In the wake of Tom Petty’s death in 2017, it’s been more than a little telling to observe his estate’s archival efforts. Intentionally or not, the 2018 box titled An American Treasure suggests that the late musician, songwriter, and bandleader wrote numerous memorable songs but did not make many genuinely great albums with his sterling band of accompanists (or under his name for that matter).
No better example of this ostensible paradox is the now forty-year-old Southern Accents (released 3/26/85). Originally conceived as a double album, TPHB’s sixth studio outing turned out to be unexpectedly expansive due in part to the reasonably serious hand injury Petty sustained at one point in the recording process.
Eventually recruiting the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart to assist in both writing and producing on the project, the latter’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” was not only key to kickstarting the completion of the album but the widening of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ commercial popularity (aided in no small measure by the imaginative Alice In Wonderland-themed video).
Similarly, Tom enlisted the assistance of The Band’s Robbie Robertson on a collaboration that ended up as one of the former’s finest recordings of one of his most exceptional compositions. On “The Best of Everything,” the stately horn arrangement fashioned by the iconic group’s chief songwriter echoes Allen Toussaint’s work for the live album Rock of Ages.
In its own way, the sound on that cut is as much an homage to the grand tradition of New Orleans as the British artist’s was a nod to stylistic faddism. The sitar(s) on those above, by far the best-known of the three songs Stewart authored, are only the most prominent instrument in an infectious arrangement. Its metronomic rhythm pattern makes the performance sound less like a bonafide band than borderline studio contrivance.
Apart from those two tracks, however, precious little of Southern Accents stands the test of four decades. “Rebels” and the title song are, however, marked exceptions to that rule because both ring true as overt expressions of Tom’s recognition of his Southern heritage. At the same time, the Heartbreakers distinguish themselves in service of his splendid songs with their customarily pithy self-restraint.
Notwithstanding the litany of outsiders throughout Southern Accents–notably including the recently-deceased keyboardist of The Band, Garth Hudson–these two numbers present TPHB not only as a tightly-bonded unit of musicians but also as recording artists of the highest order; the arrangements grow naturally out of the compositions, while the performances are equal parts passionate and pointed.
The same cannot be said of the remaining five cuts of the nine total. For instance, “Spike” and Campbell’s solo composition, “Dogs On The Run,” suggest the group might better have continued under the aegis of producer Jimmy Iovine, who supervised their most significant longplaying hits, 1979’s Damn The Torpedoes and Hard Promises from two years later.
Notwithstanding the autobiographical aspect of this long-player’s best material or how Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers so dramatically elevated their public profile with Southern Accents, the painful process by which the LP was brought to fruition may well be the reason for the lack of extensive attention afforded it since the native Floridian’s passing.
But perhaps 2021’s Finding Wildflowers, plus the same year’s Angel Dream, are simply a precursor to comparably discerning focus on this misperceived entry in the Petty discography. In and of itself, the initial scope of ambition at the heart of Southern Accents’ would be ideal fodder for such discerning focus, so such effort might well bear fruit comparable to the superb outcome of expanding this 1985 album’s predecessor Long After Dark.
