Mudcrutch : Mudcrutch : Review : Rolling Stone

Even a dude with a track record as golden as Tom Petty's needs to reflect on paths not taken. Mudcrutch, Petty's pre-Heartbreakers band, released a single and little else in the mid-Seventies. And that's too bad, since they reunite here for a hot country-rock set that clearly aspires to, and gets within spitting distance of, genre classics like Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Gilded Palace of Sin and American Beauty. If the Heartbreakers had never happened, this band would have worked out just fine.

Mudcrutch has more jammy, expansive guitar work than any Petty record ever. Yet the leader doesn't play a lick, shelving his Rickenbacker to play bass, as he did back in the day. The twin-guitar front is Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and Tom Leadon, a dazzling player who found less fame than his brother Bernie (Eagles, Flying Burrito Brothers). The pair duel on the hot-pickin' traditional tune "June Apple," run Allman Brothers tandems on the boogie-rock "Bootleg Flyer" and space-waltz Dead-style on the organ-swathed, nine-minute "Crystal River." Heartbreaker keyboard whiz Benmont Tench and journeyman drummer Randall Marsh complete the original lineup; everyone's back, and better for it.

The songs are mythic Americana: With help from his bandmates, Petty creates a vivid cast of road dogs, strippers and junkies that conjures Gram Parsons' Bible-haunted Southerners and Robert Hunter's cosmic Westerners. And his weathered harmonies with Leadon make them flesh; though his voice is frayed, Petty's never sounded more real. Two country-rock covers nearly match their models: The Byrds' "Lover of the Bayou" and "Six Days on the Road," a Burritos fave. If they fall a tad short, that's appropriate: Mudcrutch's ragged enthusiasm is the sound of a hungry gang getting its first taste, just a few decades late.

WILL HERMES

(Posted: May 1, 2008)

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Review 1 of 5

5of 5 Stars

Good REAL music here. Great songwriting. & traditional Shady Grove & Byrds cover "Lover of The Bayou". This cd has a great feel to it. Rockin', country, jazzesque (Allmans). There is a cool story here about how they went out to L.A. to score a record deal, but as it turned out, The Heartbreakers were born. Really cool how they kept in touch and the 3 Heartbreakers got back together over 30 years later. Best thing Petty put out in many years, at least since Full Moon Fever and Hard Promises before that. This one stacks up in his top 5.

Jul 12, 2008 20:21:31

Review 2 of 5

4of 5 Stars

Mudcrutch is a fun listen, indeed...but I think TV has ruined Tom Petty for me...am I the only one that can't stop imagining it's Lucky Kleinschmidt from "King of the Hill" fronting this band?!?

Jun 9, 2008 12:47:08

Review 3 of 5

5of 5 Stars

Rolling Stone,

I've been listening to the Mudcrutch album every day now fot two weeks straight. The more I hear this music, the more I want to hear it. The Law of Diminishing Returns has absolutely no effect of this record! Will Hermes was right. This album is great!

- George Koumantzelis, the Aeolian Kid.

May 19, 2008 12:16:41

Review 4 of 5

4of 5 Stars

If you have the box set "Playback" and you listen to songs like "Depot Street" or the Mucrutch version of "Don't do me like that", and you expect that this record will sound like that, you'll be pleasantly surprised. It sounds quite a bit better.

When I heard that Tom and his Mudcrutch band mates put this thing together in one week on the first take, I was thinking it would sound like the above mentioned early Mudcrutch stuff. But, the professionalism and countless recording sessions that Tom, Mike and Ben have participated in over 40 years of making music, make this recording sound both smooth and effortless. I found myself toe-tapping the first listen, and singing along by the 3rd listen. With songs like "Crystal River" and the instrumental "June Apple" it's obvious that the band is not looking for air time on mainstream radio, but rather they are making music for their collective musical souls.

I have been a Petty fan since about 1973, and have seen him in concert too many times to mention. I have every recording he has ever done, and this Mudcrutch collection is likely to do down as being in the top 5 of anything he has ever done.

May 9, 2008 12:52:58

Review 5 of 5

4of 5 Stars

If you like the Eagles, the Byrds, The Heartbreakers and of course Tom Petty, you should like Mudcrutch.

They do not sound like the Heartbreakers all that much and Tom does not dominate the album. The songs are all very listenable and there is some great playing.

Several really good songs......give it a listen.

May 3, 2008 07:55:30

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