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Pack Up the Plantation: Live!

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Pack Up the Plantation: Live!
Live album by
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
ReleasedNovember 25, 1985 (1985-11-25)
RecordedJuly 16, 1978–August 7, 1985
Venue
GenreRock
Length71:12
LabelMCA
Producer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology
Southern Accents
(1985) 		Pack Up the Plantation: Live!
(1985) 		Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)
(1987)
Singles from Pack Up the Plantation: Live!
  1. "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" / "American Girl"
    Released: 1985
  2. "Needles and Pins"/"Spike"
    Released: December 30, 1985
  3. "Refugee"/"Don't Do Me Like That"
    Released: 1986

Pack Up the Plantation: Live! is the first official live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1985 by MCA Records. It was released as a double LP and, in slightly truncated form, a single cassette or compact disc. A concert film of the same name was released on home video in 1986. Stevie Nicks sings on two songs, including the US single "Needles and Pins", which reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background

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The album was primarily recorded at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles during the band's 1985 tour, but also includes several tracks from previous tours. Stevie Nicks, who collaborated with Petty and frequently appeared with him on tour, sings with him on two songs on the album. The first is a cover of the Searchers' 1964 hit "Needles and Pins," which was released as a single and reached No. 37 in the Billboard Hot 100.[1] Nicks' second track is "Insider", one of two cuts from Petty's 1981 LP Hard Promises that feature her.

"Breakdown" is notable because the audience takes over from Petty at the start, singing the first two verses and the chorus loud enough to be picked up by the mics. Petty quips, "You're going to put me out of a job", to huge applause, then launches into a reprise of the second verse.

Releases

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No other singles were released from the album in the United States, although a cover of the Byrds' 1967 hit "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" was released in Europe. "Refugee" was also issued in Europe on a four-track EP.

A concert film of the Wiltern Theatre performance, also titled Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, was released on home video in 1986. It included songs that did not make the album, such as originals "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Don't Come Around Here No More", as well as covers such as "Little Bit O' Soul" and "Route 66".

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
The Essential Rock Discography4/10[6]
MusicHound3.5/5[7]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Sounds[10]

Sandy Robertson, writing for Sounds, described it as "a turgid four-sided video soundtrack".[10][clarification needed] Jimmy Guterman, writing for Rolling Stone, said that Petty "sounds impassioned and impressive when he lays into his early songs", and that the Heartbreakers are "an undeniably great band."[11]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt the album was a logical follow-up to the band's album Southern Accents, "criticized from many corners for being too slick," but relied too much on that album's material. He concluded that Pack Up the Plantation featured "strong performance and neat surprises", which "alone makes it worth investigating for dedicated fans, even if it doesn't quite deliver the knockout punch many listeners might have wanted."[2]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Tom Petty, except as noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star"Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn3:30
2."Needles and Pins"Sonny Bono, Jack Nitzsche2:23
3."The Waiting" 5:08
4."Breakdown" 7:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."American Girl" 3:50
2."It Ain't Nothin' to Me"Petty, David A. Stewart6:05
3."Insider" 5:16
4."Rockin' Around (With You)"Petty, Mike Campbell3:20
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Refugee"Petty, Campbell5:22
2."I Need to Know" (LP and cassette only) 2:30
3."Southern Accents" 5:20
4."Rebels" 6:10
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Don't Bring Me Down"Gerry Goffin, Carole King3:40
2."You Got Lucky" (LP and cassette only) 4:20
3."Shout"O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley9:30
4."Stories We Could Tell"John Sebastian3:55

The two songs appearing only on vinyl or cassette have never been officially released on CD. Both songs were also initially not included in the 2015 Hi-Rez remaster, despite being a digital download without time limits. However, after fan response, they were belatedly added to the release.

Recording information

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All tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, California, August 7, 1985, except:

  • "Don't Bring Me Down" – Paradise Theater, Boston, July 16, 1978
  • "Stories We Could Tell" – Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, March 7, 1980, engineered by Charles Kaplan in the Mobile Manor Unit
  • "Needles and Pins", "Insider" – The Forum, Los Angeles, June 1981
  • "Shout" – The Coliseum, Richfield, Ohio, March 19, 1983
  • "Rockin' Around (With You)" – Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Irvine, California, June 1983

Personnel

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Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Soul Lips Horns (on tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theater)

The Rebeletts (on tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theater)

  • Pat Peterson – backing vocals, percussion
  • Caroll Sue Hill – backing vocals, percussion

Additional musicians

  • Ron Blair – bass guitar on "Insider", "Needles and Pins", "Stories We Could Tell", "Don't Bring Me Down"
  • Phil Jones – percussion on "Insider", "Needles and Pins", "Rockin' Around (With You)", "Shout"
  • Bobby Valentino – violin on "Stories We Could Tell"
  • Stevie Nicks – vocals on "Insider", "Needles and Pins"

Technical

  • Tom Petty – producer
  • Mike Campbell – producer
  • Don Smith – engineer
  • Alan Weidel – assistant engineer
  • Doug Field – engineer
  • Mike Craver – engineer
  • Charles Kaplan – engineer ("Stories We Could Tell")
  • Shelly Yakus – engineer ("Shout", "Needles and Pins", "Insider")
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering

Charts

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Chart performance for Pack Up the Plantation: Live!
Year Chart Position
1986 US Billboard 200 22[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty - Pack Up the Plantation: Live! Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "Tom Petty: Pack Up The Plantation—Live!". Blender. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  4. ^ Kot, Greg (September 1, 1991). "Through The Years With Tom Petty". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 2005. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 816. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.
  7. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. p. 870. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  8. ^ Guterman, Jimmy (January 16, 1986). "Pack Up The Plantation: Live!". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  9. ^ "Tom Petty: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  10. ^ a b Robertson, Sandy (December 14, 1985). "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 'Pack Up the Plantation Live!'". Sounds. p. 28.
  11. ^ Guterman, Jimmy (January 16, 1986). "Pack Up The Plantation: Live!". Rolling Stone.
  12. ^ "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
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