The
Gainesville Sun (Florida) has an interesting article mentioning the beginnings
of Tom Petty 'How one Southern college town - Gainesville - changed the historyof rock 'n' roll' (Marty Jourard) which in turn mentions Todd:
Nothing is sharper
than hindsight, and the mystique that surrounds Tom Petty today has led to much
speculation about his early years in Gainesville. At first meeting, Tommy
presented as a longhaired Southern hippie musician, part of a large community
of like-minded souls. Further observations revealed Petty as a serious
songwriter who was fully engaged in music, with a quick mind and a truly
indescribable sense of humor.
In early 1972, he
lived for a while in the converted attic of a house on a property adjacent to
the railroad bridge at SW 13th Street, now the site of Wildflower Apartments. I
visited one day as Tommy was listening to Todd Rundgren's new double album, "Something/Anything," a
collection of 25 tracks that included the hit "Hello, It's Me." We
sat and listened for awhile and he explained that Rundgren had not only written the 18 songs on the first three
sides but had also played every instrument on those recordings, including the
hit "I Saw The Light." We looked at the inside photograph of Rundgren standing on a table in his
house with his electric guitar, surrounded by musical instruments and an
8-track recorder. "He did it all himself" was Tommy's general
comment. Several months later Mudcrutch recorded the demo tape that led to
their record deal — in the living room of keyboard player Benmont Tench's
parents' house.
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