But he said, Its your book. And he was still on that tour. It was very high level, a lot of looks behind the eyes that said entire paragraphs, and they were all good. They were very bright men. What do you do when you lose inspiration for a period of time? Mike is a pivotal player in a previous life of mine. We apologized to each other for being assholes and young and stupid, says Campbell. In other words, he won't shut up! And there was always great coffee. I wish somebody had told me that. How bizarre! No matter how hard I tried, they saw through me! They were the best and brightest at the game for a minute there, and I was in very rarified air and extremely good company for a moment there. That's how I see it now. Lynch isnt looking for thespotlight anymore, though, according to his interview last week. I mean, somebody dies, or somebody hates itto get a run, a creative run, is amazing, period. Pick up the May 2008 issue of Modern Drummer at music stores, book stores, and newsstands everywhere! Im intrigued by your place in this story. Stan Lynch page 3.jpg. Born. Another intense moment in the show is Southern Accents. Midway through the tour, Campbell changed the lyrics from Theres a dream I keep having where my mama comes to me/And kneels over by the window and says a prayer for me to Theres a dream I keep having where my brother comes to me Its a change of just one word, but its had a profound impact on the crowd. Lets get back to the ground rules for this book. It doesn't mean that they suck; it means that that particular season they were reading the pitches all wrong! But I really had to let go of it or else I would walk around constantly trying to tell people who I used to be. You first encounter Petty as a fan and then, youre in this rock band, the Del Fuegos, and opening up for these guys. Drummer, producer and songwriter Stan Lynch's career reads like a rock'n'roll fairy tale: from 1975 to 1994, as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Lynch toured around the world, enjoyed a string of hit records, and gained high acclaim as a drummer's drummer among his peers. "We have the same musical pulse we always had," says Campbell of hitting the road with his old Tom Petty bandmate after decades of estrangement. I knew that there was the capacity within that group to push boundaries, he says. When he released that safety valve out. We grew up loving Tom Petty more than his contemporaries. Other guys, it looks like they went to business school to be rock stars. But I don't buy that whole thingI think most musicians really want attention and they want to be heard, and it's great! Then Covid Trapped Them There. He then joined Eagles for 'Hell Freezes Over' and went on tour with. And so when they became, quote, rock stars they thought they were better than other people. There are a lot of producers and labels that actually do that.I'm sure they do! When you've worked with bands like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Nicks and the Eagles, it's not a strange thing to be interviewed. And then kind of pushed me in. That's all it was about for me. Thats a hard thing to arrive at. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. But you follow your gut on that one. No, I don't sign autographs," that kind of shit. I dont know what it would mean to them since they have a lot more miles than I do, but it would be a joy for me., Campbell says hes not ready for something like that. Apart from the enduring work he crafted with the Heartbreakers, Lynch's stage and studio credits as a drummer also include the likes of Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Aretha Franklin, The Eurythmics, Roger McGuinn, Stevie Nicks, Del Shannon, T-Bone Burnett, and Warren Zevon. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame drummer-turned-successful songwriter/producer (for Don Henley, The Eagles, The Mavericks, Ringo Starr, and Tim McGraw, among others) and tree farmer (a gig he describes as part Zen, part holding on for dear life, and not unlike playing with Bob Dylan) is an opinionated, intelligent guy who doesnt mince words or sugarcoat memories. I havent been a drummer since I was in my thirties. The angst actuallywhat draws most people in drives me away. What is important is your musical contribution, and to do your job. I park and go to the lounge outside his studio. Zaness visits to Pettys compound inMalibu began in 2012. Again, in his own way. I get it. Because theyre so good. I wouldnt want to cheapen it or do a watered-down version., Theres been talks of a one-off tribute show where the Heartbreakers would play with guest singers, but Campbell says he cant even envision that. You keep this band together. But this is against everything I stand for, and I can't let you die in front of me.". So we're even! I'm not sayingI'm certainly not bulletproof. You learn them. It has a special vibe when its just the two of you. And so we started closing the show with it. Lynch contributed to the bands first eight albums, and he served as the bands original drummer for two decades until he decided to leave in 1994. Lets get right to this. (For a detailed account of this saga, check out Warren Zanes definitive book Petty: The Biography. The last tour that they had Howie on, in the days prior to the tour, he was stopped by police in a stolen car with Carlene Carter with black tar heroin. Tensions were thick backstage at the Bridge School Benefit, but the Heartbreakers still delivered an incredibly moving acoustic set featuring You Dont Know How It Feels, I Wont Back Down, Free Fallin' and, appropriately enough, Time To Move On. Heres a gorgeous rendition of Learning To Fly. Nobody knew it at the time, but it was Lynchs final gig with the band. In retrospect, I look back at that scene, in that office, and I think that maybe its the happiest Ive seen Tom Petty by looking at his face. Its because hes trying to succeed at something that his own family failed at, sometimes dramatically. In 1970 or 1969 when I told my father I was gonna become a professional musician, I may as well have told him I was gonna wear a tutu and dance with bears in the circus [laughs]. Hell, it certainly hurts when you spend a year and the record isn't noticed. It'd be so frightening if your life really hung on that balance, on that fulcrumlike if I was actually sitting here going, "God, the demographic of people that buy records is, uhhh, 18 to 24! A couple things. His father beats him. srlynch@stanford.edu. And so I have regrets, but they dont hold me back. Stan: He taught me a lot, sometimes in very abstract ways. So you spend so much energy worrying about itif I knew at 20 that, hell, I was gonna be okay, and be sitting in front of the fire at 45God, I could have saved myself so many gray hairs and brain blowouts, you know! Its like a part of my life Ive actuallyI wont say forgotten, because I actually still dream about it. Theyre all playing but stop because this kid ran into the room with this Beatles magazine. Its become a very special moment and the crowd picked up on the love between us.. In a recent interview, Lynch recalled some of his most memorable experiences, including his 2002 . He now resides in St. Augustine, Florida, not far from his and his former bandmates' home town of Gainesville. It there something hypocritical about it? They get busy trying to control the story. That was another experience for me, says Lynch. How deep into your hole of shit do you need to go? There are so many records out there now that it's harder to stand out.Yeah, right, it's like, everybody's super-talented and everybody's a genius and everybody's signed, and I don't care! And at the beginning of that second day, it began with Stan asking, Do you mind if I lie on the couch. I was lucky enough to be the guy taping it when he let a lot of that stuff out. You just say well, you coulda done, or you shoulda done, or would youand what you're really saying is "Why didn't you do it my way?" I'm interested in rock music, literature, cinema, and doing research in Cultural Studies. [1] Early years [ edit] Lynch was born in Cincinnati, [2] Ohio, U.S., and moved to Gainesville, Florida, in the early 1960s. Stan talks about his years with Tom Petty & The . And I wonder if you have any idea what the core values are that have helped you to stay sane, and also to grow as a person as you've gotten older and avoid becoming stagnant or bitter.Well I have those days.stagnant and bitter, that would describe several weeks of the year. Because my nature was to be there 20 minutes early with fuckin' bells on! I favor Petty. But we had a quiet moment at the rehearsals. [laughter] That's a totally appropriate description of my career at times! Very cool @DanRH. Among his more pointed criticisms concern the song "Stop Draggin' My Heart. I found out hes turned out to be quite a gentleman and a real brother to me., It also turned out they needed a lot less time than they anticipated to lock back in musically. We talked about how you deal with the external circumstances changing, but what about internally? The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. I have a proposition for you, said Campbell, who was on the verge of kicking off his first-ever solo tour, but was going to be without regular drummer Matt Laug for a period in the spring and summer when he had commitments in Europe with Italian superstar Vasco Rossi. Tom Petty was a heroin addict in the 90s. Now, people know you gotta own your own publishing - we didn't know! Hes a rock and roller. Thats how, in a very roundabout way, Warren Zanes, a deputy professor at New York University, came to write Petty: The Biography, a new book about one of rocks most enigmatic figures, and his band, the Heartbreakers. The Heartbreakers sent Howie to rehab. He decided whatever I was doing he wasnt digging. But other people will drag things out of you and it's beautiful if you let it happen. Receive updates & special offers from Modern Drummer and our advertising partners. 2023 Cond Nast. That's God's little way of telling you to collaborate. Stan Lynch, the bands longtime drummer, who eventually quit in 1994, is unsurprisingly the most critical of Petty. I'm Bihter. Photograph by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/Getty. Tons of them. Zanes also had access to the Heartbreakers. That's when it fell apart with Stan." The tensions between Lynch and Petty had been building ever since the late 1980s when Petty recorded with the Traveling Wilburys and followed that up with. Flash forward to the 1980s. Come and get it!" I was so vibed. Artists, Interviews Stan Lynch joined Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1974 when Pettys piano player Benmont Tench recruited him. And hes just kind of patting this thing and Im thinking, This could go any one of ten thousand ways. 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