# Rock Bio: Tom Petty by Warren Zanes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020 "2015-12-21T18:51:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/1 "2015-12-21T18:51:54Z")
Link to book on Amazon: [Petty: The Biography - Kindle edition by Zanes, Warren. Arts & Photography Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VPZVR0G/ref=pe_385040_118058080_TE_M1T1DP) Yeah, I am on a roll with these things. Here is the link to the Sam Phillips bio I read, which has links to the Elvis Costello and Glyn Johns bios I read: [Rock Bio: Sam Phillips, the Man Who Invented Rock n' Roll - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=778000) Next up? **Petty: The Biography** by Warren Zanes, with a lot of input from Petty and others in his life. Zanes was the leader of the **Del Fuegos** and has been at the forefront of cool kids-focused songs. A journeyman musician/writer who has been friends with Petty for years. I am only at the intro, but a couple of phrases jumped out at me, so I thought I would start this thread and come back to it as needed. One is: [QUOTE=Warren Zanes] ‘Breakdown’ had as much space as 'Green Onions." [/QUOTE] and another is: [QUOTE=WZ] The Heartbreakers had a different southernness, in some ways more like Dan Penns and Eddie Hintons, musicians and writers who had been raised on the black sounds around them, players who held back when there was a song in the room, _because there was a song in the room_. [/QUOTE] [italics mine] This is some cool inside-baseball music stuff. Both Breakdown and Green Onions _do_ have a lot of space in them - i.e., they sound full, but when you listen to the individual pieces, there is no Wall of Sound layering - just a few pieces that work together really well. And laying back if there’s a song in the room, i.e., if the song is excellent, make sure and play less and to focus on featuring the song. That’s wise insight from an experienced band player, phrased in an old-school way. Starting off this bio of Petty by speaking to that level of song wisdom is cool. This could be fun. Green Onions: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_bpS-cOBK6Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bpS-cOBK6Q) Breakdown: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsKsFU766Io](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsKsFU766Io) Both are so cool in how spare they are. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/2 "2015-12-21T18:55:58Z")
Freakonomics had a whole episode recently devoted to talking to Zanes about Petty. I am looking forward to reading the book. The podcast is worth a listen if you have the time. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/3 "2015-12-21T19:03:09Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Freakonomics had a whole episode recently devoted to talking to Zanes about Petty. I am looking forward to reading the book. The podcast is worth a listen if you have the time. Ooo - can you post a link to this thread? Thanks for mentioning it! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/4 "2015-12-21T19:14:56Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Ooo - can you post a link to this thread? > > Thanks for mentioning it! Sure, [here you go](http://freakonomics.com/2015/11/12/should-everyone-be-in-a-rock-band-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/). ETA: There’s a transcript there too, if you don’t feel like listening. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/5 "2015-12-22T13:03:20Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Sure, [here you go](http://freakonomics.com/2015/11/12/should-everyone-be-in-a-rock-band-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/). > > ETA: There’s a transcript there too, if you don’t feel like listening. I read the transcript, but may go back and listen to it, since many songs that add context to the story are cited as interstitials. Nice references to Petty, but great stuff about Warren Zanes and his life (by the way, I mixed him up in the OP with his brother, Dan Zanes, who is the cool kids’ musician these days). The story about Warren being at Petty’s party when George Harrison was there…I couldn’t imagine. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/6 "2015-12-29T14:41:05Z")
Update: Finished it. A finely crafted authorized (for all intents and purposes) biography. Warren Zanes’ experience in a band, and as a huge Petty fan who toured with them and did some minor hanging out with him, all bring a nice credibility. It is pretty fawning, but how can it not be when Petty has gone from strength to strength, ending up close friends with George Harrison and Bob Dylan? There is a lot of insider turmoil discussed because Stan Lynch is an extroverted guy with a bit of high drama who shared a lot with Zanes, but also because they have had some turmoil and deaths (Howie Epstein their 2nd bassist died of a heroin overdose and there is a period where Petty was using). If you are a fan I think you would really enjoy it. If you are not a fan, it is a well-written way to get to know more. Next Up: **Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl** by Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia. I am not a super-knowledgeable guy about their music - I respect what I have heard - so it will be interesting to dig in. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/7 "2015-12-30T12:27:37Z")
A _bump_ although I am not expecting further posts. Just trying to process the lack of interest - is Petty just fading and a bio is no big deal? Is the Dope on holiday low volume? Sometimes it feels like the pace of new threads or conversations has declined a big amount… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/8 "2015-12-30T13:46:51Z")
I think Petty and the Heartbreakers are maybe the greatest rock band in U.S. history and churned out a lot of terrific music. But I have zero interest in reading his biography (and those of rock musicians in general). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-bio-tom-petty-by-warren-zanes/741020/9 "2015-12-30T14:44:41Z")
I think Tom Petty totally fucking rocks, but I have zero interest in his biography. I feel the same about 99.999% of all rock stars biographies; I’d say 100% but there may someday be one that I’d read. ETA: I stumbled in here to see what the thread was about and see what you thought of the book, **WordMan** , but it’s nothing I’d ever read myself.