Mike Campbell: Grateful Heartbreaker

Mike Campbell was a poor kid from a broken home in Florida with very little guidance on what to do with Life. As a self-proclaimed introvert, he enjoyed playing his guitar alone, never thinking he could be a professional, although that was all he was interested in. A high school guidance counselor took an interest in this humble young man, researched his school records to find a history of straight A’s, and wondered why no one was taking notice. She discovered that the school had him wrongfully registered as “Michael Carter.” Campbell eventually gained a scholarship to the University of Florida.

This was one of many incidents where Mike Campbell pauses in his writings to reflect on how grateful he’s been for the helpful actions of others in his new biography, Heartbreaker, A Memoir (Grand Central Publishing). Campbell, the man best known as the musical sidekick for Tom Petty as well as the lead guitarist for the Heartbreakers, has put together (with co-writer Ari Surdoval) a detailed and gripping human story that draws upon the environment of the great classic rock era.

This isn’t one of those wild rockstar tales, although there’s plenty of sex and drugs, and rock & roll; this is a rags-to-riches story of a group of downtrodden kids who locked onto the only thing that made any sense. Campbell keeps it real, disclosing his feelings, fears, mistakes, and respectable jealousies as a member of the Heartbreakers – and especially concerning Tom Petty.

As a college student, Campell would attend open-air concerts put together by the University of Florida where he fell in love with the local Gainesville band Mudcrutch (“I was just a lonely screwed-up kid, sitting in the grass, with no ride home, wondering what I was going to do with my life”).  Petty was the bass player and one of two singers in the group that developed a big local following. They covered the blues, Allman Brothers, and other southern rock sounds of the early 70’s era. Campbell eventually played with the band, was asked to join, and would remain by Petty’s side until his death in 2017. Once signed to the small independent Shelter Records, the band moved from Florida to set up shop in L.A.

Campbell delivers an abundance of details in recalled quotes and stories, but provides an extra boost to the musicologist reader with details of their song developments, specific chord techniques, and musical arrangements. Yet, with all these worthy micro-tangents, he keeps the story moving along, with tension-filled moments and self-professed epiphanies.  Each time Campbell learns a life lesson, he comes back to his mantra: “Stay Grateful.”

For obvious reasons, Tom Petty is a character that Campbell analyzes with great respect, understanding, love, and fear.  “I was intimidated by how good Tom was. He could conjure songs from thin air. I saw him do it countless times. His presence was always commendable. As a leader, he was certain, decisive, inspiring, tough.” The detailed chapters when TP and the Heartbreakers toured as Bob Dylan’s backing band are documents of greatness, with Campbell taking the time to reiterate how humble and respectful Petty was to take a backseat to one of the world’s greats. Music always came first for Petty and the band.

The book contains several life-changing moments for the band that Campbell describes with great conflict. After the Heartbreakers’ first two successful albums, Petty discovered that he’d given away his song’s publishing rights to Shelter Records. In one of the book’s best chapters, Campbell asserts his awe of Petty’s determination as he watched him push back on the music executives. Having found a loophole in his contract, Petty is now in the position to renegotiate. Shelter executives told Petty that he would never put out another song if he didn’t agree with their terms. Campbell dramatically describes Petty sitting in a plush boardroom across from the Shelter team when he pulls out his pocketknife, begins to clean his nails, and states, “I’ll sell peanuts before I give them to you.”

Ironically, Campell shares a surprising dialogue, not long after Tom’s victory over Shelter, when Petty put the band and Campbell on notice: from that point forward, Tom would get 50% of the band’s income, the Heartbreakers would see the other 50% to be divided between the four of them. This stunned the band and set off a period of resentment. Campbell soon appealed to Tom. “So, I was thinking, maybe I could get a little bit more because I was such a bigger part of (the band’s success)?” Campbell goes on to describe, “Tom stared at me. He nodded. ‘Yeah, but I’m Tom Petty.’” That is how he justified his unbalanced lot. Campbell came around to understand, “He was right. He WAS Tom Petty. I was grateful to be part of it.”

In 1984, the balance of recognition moved a bit more toward Campbell when he offered a demo to Petty. Tom rejected it, saying the song had a jazz chord that he wasn’t in love with.  Campbell then got a call from Don Henley, who needed one more tune for his second solo album. “I’m looking for an image maker,” Henley proclaimed on their initial phone call, “Something epic. You got anything like that?” Campbell sent him the jazzy song. Henley later called Campbell back to say, “I have just written the best song of my life to your music.” That song would be “The Boys of Summer.” The tune went platinum in several countries, gaining a Grammy for Henley for “Best Rock Performance.”

The book’s flow is nearly flawless except for its tilt toward the beginning of the band’s history and thin details of the later years. The exception to this is Campbell’s recognition of their 40th year together and the band’s last tour ending on September 25, 2017. Campbell describes with honest sentiment that he’s still amazed that Tom played the entire tour while nursing a broken hip.

He speculates that this led to Tom’s overuse of painkillers on top of his seeking help for a heroin addiction around that time. A week after the tour ended, the world lost Tom Petty.

-Steven Valvano

Photo: Mike Campbell and Tom Petty, 2012 (Takahiro Kyono from Tokyo, Japan via Wikimedia Commons)