Tom Petty Struts His Stuff On Live Anthology

For an artist who’s logged as many hours on the road as Tom Petty, you’d think he’d have multiple live albums out by now (see Young, Neil, and Dylan, Bob.) But on November 24, Petty will release his second-ever official live album, Live Anthology.

Perhaps in an effort to make up for lost time, Live Anthology comes with 62 tracks and spans Petty’s storied history from 1987 to 2007.

Fans will be able to buy the set in three configurations. The standard edition features 48 tracks on four CDs. There’s also a five-CD version sold exclusively at Best Buy. That one comes with a Blu-Ray disc with all 62 tracks, a DVD of a 1978 New Year’s Eve concert in Santa Monica, a second DVD of Martyn Atkins’ unreleased “400 Days” documentary from the 1995 Wildflowers tour, and a vinyl version of the 1976 Official Live ‘Leg promo album.

Finally, there’s a vinyl box set with 51 tracks on seven 180-gram LPs and a deluxe book. Pick your poison, or buy all three.

On September 29, Petty will launch a virtual “Superhighway Tour,” where fans can download 24 of the 48 Anthology tracks over an eight week perido leading up to the November 24 release date, when they’ll receive the rest of the tracks.

One selling point: Live Anthology is chocked with covers. You’ll hear Petty and the Heartbreakers take on the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well,” Booker T. and the MG’s “Green Onions,” the Zombies’ “I Want You Back Again,” James Brown’s “Good Good Lovin’,” and the theme from the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.”