Southern Accents

''Southern Accents'' is the sixth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on March 26, 1985, through MCA Records. The album's lead single, " Don't Come Around Here No More", co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song "Southern Accents" was later covered by Johnny Cash for his '' Unchained'' album in 1996.

Background

Originally conceived as a concept album, the theme of ''Southern Accents'' became somewhat murky with the inclusion of three songs co-written by Stewart, and several others originally planned for the album left off. Songs cut from the track list include "Trailer", "Crackin' Up" (a Nick Lowe cover), " Big Boss Man" (a Jimmy Reed cover), "The Image of Me" (a Conway Twitty cover), "Walkin' from the Fire", and "The Apartment Song". The first two were released as B-sides, while the two remaining covers (and a demo version of "The Apartment Song") were later released on the '' Playback'' box set. A studio version of "The Apartment Song" appeared on Petty's first solo album, '' Full Moon Fever'', released in 1989. "Trailer" was later re-recorded and released in May 2016 by Petty's other band Mudcrutch, on its second studio album, ''2''. "Walkin' from the Fire" was eventually released on the posthumous box set ''An American Treasure'' in 2018. The song "My Life/Your World" from '' Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)'' included several of the song's lyrics rewritten.

While mixing the album's opening track, "Rebels", Petty became frustrated and punched a wall, severely breaking his left hand. Subsequent surgery on his hand left him with several pins, wires and screws holding his hand together.

The album cover features an 1865 painting by Winslow Homer titled '' The Veteran in a New Field''.

The album would prove to be the last album to have any involvement of bassist Ron Blair until 2002.

Critical reception

Robert Palmer of ''The New York Times'' praised ''Southern Accents'' as "the most adventurous and musically accomplished album of the band's career." He later included it in his list of the year's ten best albums, ranking it at #5 while calling it "an exquisitely crafted reassessment of personal and geographical roots by an established group that probably includes the finest American musicians playing the stadium circuit."

''Southern Accents'' was later hailed in '' The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' as a "breakthrough" and "Petty's best record...backed up with rock & roll of nearly the sweep and ease of the Stones' '' Exile on Main Street''."

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented that while "occasionally, the songs work" and " Don't Come Around Here No More" and " Make It Better (Forget About Me)" expand he band'ssound nicely", the record was too often "weighed down by its own ambitions".

In the '' Los Angeles Review of Books'', Connor Goodwin said the album is "deeply embedded in nostalgia for the Lost Cause."

Track listing

Personnel

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
*Tom Petty – lead vocals (all tracks), electric guitar (tracks 2, 9), acoustic guitar (track 6), 12-string guitar (1, 7), tambourine (track 2), piano (tracks 3, 4), OBX drum machine (track 8)
* Mike Campbell – electric guitar (tracks 1–3, 5, 7–9), Dobro (track 4), slide guitar (track 6), bass guitar (track 1), keyboards (tracks 1–2), keyboard bass (track 3), piano (track 8), backing vocals (track 2)
* Benmont Tench – keyboards (tracks 1, 5, 7, 9), piano (tracks 2, 4), string synthesizer (track 3), electric piano (track 6), vibraphone (track 8), backing vocals (track 1)
* Howie Epstein – bass guitar (tracks 3, 5–8), backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 7, 8), harmony vocals (4, 6, 8)
* Stan Lynch – drums (all tracks), percussion (tracks 3, 4, 8), backing vocals (track 1)

Additional musicians
* David A. Stewart – bass guitar (track 2), electric guitar (tracks 2, 5), backing vocals (tracks 2, 3), sitar (track 3), synthesizer (track 3)
* Bobbye Hall – tambourine (tracks 1, 7)
* The Heart Attack Horns – horns (tracks 1, 7)
* Malcolm 'Molly' Duncan – saxophone (tracks 1, 5)
* Greg Smith – baritone saxophone (track 2)
* William Bergman – tenor saxophone (track 2)
* John Berry Jr. – horns (track 2)
* Rick Braun – trumpet (track 2)
* Jim Coile – tenor saxophone (track 2)
* Marilyn Martin – backing vocals (track 3)
* Daniel Rothmuller – cello (track 3)
* Sharon Celani – backing vocals (track 3)
* Dean Garcia – bass guitar (track 3)
* Jack Nitzsche – string arrangement (track 4)
* Clydene Jackson – backing vocals (track 5)
* Phil Jones – tambourine (track 5)
* Dave Plews – trumpet (track 5)
* Stephanie Spruill – backing vocals (track 5)
* Julia Tillman Waters – backing vocals (track 5)
* Maxine Willard Waters – backing vocals (track 5)
* Marty Jourard – saxophones (track 8)
* Jerry Hey – horn conductor (track 9)
* Garth Hudson – keyboards (track 9)
* Jim Keltner – percussion (track 9)
* Richard Manuel – harmony vocals (track 9)
* Ron Blair – bass guitar (track 9)

Production
* David Bianco – engineer
* Steve Breitborde – photography
* Mike Campbell – producer
* Joel Fein – engineer
* Winslow Homer – artwork, cover painting
* Jimmy Iovine – producer
* Dennis Keeley – photography
* Stephen Marcussen – mastering
* Tom Petty – producer
* Robbie Robertson – producer
* Don Smith – engineer, remixing
* Steele Works – design, cover design
* Tommy Steele – art direction, design, cover design
* David A. Stewart – producer
* Alan "Bugs" Weidel – engineer
* Shelly Yakus – engineer, remixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

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1985 albums
Tom Petty albums
Albums produced by Tom Petty
Albums produced by Jimmy Iovine
Albums produced by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)
MCA Records albums
Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders
Lost Cause of the Confederacy in popular culture
1980s concept albums