists for many years although this original studio version recorded for ”Damn The Torpedoes”, which includes Stan Lynch on drums, never saw the light of day until now.
Also included on the bonus disc is an original demo for the B-side “Casa Dega” and an alternate take of “Refugee” as well as a trio of live performances at London’s Hammersmith Odeon (March 6, 1980), including “Don’t Do Me Like That,” the first hit single from the album.
Thanks in large part to the studio wizardry of producer Jimmy Iovine and engineer Shelly Yakus, the album singles “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” and “Here Comes My Girl” sounded massive on FM radio.
After two studio albums, after “Breakdown” barely cracked the Top 40 and “American Girl” didn’t even chart, after four years in the industry mines and a few months of court battles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had finally conquered the rock&pop world.
‘Torpedoes’ sat at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart for seven weeks—kept from the top spot by Pink Floyd’s The Wall—and would eventually sell nearly three million copies. The band’s stardom was actually validated through MCA’s own blinkered corporate logic.
Having learned no lessons from testing Petty’s will, the label determined that the Heartbreakers now qualified for its unscrupulous “Superstar Pricing,” an increase from $8.98 to $9.98 already applied to big sellers like Steely Dan’s Gaucho and the Xanadu soundtrack from ELO and Olivia Newton-John.
Yet again, Petty threatened to withhold the LP—arguing that his label was trying to price-gouge his fans—or title it Eight Ninety-Eight. MCA decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Petty won again, and named the followup ‘Hard Promises’.
”Damn The Torpedos” is the peak of Tom Petty’s songwriting with The Heartbreakers. Slick, big, and immutably classic, the album is a front-to-back feat of production and songwriting.
HIGHLY Recommended
Disc 1
01 – Refugee
02 – Here Comes My Girl
03 – Even The Losers
04 – Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)
05 – Century City
06 – Don’t Do Me Like That
07 – You Tell Me
08 – What Are You Doin’ In My Life?
09 – Louisiana Rain
Disc 2
01 – Nowhere (Bonus Track)
02 – Surrender (Bonus Track)
03 – Casa Dega (Bonus Track)
04 – It’s Rainin’ Again (Bonus Track)
05 – Shadow Of A Doubt (Live Hammersmith, London – 03.06.1980)
06 – Don’t Do Me Like That (Live Hammersmith, London – 03.06.1980)
07 – Something’ Else (Live Hammersmith, London – 03.06.1980)
08 – Casa Dega (Demo)
09 – Refugee (Alternate Take)
Tom Petty – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica
Mike Campbell – guitars
Benmont Tench – piano, organ, harmonium, backing vocals
Ron Blair – bass guitar
Stan Lynch – drums, backing vocals
with:
Donald “Duck” Dunn – bass guitar
Jim Keltner (uncredited) – percussion
TOM PETTY And The Heartbreakers – Damn The Torpedoes [Deluxe Edition] 2010
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