Hard Promises

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For the film, see Hard Promises (1992 film).
Hard Promises
File:PettyHardPromises.jpg
Studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Released May 5, 1981 (1981-05-05)
Recorded 1980–81 at Sound City, Van Nuys, Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, CA and Goodnight, LA
Genre Rock
Length 39:33
Label Backstreet
Producer Jimmy Iovine, Tom Petty
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology
Damn the Torpedoes
(1979)Damn the Torpedoes1979		 Hard Promises
(1981)		 Long After Dark
(1982)Long After Dark1982
Singles from Hard Promises
  1. "The Waiting"
    Released: April 20, 1981
  2. "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)"
    Released: June 29, 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[1]
Blender 4/5 stars[2]
Chicago Tribune 2.5/4 stars[3]
Robert Christgau B[4]
The Essential Rock Discography 6/10[5]
MusicHound 5/5 stars[6]
Rolling Stone (favorable)[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3/5 stars[8]
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music 4/5 stars[9]

Hard Promises is the fourth album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released in May, 1981.

History

Its original working title was Benmont's Revenge, referring to the band's keyboard player, Benmont Tench.[10] The album features guest vocals from Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac on the duet "Insider." The Heartbreakers also recorded the hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" for Nicks' album Bella Donna around the time Hard Promises was recorded.

This was the second Tom Petty album on the Backstreet Records label. The album's release was delayed while Petty and his distributor MCA Records argued about the list price. The album was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan's Gaucho and the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu soundtrack. This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98.[11] Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album or naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.[12]

During the recording of the album John Lennon was scheduled to be in the same studio at the same time. Tom Petty was looking forward to meeting him when he came in. The meeting never occurred; John Lennon was murdered before he could ever make it into the studio. In order to pay tribute to one of their influences the band decided to etch "WE LOVE YOU JL" on the master copy of the album. To this day "WE LOVE YOU JL" is seen on every Hard Promises first issue US non-masterphile vinyl copy pressed.[13] The album's title comes from a line in the chorus of "Insider."

Track listing

All songs were written by Tom Petty, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "The Waiting" – 3:58
  2. "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 4:22
  3. "Nightwatchman" (Petty, Campbell) – 3:59
  4. "Something Big" – 4:44
  5. "Kings Road" – 3:27
Side two
  1. "Letting You Go" – 3:24
  2. "A Thing About You" – 3:33
  3. "Insider" – 4:23
  4. "The Criminal Kind" – 4:00
  5. "You Can Still Change Your Mind" (Petty, Campbell) – 4:15

Personnel

The Heartbreakers
  • Tom Petty – lead vocals, 12 & 6 string guitar electric & acoustic guitars, bass guitar & electric piano on "Something Big"
  • Mike Campbell – 12 & 6 string guitar electric guitars, auto-harp, accordion, harmonium, bass guitar
  • Benmont Tench – organ, piano, background vocals
  • Ron Blair – bass guitar
  • Stan Lynch – drums, background vocals
Additional musicians
  • Phil Jones – percussion on all tracks
  • Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass guitar on "A Woman in Love"
  • Alan "Bugs" Weidel – piano on "Nightwatchman"
  • Stevie Nicks – harmony vocal on "Insider", background vocal on "You Can Still Change Your Mind"
  • Lori Nicks - background vocal on "Insider"
  • Sharon Celani – background vocal on "You Can Still Change Your Mind"

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[14] Platinum 100,000
United States (RIAA)[15] Platinum 1,000,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Charts

Preceded by New Zealand Chart number-one album
June 28, 1981 – July 5, 1981		 Succeeded by
Mistaken Identity by Kim Carnes

References

  1. ↑ AllMusic review
  2. ↑ Blender review Archived June 15, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  8. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick. "Pop Eye" Los Angeles Times Sept. 21, 1980: T80.
  11. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick. "Petty Battling MCA Over Record Price Hike" Los Angeles Times February 1, 1981: N72.
  12. ↑ Marsh, Dave. "Tom Petty" Musician July 1981: 43.
  13. ↑ Conversations with Tom Petty by Paul Zollo
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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