The Tom Petty song spread out across two different bands
There’s always been a certain difference between a Tom Petty song and a Heartbreakers song. Although they may seem one and the same, there will always be subtle discrepancies between what Petty wrote on one of his solo records and what it sounds like when it’s in the hands of the rest of the band members. Petty certainly had a stockpile of songs before the band had even started, but one of their first major hits went all the way back to before they were even a band.
If everything had turned out how it was supposed to, The Heartbreakers would probably never have formed how they turned out. Petty had already had his band Mudcrutch, and he knew that he had for songwriting…his label and the public just didn’t agree yet. Since his first album was a humungous flop, Petty was left with a solo contract but no band, which led to him stealing a band he saw former bandmate Benmont Tench putting together.
While the label accepted the band, Petty still had a long way to go before he hit the big time. Despite the gall of having a song as good as ‘American Girl’ on a debut album, no one could be bothered to care in the US until Petty started seeing the English press latch onto the record.
The band may have been rushed into the studio to make an answer record on You’re Gonna Get It, but Petty was determined to make a real dent. That meant going back into the backlog to find something, and ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’ was the surefire hit that went under the radar for years.
The song began as a demo by Mudcrutch, first being dreamed up by Petty while driving down the road. To get the whole thing down on paper, Petty booked a studio by himself for an hour, banged it out on the piano and went home. When your label says that everything associated with your band is no good, you’re not exactly going to want to revisit those demos to flesh them out.
Once Jimmy Iovine entered the picture for Damn the Torpedoes, he saw the track for what it really was…a classic soul-infused rock song. Compared to the other songs on the record like ‘Refugee’, ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’ was the kind of straight-ahead rocker the group needed. Iovine may have had to beg Petty not to give the song to the J Geils Band, but once they laid it down in a few takes, Petty started to come around on the song.
Fitting somewhere between the British Invasion and Booker T and the MGs, the track is the foundation of what the Heartbreakers are all about. With a few open chords in the mix and Petty singing to his ex before she walks out of his life for good, the entire track is the kind of soulful ballad that only someone like Petty or maybe Bruce Springsteen could get away with. It may have spent too much time in the vault, but once Petty saw what his new band could do, he only needed to put the finishing touches on it.