BLOOMING GOOD

Widely regarded by both fans and critics as Petty’s masterpiece, Wildflowers is a personal, reflective, unhurried work of great variety and richness. Released three years after his death at age 66, the expanded version — Wildflowers And All The Rest — is even richer; an appropriate legacy for one of America’s great songwriters.

The years leading up to Wildflowers were exceptionally productive. Petty had enjoyed enormous success with Full Moon Fever (1989), recorded largely with producer Jeff Lynne (ELO). Around the same time he became a founding member of supergroup Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. Surrounded by artists he deeply admired Petty’s horizons expanded. Far from being intimidated, the experience reinforced Petty’s confidence as a songwriter.

On a personal level, Petty was entering middle age and confronting significant personal upheaval. The songs that emerged during the Wildflowers sessions reflected themes of freedom, uncertainty, regret and renewal. Originally, Petty envisaged the project as a 25-song double album but Warner Bros. persuaded him to trim it to a single-disc release of 15 tracks. The slim version did well, reaching the top five in the USA and top 20 in Britain. The remaining material, however, would remain largely unheard for more than twenty-five years.

Producer Rick Rubin encouraged Petty to strip away some of the polished, layered production associated with the Lynne era and focus instead on songwriting, atmosphere and emotional directness. Petty later explained that he and Rubin wanted greater flexibility than the standard Heartbreakers format allowed, even though most of those musicians still played on the record. Long term collaborator Mike Campbell (guitar) recalled Rubin coming in with a skeleton of a song and shaping the arrangement collaboratively from there. Benmont Tench, sidelined on much of Into the Great Wide Open, was back in the studio and audibly so. Campbell has described the period as one where the band had room to breathe; they weren't under pressure and could wait for the songs to emerge organically. Sessions stretched out over eighteen months, making the surfeit of material easy to understand. Here are a few highlights.

The opening title track immediately establishes Wildflowers’ tone. Built around acoustic guitar and a simple melody, it is one of Petty’s most beloved songs, offering a gentle message of independence and self-discovery.

"You Don’t Know How It Feels" was the lead single, reaching #13 on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. Its laid-back feel made it a radio staple and it remains one of Petty’s signature recordings. 

Mike Campbell co-wrote five of the songs on Wildflowers And All The Rest, one of them being the energetic "You Wreck Me." This key song captures the classic Heartbreakers spirit while retaining the emotional vulnerability that is the hallmark of the entire set. 

“It’s Good to Be King” is among Petty’s finest compositions. On the surface it sounds triumphant, yet underneath lies an ironic meditation on fame, loneliness and the price of success. The song’s stately arrangement exemplifies Rubin’s understated production approach. 

Finally, “Crawling Back to You” represents the album at its most introspective. The slow build and emotional honesty showcase Petty’s maturity as a songwriter and help explain why many listeners regard Wildflowers as his most personal work.

It took twenty-six years, but Petty’s family eventually authorised a re-issue that included ten songs omitted from the original album. Although several of these songs had appeared elsewhere—several are on the film soundtrack album She’s The One, for example—others where previously unreleased. They add to the depth of the work, placing it in that paradoxical category: a work both widescreen and intimate. Carefully crafted without sounding overproduced, reflective without drifting into self-indulgence, this is a fine legacy album by a hugely talented and much missed artist.