Pullin’ ‘Tubes: The Return of Mudcrutch

Before anyone had heard of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers there was Mudcrutch – Petty’s original band made up of his Gainesville buddies. The band released one single in 1975 on Shelter Records called Depot Street, and broke up when the label was more interested in Tom as a solo act.

Peter Bogdanovich’s lengthy documentary Runnin’ Down A Dream helped rekindle Petty’s desire to get the band back together. Today, some 30 years after they brokeup, Mudcrutch’s long delayed “debut” album hits stores. The first single off the album, Love Of The Bayou, is full of that classic Petty sound:

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For those keeping score at home that’s Tom on bass – the instrument he originally played in the band. Petty, along with The Heatbreakers, hits the road at the end of next month for a full slate of summer tour dates with Steve Winwood in tow.