Tom Petty & Pre-Heartbreaker History 1970

Wolfgang's Vault - Where Live Music Lives

Buy Everyly Strings Here! "Everly's are the best strings out there, I won't use anything else"
-- Tom Petty

Atlanta Journal-Constitution gonegator.com Review

Nothing Petty
On This Site If You're
A Fan Of Tom's!
"Bookmark it only if you're a Petty fan, in which case gonegator.com is where you want to be."
- July 2001

"I Want to Thank
Sean for keeping such a great site [gonegator.com] up and running while this one [tompetty
.com] languished away. He does quite an amazing job."
Adria Petty
- December 2002

Musician Farewell
"Touching Tribute to Howie Epstein"
- February 2003

1970 - 1979
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979

1980 - 1989
1990 - 1999
2000 - 2004

Listen to '70s Radio

Pre-Heartbreaker History 1970

Ex Epics Form Mudcrutch

Former Epics members, Tom Petty (bass) & Tom Leadon (guitar) decided to form their own band called Mudcrutch. According to Leadon, the name was chosen "because it just sounded sort of dirty and decrepit."
TP recruits Randall Marsh on drums.
Randall Marsh suggests hiring his roommate, Mike Campbell, as a 2nd guitarist. Mike is recruited after Petty and Leadon hear him play "Johnny B. Goode".

Mudcrutch
Gainesville Newspaper Shot

1970 In Music

September 25, 1970 The Partridge Family (click for video!) airs, lip synching and nobody played an instrument (but Lori was hot!), a show about five kids and their mother who decided to form a (really bad) "rock 'n' roll" band (ala sixties family act, the Cowsills). Like The Monkees, the show stopper (literally and figuratively) was to perform new songs, which were released by Bell Records almost simultaneously (at garage sales the following weekend). The first single, "I Think I Love You," sold over four million copies to screaming little girls. David Cassidy still thinks HE IS Keith Partridge IN 1970

gonegator.com awarded September 16, 2004

1970 Music Highlights

Musicians find God... "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, "Let It Be" (actually about Paul's Mum) by the Beatles, "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, and the entire Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack.
I'm still pissed at Yoko! Stories begin to fly that the Beatles will break up because of musical differences. After the whole "Paul is dead" thing, fans cry "wolf!" (or Paul)
"Turn me on dead man" - Paul McCartney releases the tell tale "McCartney" album.
Rod Stewart and Ron Wood (twins from different mothers) leave the Jeff Beck Group to join the Faces.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young record "Ohio", brought more attention to the wasteful killing of four young students at Kent State war protest
"Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars." American Top 40 debuts with Casey Kasem
Let It Be - The Movie premieres
The Stones form their own record label -- Rolling Stones Records. NOW they start to make some REAL money!

1970 Popular Albums

Abraxas - Santana
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid - Soundtrack
Chicago II - Chicago
Cosmo's Factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Easy Rider - Soundtrack
Get Ready - Rare Earth
Hey Jude - The Beatles
Joe Cocker! - Joe Cocker
Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
Let It Be - The Beatles
McCartney - Paul McCartney *
Captured Live At The Forum - Three Dog Night
Woodstock - Soundtrack

1970 Top 10 Songs

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon & Garfunkel

"American Woman" - The Guess Who

"Get Ready" - Rare Earth

"Band Of Gold" - Freda Payne

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - B.J. Thomas

"ABC" - The Jackson 5

"Let It Be" - The Beatles

"(They Long To Be) Close To You" - Carpenters

"Mama Told Me Not To Come" - Three Dog Night

"War" - Edwin Starr

My Favorites from 1970 (yeah, I was 4, So!)

cover
Let It Bleed
cover
Abbey Road
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Deja Vu
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Easy Rider
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The Blue Album
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Live At Leeds
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McCartney
cover
John Barleycorn
Must Die

II
cover
Jesus Christ
Superstar

1970 World News Headlines

President Nixon sends combat units into Cambodia.
Kent State University, National Guardsmen fire into a crowd protesting the Vietnam War, killing four and wounding eight.
New York, passes abortion on demand law -- made elective abortions performed by a licensed physician completely legal for the first 24 weeks then it's called murder.
A parade of 10,000 women in New York celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment (For the constitutionally challenged, that gave women the right to vote) No men were present... Historically known as first Lilith fair.
FBI agents arrest American Communist Angela Davis at a midtown Manhattan motel.
Anwar Sadat is elected president of the United Arab Republic (Egypt).
One million cans of tuna are recalled by the FDA because of mercury contamination.