What Johnny Cash said to Tom Petty

meninblack
meninblack

When the Heartbreakers were Johnny Cash’s studio band on one of his last records, the discussion came up about what is the valid point about the music business, especially for an older member of that business. John told Tom and Tom told it to Dean Correa, a member of his road managing crew; “One afternoon on the way to the plane from the house for a show, Tom said that John told him you never know what the person in that audience has gone thru that day, maybe they found out they have cancer, maybe a wife left them, financial ruin, whatever….you just don’t know and there are more possibilities out there than is fair. For the two hours you are playing you have the chance to lift them up out of misery they might not have been able to step out of on their own, there in lies the virtue in your job.” Thank you, Dean, for allowing me to share this private moment with our listeners. This story gave me new insight to the song from 1999’s Echo. And inspired Lobster to play it on 97.7 The River as the first Bay Area Found Classic feature, a bit past Noon on the first Sunday of 2018. Tom understood where we went with him. This video of “Room At The Top” was shot in and around The Fillmore in San Francisco.