Today, in honor of Tom Petty’s Southern Accents‘s publication date, Michael drafts up what he thinks Southern Accents should have looked like…
It’s a bit of a parlor game amongst hardcore Heartbreakers fans to talk about the Southern Accents that could have been. Although I think that there would still be some significant problems with the record even if the most potent and powerful sequence of songs had been included, it’s fun to speculate, to try to make one’s own Southern Accents. Which is what I’m going to do here, on the book’s publication date. Here’s my version of the best possible record, at least given the current information. It’s perfectly plausible that at some point more tracks will be released from the sessions. Both Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell told me that they couldn’t recall much that hadn’t been released. For those keeping track, I’ve removed “It Ain’t Nothing to Me,” “Make It Better (Forget About Me),” “Mary’s New Car,” and “The Best of Everything.” Those songs have been replaced by tracks that were cut during the Southern Accents sessions but not included. And a note to the completists: I’ve left off the cover of Nick Lowe’s “Cracking Up” because I think it’s rather weak compared to these tracks.
Side One
Rebels
Trailer
Don’t Come Around Here No More
Walkin’ from the Fire
Southern Accents
Side Two
Spike
Big Boss Man
The Apartment Song (the demo featuring Stevie Nicks)
Image of Me
Dogs on the Run
What does your perfect Southern Accents album look like? Let us know in the comments!
Tomorrow is Michael’s last blog post of the week, so don’t miss out. And remember, Tom Petty’s Southern Accents came out today, so go order your copy!
