When Tom Petty lost Ron Blair of The Heartbreakers, Petty was short a bass player. Del Shannon had the cure. Enter Howie Epstein. Howie played bass for Del Shannon on his 'Drop Down and Get Me' Tour. Petty flew out to Phoenix, Arizona to sit in with the band at Shannon's request. Petty was really knocked out by the way Howie could sing. Tom felt that the Heartbreakers' were lacking a band member who could sing harmonies. Howie meshed well in that department, and joined the Heartbreakers at Petty's invite. Shannon replaced Howie with Jude Cole later in the tour.
According to Tom, "Del called me one night really angry. And he said 'Listen, you can't take Howie. He's my right-hand guy. I've got a tour lined up, and you can get anybody you want, and you just can't take Howie.' And I said, 'Del, I love you. I'm taking Howie.' He forgave me, and we were friends the rest of his life."
Petty also remembered Shannon during 'Full Moon Fever': "I saw quite a bit of him the last year of his life. One night George (Harrison) and Jeff (Lynne) and I went down and sang on a track he was doing ('Hot Love'). And he would come around from time to time. Jeff and I wrote a song for him ('Walk Away'), and Jeff was producing it. We made a deal - I started a little label called Gone Gator Records and the first release was gonna be Del Shannon's record. And Mike (Campbell) was doing the rest of the album.
"Del Shannon was around. He was running around with us a little bit during that time. That's why I threw in that line (on 'Runnin' Down A Dream'): 'Me and Del were singing little Runaway.' I put that in for him. He was very pleased. I got a big smile from him on that. And 'Little Runaway' fit the whole concept...Mike wrote that one descending riff (which is the engine of the song)."
-Taken from "Conversations with Tom Petty" by Paul Zollo (Omnibus Press)©Copyright 2005
Song: Runnin' Down A Dream
Written by: Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Mike Campbell
It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'
Trees flew by, me and Del were singin' little Runaway
I was flyin'
(Chorus)
Yeah runnin down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
runnin' down a dream
I felt so good like anything was possible
I hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes
The last three days the rain was unstoppable
it was always cold, no sunshine
(Chorus)
I rolled on as the sky grew dark
I put the pedal down to make some time
There's something good waitin' down this road
I'm pickin' up whatever's mine
(Chorus)
©Copyright 1989 Gone Gator Music, EMI-April Music and Wild Gator Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved.
|
