Mark Horton/Getty Images for ABAWith the expansive Tom Petty box set An American Treasure getting its release September 28, founding Heartbreakers lead guitarist Mike Campbell now says an archival collection of live performances may also see the light of day.
Campell tells Rolling Stone that he and his band mates are hoping to put together a release featuring highlights from the 1997 residency that Petty and the group played at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The 20-show run, which took place in January and February of that year, featured the band significantly changing its set list at each concert.
“For me, that was almost the pinnacle of the band just being totally spontaneous night to night to night,” maintains Campbell. “We might throw in a Grateful Dead song that we just learned that afternoon. We recorded every show and we had guest artists from Bo Diddley to Roger McGuinn to John Lee Hooker. And I know, in my memory of those 20 nights, there’s an amazing album in there.”
Seven songs from the residency appeared on Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 2009 Live Anthology compilation, but there are obviously many more performances that could included on a release devoted to the run.
Meanwhile, Petty’s longtime studio collaborator Ryan Ulyate tells Rolling Stone that he expects that an expanded version of the 1994 Wildflowers album, which Tom had discussed putting out prior to his 2017 death, will eventually see the light of day.
“I see that in the cards,” says the producer. “It’s going to be fantastic.”
Petty told Rolling Stone in 2017 that the Wildflowers reissue he envisioned was to include 11 or 12 previously unreleased songs.
In addition, Campbell tells Rolling Stone that the idea of releasing deluxe editions of other significant Petty albums also has been discussed.
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