‘Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free’ Examines The Halcyon Days Of ‘Wildflowers,’ Petty’s Most Wistful & Personal Album [SXSW Review]

For the uninitiated, while the late American rocker Tom Petty’s 1994 album Wildflowers may not necessarily be his best record—that’s usually reserved for Full Moon Fever or Damn The Torpedoes— it was his most personal, his most beloved, and a favorite among fans (in a 2013 Rolling Stone fan poll it was ranked #1 among fan favorites).

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Before his untimely 2017 death from an accidental overdose at the age of 66, Petty had been feeling nostalgic. The musician had long dreamed of unveiling the legendary and mostly unheard full Wildflowers record, because the official version that was released in 1994 contained 15 songs, but he had recorded enough material for a double record. Ultimately, the record label dissuaded him from releasing such a long record that would have been exorbitantly priced at the time (Petty was always memorably conscientious of his fans and vigorously fought to keep costs down for them, including concert ticket prices).

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So, in early 2020, Petty’s estate, based on his wishes, released Wildflowers and All the Rest, a double album with 25 songs, plus a superdeluxe 4-disc version for fans of home recordings, demos, live versions, alternative versions, and more. Well-timed, “Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free,” arrives on the heels of this new release, drawn from a newly discovered archive of 16mm film showing Petty at work on Wildflowers.

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If the timing feels a little cynical, ‘Somewhere You Feel Free’ isn’t just extra promotional material and padding for the new re-release, and or at least, its intentions seem very pure and born from a love of the music. Directed by veteran music doc producer and filmmaker Mary Wharton (the director of “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President,” and producer of dozens of music docs from her time at VH1 and after) ‘Somewhere You Feel Free’ is intimate, affectionate, and takes one inside a personal statement from a reclusive musical icon usually too private to air his personal laundry.

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That said, the central problem with “Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free,” is the lack of conflict. This isn’t about the making of a difficult studio record, or a war with a record label—as the recalcitrant, anti-authoritarian Petty was wont to do— it’s about a halcyon time when Petty felt creatively free, open and like the world had made so many possibilities available to him.

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It was also a melancholy time for Petty, too, as his first marriage was crumbling, was unhealthy, and whether he knew it or not, he was preparing to say goodbye to it and was hinting at it through the songs; almost kind of like a mental preparation to himself. There’s a wistful, reflective air in Wildflowers, especially the title track. Even as the lyrics aren’t confessional by today’s standards, the level of which they revealed Petty’s emotions and vulnerable state of mind, scared him.

Produced by legendarily eclectic and intuitive producer Rick Rubin (Beasties Boys, Slayer, Jay-Z, Kanye West, the founder of Def America)—who had never produced a Tom Petty album before and had no connection to the singer, but loved his work— Wildflowers isn’t exactly a radical departure from the previous work of Tom Petty on the surface. But compared to the slick, radio-friendly pop of the Jeff Lynne-produced Full Moon Fever or the ballsy rock swagger of Torpedoes or Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers debut album, it’s certainly quieter, gentler, and introspective, and to Petty, felt like a big risk at the time.

Wildflowers also began as a solo record (most of the Heartbreakers would eventually play on it and he would eventually call it a “we” record), and its minor conflict was the eventual firing of drummer Stan Lynch, whose more combative personality didn’t gel with the chill and relaxed vibe of Petty and the Heartbreakers.

While the doc is somewhat illuminating for fans that want an inside look at the making of Wildflowers, the decisions that were made that led to cutting certain songs, how certain songs came into being, the hiring of amiable new drummer Steve Ferrone, and the organic, free-flowing vibe of the record, “Somewhere You Feel Free” is ultimately largely conflict-free. It’s a reflective and warm recollection of the making of the album by Rubin, the remaining Heartbreakers, Petty’s daughters, and Petty himself through the archival footage and audio.

But that’s the essential rub: Wildflowers was emotionally difficult for Petty at the time, but ultimately one of the happiest times of his life and certainly the most creatively satisfying. Petty had stripped down his sound, gotten back to basics, created his most loose and soulful album, and crafted the ultimate artistic statement he had always hoped to write (and yes, easy-going fans will love it and maybe that’s enough for them, though I count myself among them). Through the help of the more-is-less approach of Rubin, copacetic bandmates, and Petty finally believing he could bare his soul, Wildflowers is a gorgeously forlorn and rueful record. ‘Somewhere You Feel Free’ certainly captures the spirit of the time, the sadness, the warm-heartedness, and the creative openness, but one could easily argue it doesn’t really add that much substantive value, beyond some of the making-of stories and what’s already there in the poignant grooves of the music. [B-]

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