Remember When: Tom Petty Attempts and Then Bails Out on a Concept Album with ‘Southern Accents’

In 2002, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released the album The Last DJ, which followed a concept from beginning to end. It was the first time Petty had done that, but it wasn’t the first time he had intended to do it. When Petty began making the 1985 album Southern Accents, he meant it to be a double-album that also followed a concept through to its conclusion, but things didn’t work out that way.

Thanks to Petty’s great songwriting and some interesting stylistic twists and turns, Southern Accents ended up a big hit and holds up as a classic today. But one still can’t help but wonder what might have been. Let’s look back at what took place to drastically transform this record.

Time to Kill

In 1983, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers finished a tour for the album Long After Dark, released the previous year. Following that, they had nothing definitive on their schedule for the first time since they burst upon the scene with their debut record in 1976. Freed from the schedule of recording sessions and tour dates, they drifted about Los Angeles with way too much time on their hands and far too many temptations at their disposal.

Petty formed a plan to record an album in his L.A. home studio. And, excitingly enough, he went to work with a concept brimming in his mind. Having previously driven through the South writing down potential song titles based on what he saw (“Apartment,” “Trailer,” etc.), he envisioned a double-album that would grapple with the complexities of the American South that he, a Florida native, knew well.

Yet not too long into these home-studio sessions, Petty met Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Petty admired Stewart’s work and the two hit it off. They began working on an inventive track with programmed drums, female backing vocals, and quirky sounds. It deviated from Petty’s tried-and-true rock formula, but he was looking for a bit of a change anyway. “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” replete with a wild and woolly video, would introduce the new album, even thought it didn’t quite hew to the preordained concept.

Speaking of the concept, Petty intended to use the song “Rebels,” about a ne’er-do-well who blames the ghosts of the South for his own struggles, as the centerpiece. He had a demo of the song that he loved, but all his attempts to record a version with the band seemed to pale in comparison. Frustrated one day about the struggles with “Rebels,” he punched a wall and did major damage to his left hand. He required surgery and extensive rehabilitation before he could play again.

Welcome Back, Jimmy

Jimmy Iovine had been instrumental to Petty’s success as an exacting producer on albums like Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises. But Petty had initially intended to leave him out of the Southern Accents project. After the hand injury, Petty brought him back into the fold. Iovine immediately ended the home sessions and put the band in a studio to finish the album, using what was recorded in the home studio as the basis.

By this time, Petty was weary of trying to wrangle the concept into shape. In addition, other songs that he co-wrote with Stewart, such as “It Ain’t Nothin’ to Me” and “Make It Better (Forget About Me),” didn’t fit the theme, but at least they were pretty much finished. It was decided that Southern Accents, when finally released in March 1985, would be a single disc.

Somewhat Southern

Remnants of the original idea behind Southern Accents can still be found on the album. “Rebels,” even if it wasn’t quite recorded to Petty’s approval, still stands out as a powerhouse. The title track might be the most beautiful song in his catalog. “Spike” offers a hilarious character sketch of a good ol’ boy dealing with societal changes. And closing track “The Best of Everything,” a leftover from an earlier Petty album that was rescued by guest production from Robbie Robertson, closes out the record on a sad, soulful note.

Those songs carry the record a long way, but it’s undoubtedly disjointed. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” is indeed a standout single, but the other Stewart co-writes don’t bring much to the table. (And for some reason, “Make It Better (Forget About Me)” was even chosen a single, even though Petty never liked the track.)

Over the years, songs from the Southern Accents album that was meant to be have trickled out (“Apartment Song” on Full Moon Fever, “Trailer” on Mudcrutch’s second album). We’ll never know quite what that concept might have sounded like if fully realized. Luckily, thanks to Tom Petty’s brilliance, the Southern Accents we received, even if a bit flawed, gave us the high points.

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