Wildflowers (Tom Petty album)

Wildflowers is the second solo studio album by American musician Tom Petty, released on November 1, 1994. The album was the first released by Petty after signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records (where he had recorded as part of the Traveling Wilburys) and the first of three albums produced by Rick Rubin. The album was certified 3× platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Wildflowers
Studio album by
Tom Petty
ReleasedNovember 1, 1994 (1994-11-01)
RecordedJuly 20, 1992 - April 29, 1994
StudioLos Angeles, California at Sound City and Ocean Way Recording
Genre
Length62:48
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Tom Petty chronology
Greatest Hits
(1993)		 Wildflowers
(1994)		 Songs and Music from "She's the One"
(1996)
Singles from Wildflowers
  1. "You Don't Know How It Feels"
    Released: December 3, 1994
  2. "You Wreck Me"
    Released: 1995
  3. "It's Good to Be King"
    Released: 1995
  4. "A Higher Place"
    Released: 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer GuideB−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[4]
The Guardian[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
NME8/10[7]
Pitchfork8.8/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Uncut8/10[10]

Background

The album features all members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with the exception of drummer Stan Lynch. Steve Ferrone plays drums on Wildflowers and would join the band officially the following year. However, the album was not credited to the Heartbreakers because, in Petty's words, "Rick (Rubin) and I both wanted more freedom than to be strapped into five guys."[11] Freedom notwithstanding, Petty chose to use most of his regular band as session players, demonstrating his comfort with that format. Rolling Stone placed Wildflowers at number 12 on their list of the best albums of the 1990s.[12] Guitar World placed the album at number 49 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[13]

Four singles were released from the album between 1994 and 1995, the most successful of which, "You Don't Know How It Feels", reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart for one week. It was followed by "You Wreck Me", "It's Good to Be King" and "A Higher Place" which reached Nos. 2, 6, and 12 respectively on the Mainstream Rock chart.[14]

In April 2015, when Petty's back catalog was released in High-resolution audio, this was one of only two albums not included in the series (Songs and Music from "She's the One" was the other one), but a hi-res version was available on Pono Music.

The title of the November 2020 book Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles comes from a lyric in the album's title song "Wildflowers".[15]

Wildflowers and All the Rest

Petty's original track listing for Wildflowers was a double album with 25 songs and Lenny Waronker of Warner Bros. Records suggested that it was too long.[16] Petty's family and bandmates arranged a 2020 re-release of the album that includes these deleted songs, demos, and live tracks entitled Wildflowers & All the Rest.[17] The super deluxe edition of the box set included a fifth disc of alternate versions of the Wildflowers tracks.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tom Petty, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wildflowers" 3:11
2."You Don't Know How It Feels" 4:49
3."Time to Move On" 3:15
4."You Wreck Me"Petty, Mike Campbell3:22
5."It's Good to Be King" 5:10
6."Only a Broken Heart" 4:30
7."Honey Bee" 4:58
8."Don't Fade on Me"Petty, Campbell3:32
9."Hard on Me" 3:48
10."Cabin Down Below" 2:51
11."To Find a Friend" 3:23
12."A Higher Place" 3:56
13."House in the Woods" 5:32
14."Crawling Back to You" 5:05
15."Wake Up Time" 5:19

The following four discs are included in the 2020 Wildflowers and All the Rest box set:

All The Rest
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Something Could Happen" 4:34
2."Leave Virginia Alone" 4:16
3."Climb That Hill Blues"Petty, Campbell2:33
4."Confusion Wheel" 4:20
5."California" 2:37
6."Harry Green" 3:53
7."Hope You Never" 3:02
8."Somewhere Under Heaven"Petty, Campbell4:38
9."Climb That Hill"Petty, Campbell3:33
10."Hung Up and Overdue" 6:02
Home Recordings
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."There Goes Angela (Dream Away)" 3:50
2."You Don’t Know How It Feels" 4:42
3."California" 3:39
4."A Feeling of Peace" 4:33
5."Leave Virginia Alone" 3:47
6."Crawling Back to You" 4:11
7."Don’t Fade on Me"Petty, Campbell3:29
8."Confusion Wheel" 4:18
9."A Higher Place" 3:16
10."There’s a Break in the Rain (Have Love Will Travel)" 3:39
11."To Find a Friend" 3:28
12."Only a Broken Heart" 3:50
13."Wake Up Time" 5:41
14."Hung Up and Overdue"  
15."Wildflowers" 2:48
Wildflowers Live
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."You Don’t Know How It Feels" Fleet Center, Boston MA - December 14, 20027:03
2."Honey Bee" Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto ON - March 17, 19955:22
3."To Find a Friend" Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View CA - October 28, 2000 (Bridge School Benefit)3:55
4."Walls" The Fillmore, San Francisco CA - February 6, 19973:22
5."Crawling Back to You" Forest Hills Stadium, New York NY - July 27, 20175:07
6."Cabin Down Below" Tweeter Center, Mansfield MA - June 14, 20082:52
7."Drivin’ Down to Georgia" Philips Arena, Atlanta GA - August 11, 20106:23
8."House in the Woods" Beacon Theater, New York NY - May 23, 20135:38
9."Girl on LSD" Wachovia Center, Philadelphia PA - June 6, 20085:04
10."Time to Move On" UMB Bank Pavilion, St. Louis MO - August 17, 20022:47
11."Wake Up Time" Vic Theatre, Chicago IL - April 17, 20035:33
12."It’s Good to Be King" The Fillmore, San Francisco CA - January 31, 199711:39
13."You Wreck Me"Petty, CampbellFenway Park, Boston MA - August 30, 20145:45
14."Wildflowers" Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids MI - June 28, 20054:18
Finding Wildflowers (a disc of alternate versions only included on the 5 CD and 9 LP editions)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Higher Place"  
2."Hard on Me"  
3."Cabin Down Below"  
4."Crawling Back to You"  
5."Only a Broken Heart"  
6."Drivin’ Down to Georgia"  
7."You Wreck Me"Petty, Campbell 
8."It’s Good to Be King"  
9."House in the Woods"  
10."Honey Bee"  
11."Girl on LSD"  
12."Cabin Down Below (Acoustic Version)"  
13."Wildflowers"  
14."Don’t Fade on Me"Petty, Campbell 
15."Wake Up Time"  
16."You Saw Me Comin’"  

Outtakes
  • "Girl on LSD" was released as the B-side of the "You Don't Know How It Feels" single (1994).
  • "Leave Virginia Alone" was another song written and recorded during the sessions and left off the finished album. It was given to Rod Stewart for his album A Spanner in the Works (1995).
  • The songs "California", "Hope You Never", "Hung Up and Overdue", and "Climb That Hill" were all included on the She's the One soundtrack album (1996), with various edits across them.[18]
  • In 2018, outtake "Lonesome Dave," recorded July 23, 1993, was released on Petty's posthumous box set An American Treasure.

Personnel
  • Tom Petty – vocals (1-15), acoustic guitar (1,2,8,9,11,12), electric guitar (2-5,7,10,13,14), harmonica (2,12), bass (2,12), harmony vocals (2,5,14), guitar (6), organ (14), piano (15)
  • Mike Campbell – bass (1,3,5,6,12,13-15), harpsichord (1), electric guitar (2,4,5,7,9-14), slide guitar (3), acoustic guitar (8), coral sitar (11)
  • Benmont Tench – harmonium (1,6,12), piano (1,3-7,9,10,12-14), grand piano (2), electric piano (2), Hammond organ (4,6,9,12,14), mellotron (6,14), tack piano (11), zenon (11), orchestron (12)
  • Howie Epstein – harmony vocals (2,4,5,13,14), bass (4,7,10), backing vocals (7)
  • Steve Ferrone – drums (1-7,9,10,12-15)

Additional musicians

Production

  • Joe Barresi – assistant engineer
  • David Bianco – engineer
  • Mike Campbell – producer
  • Richard Dodd – engineer, mixer
  • Steve Holyrod – assistant engineer
  • Kenji Nasai – assistant mixer
  • Tom Petty – producer
  • Rick Rubin – producer
  • Jim Scott – engineer
  • Jeff Sheehan – assistant engineer

Charts
Chart performance for Wildflowers
Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 36
US Billboard 200[20] 8
Chart performance for Wildflowers & All the Rest
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 52
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24] 40
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 24
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 43
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 4
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[28] 5
Irish Albums (OCC)[29] 22
Italian Albums (FIMI)[30] 66
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] 35
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[32] 14
Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 6
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] 11
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 19
US Billboard 200[37] 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[38] 1
Sales chart performance for singles from Wildflowers
Year Single Chart Position
1994 You Don't Know How It Feels US Mainstream Rock Chart 1[39]
1995 US Billboard Hot 100 13[39]
"You Wreck Me" US Mainstream Rock Chart 2[40]
"It's Good to Be King" 6[41]
"A Higher Place" 12[42]

Certifications
Sales certifications for Wildflowers
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[43] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Wildflowers – Tom Petty". AllMusic. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  2. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Petty, Tom, and the Heartbreakers". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 2005. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. Browne, David (November 4, 1994). "Music Reviews: 'Wildflowers' and 'You Got Lucky'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  5. Sullivan, Caroline (November 4, 1994). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers (Warner)". The Guardian.
  6. Willman, Chris (October 30, 1994). "Tom Petty 'Wildflowers' Warner Bros". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  7. "Tom Petty: Wildflowers". NME. November 19, 1994. p. 48.
  8. Sodomsky, Sam (October 10, 2017). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  9. Gardner, Elysa (November 3, 1994). "Tom Petty: Wildflowers". Rolling Stone. No. 694. pp. 95–97. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  10. Deusner, Stephen (December 2017). "Major Tom". Uncut. No. 247. p. 83.
  11. Petty, Tom: Conversations with Tom Petty, page 142. Omnibus Press, 2005.
  12. "100 Best Albums of the Nineties: Tom Petty, 'Wildflowers' | Rolling Stone | Lists". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  13. "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  14. Tom Petty discography
  15. "Exclusive: Interview With Author of New Tom Petty Book". BestClassicBands.com. April 10, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  16. Brown, David (September 16, 2020). "Three Years After Tom Petty's Death, His Dream Project Finally Emerges". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  17. Kreps, Daniel (August 20, 2020). "Tom Petty's Long-Awaited Wildflowers Box Set Detailed". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  18. Article in Utlimate Classic Rock
  19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  20. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  21. "Austriancharts.at – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  22. "Ultratop.be – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  23. "Ultratop.be – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  24. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  26. "Tom Petty: Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  27. "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  28. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2020. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  29. "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  30. "Italiancharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  31. "Charts.nz – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  32. "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  33. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  34. "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 43: del 16.10.2020 al 22.10.2020" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  35. "Swisscharts.com – Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  36. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  37. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  38. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  39. "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers You Don't Know How It Feels Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  40. "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  41. "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers It's Good To Be King Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  42. "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers A Higher Place Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  43. "American album certifications – Tom Petty – Wildflowers". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 

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