Looking Back at ‘Full Moon Fever’
In theory, 1989’s Full Moon Fever, which was released 29 years ago this week, was Tom Petty’s first solo release without the Heartbreakers, but this monster of an album was far from a solo venture.
Actually, when you look at the album’s credits, every member of the Heartbreakers (with the exception of original drummer Stan Lynch) appears on the album, and around this time, Petty had just joined a little group called The Traveling Wilburys. Whether or not Petty had this planned, on top of his Heartbreaker bandmates, Petty also manage to get contributions from George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, who helped produce the album and has songwriting credits on all 12 tracks.
When you considering Full Moon Fever’s first three singles (“I Won’t Back Down,” “Runnin’ Down A Dream” and “Free Fallin”), all three classic rock mainstays, then it’s no surprise that this album went on to sell five million copies in the U.S., making it Petty’s most commercially successful album in his entire catalog.
Oh…and then there were the videos! Remember when videos mattered?! Petty does, and these videos are still awesome!
“I Won’t Back Down”
“Runnin’ Down A Dream”
“Free Fallin'”
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
