Thank you for the link, I’m watching it now. One thing I missed about their early hit “American Girl” from watching them playing it live, was the lyric “God it’s so painful, something that’s so close, and still so far out of reach”.
I don’t know why this resonates with me, and seeing it typed out makes it look and sound trite, but when Tom sang it…well, you know. Seemed and seems a lot more meaningful.
Triple. 
Tom was such a consummate performer that he lived for performing at the detriment of his own health. I wish he’d have taken it a bit easier. His fans would have understood and maybe we’d have had him around for a few more years.
Both he and Prince were “masters of their domain” and obsessive about control - it is what fired their music and their longevity. Tom Petty won’t back down, sues record companies; Prince changes his name to a glyph and shaves Slave into his face to break a contract. That would be a hard impulse to navigate when it comes to being aware of your physical condition, and knowing what you can handle. Muscling through difficulties by grinding through personal self-control becomes a second-nature impulse.
So what would be the proper way to deal with his medical issues, given what was presumably virtually unlimited resources? Lots of bedrest combined with physical therapy and a lot of staff to take care of him?
Yeah, I have no clue. I am simply observing how maintaining control was a driving impulse in each of them, for better and worse.
Right, I understand. And I tried to word my question in a way that didn’t sound like “well, what else could they have done?” because that’s not what I meant. I am just curious to think about what the proper course of action would have been, had they not been so hard-driving.
sounds like Tom Petty needed to be non-weight bearing once he had an actual fracture in his hip. hard to get to the toilet that way, let alone perform on stage.
plus they were used to the drugs they were taking: maybe not afraid of them like they should have been.
missed the edit window: I meant to add that Wordman’s post - especially the part I quoted - was a really good point.
Thank you. And SlackerInc - yep, I don’t know. With Petty AND Prince it was due to hip damage. I don’t know what was understood clinically prior to their deaths, but it sounds like a doctor should’ve been taking a stand on each of their care.
“No, you can’t perform with a broken hip.”
Yeah. Both of them were on the cusp of being “old”, but probably weren’t ready to accept the reality of being infirm with a kind of injury usually associated with the rest home set.
Tom was 10 years older, he was pushing 70. Prince, as we all know jumped off risers and strutted around on stage with heels on. I’m guessing that neither of them were going to end up retired over this, they were both far too active and determined. But I think, like what was said above, they both could have benefited hugely from a year off. Take it easy, go to physical therapy, follow doctor’s orders etc. Tom could have spent some time at home, Prince at Church.
It’s my understanding that for many older people the reason hip fractures tend to lead to death is because they’re laid up in bed for weeks or months and by the time the fracture is healed, they’re not physically able to walk anymore. If they aren’t determined enough to push through that and force themselves to become ambulatory/independent, it becomes a downward spiral. I have to believe people like Tom or Prince wouldn’t have had an issue recovering from this. Also, it’s not like they needed help getting from the bedroom to the bathroom to begin with.
But, they both spent that year on the road. Tom did his largest tour ever. Prince did a big tour in 2015 and then his Piano and a Microphone tour at the beginning of 2016.
I can’t speak for Prince, but I do believe this is probably the way Tom wanted to go. Every interview I heard from him where it came up, he always said he’d be on the road until he died. The only time I ever heard him say anything different was right before this one when he said that he was starting to get older and that he thought this would probably be his last big tour. He went on to say that he would still tour, just nothing of this magnitude. But I still remember thinking that it seemed really odd. I’d never heard him say anything other than “music music music tour tour tour”.
Also, Tom was diagnosed, IIRC, that day with the hip fracture. I’m guessing up until that point it was just ‘my hip is really killin’ me today’.
Link here: - YouTube
A 15 chapter video (each is 7-10 minutes; 90 min total) from 2012. Campbell pulls out the Stratocaster, Broadcaster (a Telecaster from 1950 that he got for $600), Gibson’s, Ricky’s and other key guitars that shaped their sound. Great stories about getting the guitars, using them onstage, getting George Harrison to play slide on one, etc. I think this was done for a DVD extra or a fan club or something. What a nice guy.
If you (Wordman, because you posted a video, that I haven’t yet watched, but for anyone, in general) have XM, they started putting new material on The Tom Petty channel. Since his death, and really, since the beginning of the tour, they’ve been playing reruns of Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure. But for the past few days, when I’ve been driving, they’ve had a show called The New Guy Show. The few I heard were Steve Ferrone and Ron Blair. Some quick poking around makes it look like Steve is hosting and I just happened to hear the episode(s) with Ron.
The name “The New Guy Show”, I assume comes from Steve. Tom Petty jokingly referred to him as The New Guy. Having joined the band only 20+ years ago, he’s still the newest member. They were a remarkably steady band. One member left and was replaced by Steve and Howie died* and was replaced by original member Ron Blair.
*and he happens to be buried just a few miles from me.
So…still dead?
I don’t get XM but that sounds fun.
What is death, though? Is it the cessation of life, or the absence of presence?
The Tom Petty Station is really good. It’s, more or less, Tom talking about and playing songs he likes by other people. There’s also a ton of his music on there as well.
A handful of other artists have their own station too. Some stations only music by that band (Bruce Springsteen) and some are formatted more like Toms (Little Steven’s Underground Garage), as well as a number of others.
That’s all on top of XM’s normal stuff.