He also fired original drummer/Heartbreaker Stan Lynch, found a new one (Steve Ferrone comments on his hiring) and was struggling with the beginning stages of a divorce from his first wife. Petty had just moved from MCA Records to Warner Brothers, who wanted hits on his first release for them. While a considerable amount of video is in grainy black and white captured by a handheld camera, this fly-on-the-wall examination of Petty’s boundless creativity in and around the creation of Wildflowers brings viewers closer than ever to following his creative process.Īdditional film from Petty, along with producer Rick Rubin, Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, Petty’s daughter and others fills in blanks around the fertile but often challenging nearly three-year period.Ī contemporary interview with Rubin, Tench and Campbell shows the music’s three key supporting architects bouncing stories and reflections about Petty’s intentions and working methods for Wildflowers, a project he considered his finest work.īut difficulties and frustrations of the era are also examined. Shot between 1993-1995 by Petty’s longtime filmographer Martyn Atkins while Petty was recording the Wildflowers album and on the tour that followed, most of this material has never been seen before.” “In early 2020 a collection of 16mm film was discovered in the Tom Petty archive. A graphic in the first few minutes explains the origin of much of the contents:
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The Making of Wallflowers takes us into the studio as Petty records the songs that became the Wildflowers album. How much of the story is left to tell after those vaults have been emptied? Turns out, quite a bit.
#TOM PETTY DOCUMENTARY MOVIE#
The next year saw an updated/rejiggered release of Petty’s soundtrack to the movie She’s the One that included even more material recorded around the Wildflowers sessions. That edition - appropriately titled Wildflowers & All the Rest (Deluxe Edition) - not only added the 10 selections initially cut from the running order, but also included home demos, outtakes, alternate and live versions for most of the songs. Hardcore fans of the Heartbreakers’ frontman felt they’d found the gold mine after the release of 2020’s five-disc expansion of the record, which increased the initial 15-song platter to a mammoth 54-track overview. All rights reserved.Thought you knew all there was to know about Tom Petty’s classic 1994 Wildflowers release? Not so fast. The movie will feature interviews with many of the famous musicians who recorded at the studio, including The Police's Sting and Stewart Copeland, Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher, Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, Jimmy Buffett, Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi and Deep Purple's Roger Glover.Ĭopyright © 2021, ABC Audio.
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The documentary has been chosen to be the "Centerpiece Film" at this year's festival.Īnother music-themed documentary that will premiere at this year's SXSW Film Festival is Under the Volcano, which tells the story of famed Beatles producer George Martin's AIR Studios recording facility on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Wildflowers, of course, was reissued as an expansive box set last year under the title Wildflowers & All the Rest.
#TOM PETTY DOCUMENTARY FREE#
Somewhere You Feel Free was directed by Mary Wharton, whose credits also include last year's Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President. The doc includes newly discovered archival footage of the sessions. The movie will present an intimate look at the late singer/songwriter as he worked on what many consider to be his finest album. Rick Rubin & Tom Petty Robert Sebree/Tom Petty Legacy, LLC/Warner Music GroupA new documentary called Somewhere You Feel Free, about the making of Tom Petty's acclaimed 1994 solo album Wildflowers, will get its world premiere at the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival, which usually takes place in Austin, Texas, but this year will be a virtual event running from March 16 to March 20.