Mudcrutch reviewed
Mudcrutch
Mudcrutch
(Reprise)
If anywhere, Tom Petty’s Mudcrutch should be insanely popular in Chicagoland: We’re putting the band back together!
Appearing: Wednesday, July 2nd at United Center in Chicago.
Petty’s not out for revitalization, repudiation, or reinvention with Mudcrutch, he simply wants to play. In fact, the band is basically The Heartbreakers (Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell) with Tom Leadon on guitar and Randall Marsh on drums. But Mudcrutch don’t re-emerge vengefully as much as just jam(man). It’s a musicians’ album through and through; Petty isn’t saving melodies for future Heartbreakers endeavors but stretching out. (The 10-minute “Crystal River” betrays that secret.) The lack of energy doesn’t hamper the album’s listenability, though it does make it more marketable to Petty’s base than those of us with Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, and Greatest Hits comprising our collections.
Strangely, given the singer’s Dylan-esque whine, the strongest cuts are linked to Gram Parsons. Petty usually owes large debts to The Byrds, but his interpretation of “Lover On The Bayou” recalls what was left of the band after Roger McGuinn politically cleansed Parsons’ Sweetheart infiltration. The other connection arrives in a moseying “Six Days On The Road,” which was covered with more attitude by The Flying Burrito Brothers (though made famous by Dave Dudley). Here, instead of pushing the tempo, the band lay bare their intent to just say hello and let it ride.
— Steve Forstneger
