Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

posted by albums-update

Pack Up the Plantation: Live! is the first official live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1985. It was primarily recorded at the Wiltern Theatre during their 1985 tour but also includes several tracks from previous tours. It was released as a double LP or single cassette and compact disc.

A concert film of the Wiltern Theatre performance, also titled Pack Up the Plantation: Live! was released on home video in 1986. It included songs that did not make the album, such as originals “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More“, as well as covers such as “Little Bit O’ Soul” and “Route 66“.

Stevie Nicks, who has collaborated with Petty and has appeared with him on tour frequently, sings with Petty on two songs on the record. The first is a cover of the Searchers‘ 1964 hit “Needles and Pins”, which was released as a single and climbed into the Billboard top 40. Nicks’ second track is “Insider”, one of two cuts from Petty’s 1981 LP Hard Promises that feature her.

No other singles were released from the album in the US, although a cover of the Byrds‘ 1967 hit “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” was released in Europe. “Refugee” was also issued in Europe on a four-track EP. Another fan favorite, “Breakdown”, appears at the end of side one. It is notable because the audience takes over from Petty at the start, singing the first two verses and the chorus loud enough to be picked up by the mics. He quipped, “You’re gonna put me out of a job”, to huge applause, and then launched back into a reprise of the second verse.

Considering that Southern Accents took so much time and money to complete, finally hitting the stores two and a half years after Long After Dark, it wasn’t surprising that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers decided to release a double live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, a mere eight months after its release.
After all, Southern Accents was criticized from many corners for being too slick, too much in Dave Stewart‘s corner instead of the Heartbreakers‘, so it made sense to quickly return the focus to the band, showcasing the group as the rockers they are. Pack Up the Plantation does do that, even if it isn’t quite the barnburner it should have been.
Part of the problem is that the song selection isn’t quite as good as it could have been, relying heavily on Southern Accents material, including the weak “It Ain’t Nothin’ to Me.” Then again, the weaker songs and dubious choices are outweighed by a strong performance and neat surprises like a tough “Insider” and covers of “So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star,” “Needles and Pins,” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.”
That alone makes it worth investigating for dedicated fans, even if it doesn’t quite deliver the knockout punch many listeners might have wanted.

The recording garnered somewhat mixed reviews, with Sandy Robertson, writing for Sounds, describing it as “a turgid four-sided video soundtrack”.Jimmy Guterman, writing for Rolling Stone, said that Petty “sounds impassioned and impressive when he lays into his early songs” and that the Heartbreakers are “an undeniably great band”.

Tracklist

1. “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) – 3:30
2. “Needles and Pins” (Sonny Bono, Jack Nitzsche) – 2:23
3. “The Waiting” – 5:08
4. “Breakdown” – 7:43
5. “American Girl” – 3:50
6. “It Ain’t Nothin’ to Me” (Petty, David A. Stewart) – 6:05
7. “Insider” – 5:16
8. “Rockin’ Around (With You)” (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 3:20
9. “Refugee” (Petty, Campbell) – 5:22
10. “I Need to Know” (LP and cassette only) – 2:30
11. “Southern Accents” – 5:20
12. “Rebels” – 6:10
13. “Don’t Bring Me Down” (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 3:40
14. “You Got Lucky” (LP and cassette only) – 4:20
15. “Shout” (O’Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley) – 9:30
16. “Stories We Could Tell” (John Sebastian) – 3:55

All tracks are written by Tom Petty except as noted.

Recording information

All tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, California, August 7, 1985 except,

“Don’t Bring Me Down” – Paradise Theater, Boston, July 16, 1978
“Stories We Could Tell” – Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, March 7, 1980, engineered by Charles Kaplan in the Mobile Manor Unit
“Needles and Pins” & “Insider” – The Forum, Los Angeles, June 1981
“Shout” – The Coliseum, Richfield, Ohio, March 19, 1983
“Rockin’ Around (With You)” – Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Irvine, California, June 1983

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty – lead vocals, 6 and 12-string electric, acoustic guitars lead vocals
Mike Campbell – lead guitar, 12-string, lap steel, slide guitars
Benmont Tench – keyboards, vocals
Howie Epstein – bass, mandolin, harmony vocals
Stan Lynch – drums, vocals

Additional musicians

Ron Blair – bass on “Insider”, “Needles and Pins”, “Stories We Could Tell”, “Don’t Bring Me Down”
Phil Jones – percussion on “Insider”, “Needles and Pins”, “Rockin’ Around (With You)”, “Shout”
Bobby Valentino – violin on “Stories We Could Tell”
Stevie Nicks – vocals on “Insider”, “Needles and Pins”

Soul Lips Horns (on tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theater)