Heartbreakers Guitarist Mike Campbell Humbly Chronicles an Epic Career in ‘Heartbreaker: A Memoir’ (BOOK REVIEW)

Mike Campbell might just be the most humble musician in rock music. As guitarist for Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, he has co-written some of the most iconic American rock songs of his generation (“American Girl,” “Running Down A Dream,” “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl”). He served in one of Bob Dylan’s backing bands, he replaced Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac, and is the frontman in his own critically-lauded group called the Dirty Knobs.

But to read his memoir, the highly compelling Heartbreaker, he seems thrilled just to be along for the ride. While others in The Heartbreakers bristled and some eventually quit as their one-time buddy and equal Tom Petty overshadowed the band, taking on more control and making more money, Campbell was just content to be playing in the band (despite having co-written many of the group’s biggest hits). He may have been on to something, though, as many friends and fellow musicians succumbed to harder and harder drugs, some OD’ed and others slipped off into obscurity. Yet, Campbell has remained relevant, creating truly great music in the five decades of his still ongoing career. And he’s still married to the woman he met at the beginning of his career as a professional musician – an impressive feat on its own.      

The book details his early start, living with his siblings and single mom struggling to get by in Jacksonville, FL and his early love for guitar and his improbable move to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville (thanks to a teacher who unbeknownst to Campbell got him admitted and helped his apply for government funding to attend). It was in Gainesville that he connected with Petty and a number of future Heartbreakers, many who would first form the band Mudcrutch alongside Cambell and Petty. From their bar band days in Florida to their eventual move to Los Angeles, the book focuses heavily on their time signed to Leon Russell’s Shelter Records that saw the band shuttling back and forth between Los Angeles and Tulsa, OK (the other HQ for Shelter). While much of this time in Mudcrutch/Heartbreaker lore has been covered in the fantastic Petty bio, Petty by Warren Zanes, Cambell still manages to reveal plenty of new stories and rehashes old ones from his perspective.

The book offers a warts and all look at Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers from their salad days, through to their career highs (at one point touring with Dylan and serving as his backing band), and Petty’s solo pit stops (both of which Cambell was still very involved with) and through his own experiments as a solo artist. Petty, deep into his own addictions at this point, comes off as a dick, discouraging Cambell from singing and trying to go it alone. Thankfully, Campbell overcame that initial discouragement from his longtime friend (Petty eventually changed his perspective and was more complementary of Campbell’s ambitions toward the end of his life), which leads us to where we are now. Campbell, still happily married, is about to release his third LP with the Dirty Knobs.       

While most rock star autobiographies too often tend to veer into the ‘of course I’m brilliant’ camp, it’s refreshing to read a fascinating memoir from a remarkably talented musician who is as grateful and humble as he is influential.