Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Angel Dream (No. 2) (1996)

Formed in 1976, this band’s three constant members over the years have been Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, and Benmont Tench. Formed from the ashes of Mudcrutch, a band all three fellas had previously played in, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers originally made it big in the UK as early as 1977 before gaining popularity in the United States. Originating in Gainesville, Florida, the band is responsible for dozens of charting hits including “American Girl,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” “Free Fallin’,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” and countless others over their thirty-seven year run. Petty, the band’s frontman, is an advocate for the reformation of the current music industry, pointing out the problems surrounding how radio DJs must now follow set lists decided by radio moguls rather than playing the songs they want to play themselves, crushing the rise of new local artists. He has also gotten into numerous legal battles with his record company, sometimes putting himself into bankruptcy to stand his ground against the greed and corruption that controls most record companies. Besides working with the Heartbreakers, Petty was also a co-founder of the musical supergroup in the late ‘80s, The Traveling Wilburys, consisting of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne. Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench have also had successful careers outside of the Heartbreakers; Campbell has been noted for writing or co-writing songs for Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac, Roger McGuinn, Johnny Cash, and many others; Tench has recorded as a session musician with The Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, Elvis Costello, The Ramones, as well as countless others. To this day, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers still tour the country, selling out shows around the globe.

In the US, this band has had seven albums reach the Top 10, spanning 1979’s Damn the Torpedoes to 2010’s Mojo. The album that this song was released on, Songs and Music from “She’s the One,” only reached number fifteen on the album charts; but, considering that it was the soundtrack for a movie, She’s the One, it is considered to have done incredibly well. The album was certified gold four months after its release, December 1996, but is generally overlooked when debating the Heartbreakers’ greatest works. It’s only charting song was the opening track, “Walls (Circus),” which reached number sixty-nine in the US. The song heard below was the thirteenth track on the soundtrack/album, and was a sort of reprise of the sixth track, similarly titled “Angel Dream (No. 4).” Personally, I like this song better, as it’s a bit mellower and sounds stripped down comparatively.



Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Angel Dream (No. 2) (1996)

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Lyrics:

I dreamed you
I saw your face
Cut my lifeline
When drifting through space
I saw an angel
I saw my fate
I can only thank God it was not too late

Over mountains
I floated away
Across an ocean
I dreamed her name
I followed an angel
Down through the gates
I can only thank God it was not too late

Sing a little song of loneliness
Sing one to make me smile
Another round for everyone
I'm here for a little while

Now I'm walking
This street on my own
But she's with me
Everywhere I go
Yeah, I found an angel
I found my place
I can only thank God it was not too late
I can only thank God it was not too late
I can only thank God it was not too late

The Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care (1988)

Looking to create a B-side for his upcoming solo release, “This Is Love,” George Harrison got together with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty to work on some ideas. Needing a place to record, they went to the home of Bob Dylan, who had a home recording studio nearby where they all happened to be. That session resulted in such a good track (heard below), that Harrison suggested they form a supergroup and release an entire album. All of them agreed and what resulted was the greatest commercial supergroup of the decade.

The title of this song came about when Harrison saw a box that had been lying around in Dylan’s garage. It was used as the first track on their first album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, and was the most success Dylan, Lynne, and Orbison had seen in years. Sadly, it was also the last release in Orbison’s lifetime, as it came out less than two months prior to his passing.



The Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care (1988)

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Lyrics:

Been beat up and battered around
Been sent up and I've been shot down
You're the best thing that I've ever found
Handle me with care

Reputations changeable
Situations tolerable
But baby, you're adorable
Handle me with care

I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show me that you really care?

Everybody's got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine and dream on

I've been fobbed off and I've been fooled
I've been robbed and ridiculed
In daycare centers and night schools
Handle me with care

Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings, hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Handle me with care

I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show me that you really care?

Everybody got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine and dream on

I've been uptight and made a mess
But I'll clean it up myself, I guess
Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle me with care