TOM PETTY: The Life & Music, beautiful object, beautiful career to celebrate

TOM PETTY: The Life & Music
GILLIAN G. GAAR
Motorbooks International (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$55.00 all editions, available now

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: A unique and lavishly produced celebration of the iconic rocker, Tom Petty: The Life & Music examines an extraordinary career through the lens of 75 key events and releases.

Experience the extraordinary career of beloved rocker Tom Petty with this richly illustrated slipcase edition.

Twenty-eight Billboard Top-10 singles, induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a string of best-selling studio albums … nearly a decade after his passing, Tom Petty remains one of rock’s most beloved figures. In Tom Petty: The Life & Music, veteran rock journalist Gillian G. Gaar reveals this rock icon through 75 career releases, performances, and accolades. This luxuriously produced collectible edition features a slipcased hardcover format; stunning concert and candid offstage photography; images of memorabilia, including gig posters, vinyl record sleeves, ticket stubs, period ads; and more.

Through the decades, Gaar covers it all:

Petty’s childhood in Florida and early band, Mudcrutch

All 13 studio albums, including those with The Heartbreakers and as a solo artist such as the breakouts Damn the Torpedoes and Wildflowers

A selection of his greatest singles, like the rock standards “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Free Fallin’”

Relationships with notable rock figures such as Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, and Stevie Nicks

Legendary gigs, from his first SNL appearance to his 2004 performance with Prince and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his Super Bowl halftime performance

and much more

Beginning with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1976 self-titled debut LP and continuing right through the band’s final release, Hypnotic Eye in 2014, Tom Petty is one of the most beloved performers and musicians in rock ’n’ roll history, influencing countless acts for decades.

This book is your unprecedented retrospective of Petty’s life and art, from teenage Florida rock ’n’ roll enthusiast to international star and celebrity.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: No one really needs an introduction to Tom Petty, not born after about 1975 or so anyway. He's been part of the landscape since debuting in 1976 with "American Girl" and "Breakdown." You've just been earwormed, I'll bet.

The facts of Petty's life are not detailed so much as related to the events relevant to his musical career. Part of the charm of a book like this is the photographic component:

in the studio making magic

It's a design-heavy book; I'd be aware of the fact that formatting on a tablet might flow differently than is always obvious. I'd wager the book would not work on a Kindle or small tablet at all. It feels like, at this price-point, you'd do best to opt for a tree-book. I mean, look:

Southern Accents

Damn the Torpedoes

Full Moon Fever

The beauty of the thing is its presence...opt for the old ways in this case. The documentation of a career like Tom Petty's is well worth some shelf space for a fan. I'm reasonably sure most of us don't hate his music, but a gift like this is going to someone very fond of the man and his sounds indeed.

His legacy in the culture's pretty solid. It's clear he was a very well-known and beloved figure.

There won't be another like him. That means we should treasure him, treasure the memory of the musician because we still have the music.

The lost documentary...what a dream....