By: Jesse Striewski
Some memoirs can often either come off as just plain bragging, or will simply leave readers wanting more (I’m looking at you, Alex Van Halen). But Heartbreaker from legendary Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (and later, Fleetwood Mac) guitarist Mike Campbell (with the assistance of Ari Surdoval) not only avoids each of these, it goes above and beyond.
I can’t recall the last time I read a life story so in-depth, so well thought out, and so entertaining all in one. Campbell not only uses his time to describe in full detail his own life, but gives insight on late bandleader Petty’s (whose untimely 2017 passing came before he was ever able to put his own words into an autobiography) as well.
It never gets preachy or bores readers with any specific agendas. It’s just straight to the point, this is what happened and why, often giving step-by-step insight on how many of the band’s hits, from “American Girl” to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” originally came about.
I only had the chance to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live one time during their forty-plus year career (back in 2003), and I remember someone asking beforehand (with much sarcasm and ignorance I might add) why I would want to do that. The answer was as simple then as it is now; the band was, is, and always will be an American institution. Thank you Mike Campbell for fully putting as much heart into this project as you have with music throughout your lifetime.
Rating: 5/5 Stars
