Fact #107081
When:
Short story:
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers record American Girl at Shelter Studios, Hollywood, California, USA. The song will inspire The Strokes to write their 2001 song, Last Nite.
Full article:
Mike Campbell (guitarist, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers) : We recorded it for our first album. I think it was around the 4th of July. It was really fun to make that record and I just had a feeling that this song had a really special quality to it. Not just the way it was written, but the way we recorded it, the way the band played on it and the sound that it made. When we recorded it, I just had a feeling that we were really onto something. There was something really special about this song, this sound, this thing we're doing, which is really us. This defines what we are. To this day, we don't always put it in the set, but when we do, [when I hear] that first chord, I have that same feeling for it.
We have a great songwriter. His character is very powerful and it's easy to play with someone like that and sound good. It worked to his advantage that he found a group of players that had empathy and an instinctual understanding of how his songs could be realized.
It's the old cliché of chemistry and the way we play. There's a certain talent that Ben has, that Tom has, and that I might have, and when you put it together, something happens that's better than all of us.
Tom Petty : The American Girl is just one example of this character I write about a lot – the small-town kid who knows there's more out there for them but gets fucked up trying to find it. Like the song says, she was raised on promises. I've always felt sympathetic towards her.
Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) : I love Tom Petty. He's a wonderful musician and a wonderful artist, a great guy and a good friend. American Girl is the song that means the most to me because it's the first one I heard him do. I recorded it myself because I liked it so much. We went on the road together, played it in a lot of places and had a good time. The song brings back good memories for me. Tom and I also wrote a song together, King Of The Hill, which we recorded for my album Back From Rio. The song was a moderate hit, and he sang it with me.
(Source : not known)
Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) : People would say, ‘You know that song American Girl by Tom Petty? Don’t you think it (Last Nite) sounds a little like that?’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah, we ripped it off. Where you been?’”
(Source : http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/last-nite-the-strokes)
Tom Petty : The Strokes took American Girl [for Last Nite], there was an interview that took place with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.'
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone, 2006)
Tweet this Fact
We have a great songwriter. His character is very powerful and it's easy to play with someone like that and sound good. It worked to his advantage that he found a group of players that had empathy and an instinctual understanding of how his songs could be realized.
It's the old cliché of chemistry and the way we play. There's a certain talent that Ben has, that Tom has, and that I might have, and when you put it together, something happens that's better than all of us.
Tom Petty : The American Girl is just one example of this character I write about a lot – the small-town kid who knows there's more out there for them but gets fucked up trying to find it. Like the song says, she was raised on promises. I've always felt sympathetic towards her.
Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) : I love Tom Petty. He's a wonderful musician and a wonderful artist, a great guy and a good friend. American Girl is the song that means the most to me because it's the first one I heard him do. I recorded it myself because I liked it so much. We went on the road together, played it in a lot of places and had a good time. The song brings back good memories for me. Tom and I also wrote a song together, King Of The Hill, which we recorded for my album Back From Rio. The song was a moderate hit, and he sang it with me.
(Source : not known)
Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) : People would say, ‘You know that song American Girl by Tom Petty? Don’t you think it (Last Nite) sounds a little like that?’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah, we ripped it off. Where you been?’”
(Source : http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/last-nite-the-strokes)
Tom Petty : The Strokes took American Girl [for Last Nite], there was an interview that took place with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.'
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone, 2006)