Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Pack Up The Plantation - Live! (Japanese Mastering) CD Track Listing

A list by checkmate

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Pack Up The Plantation - Live! (Japanese Mastering) (1985)
Pack Up The Plantation - Live! (Japanese Mastering)\nOriginally Released 1985\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Considering that Southern Accents took so much time and money to complete, finally hitting the stores two and a half years after Long After Dark, it wasn't surprising that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers decided to release a double live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, a mere eight months after its release. After all, Southern Accents was criticized from many corners for being too slick, too much in Dave Stewart's corner instead of the Heartbreakers', so it made sense to quickly return the focus to the band, showcasing the group as the rockers they are. Pack Up the Plantation does do that, even if it isn't quite the barnburner it should have been. Part of the problem is that the song selection isn't quite as good as it could have been, relying heavily on Southern Accents material, including the weak "It Ain't Nothin' to Me." Then again, the weaker songs and dubious choices are outweighed by a strong performance and neat surprises like a tough "Insider" and covers of "So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star," "Needles and Pins," and "Don't Bring Me Down." That alone makes it worth investigating for dedicated fans, even if it doesn't quite deliver the knockout punch many listeners might have wanted. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Thrilling Mid-Period Live Set , January 24, 2006\nReviewer: Todd and In Charge (Miami, FL)\nI find it a bit curious so many of the reviews here dislike the live covers on this album; as a fan I really enjoy the boys' takes on the Byrds "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star," or "Needles and Pins," or even "Don't Bring Me Down." I don't look for a "greatest hits live" package from a performer I respect -- I want that artist to dig deep, find some chestnuts from the catalogue, or do some covers that mean something to them -- and that's what Pack Up the Plantation is. \n\nIs it representative? I'd say, after two and half years of effort to create Petty's statement on the South of his raising -- Southern Accents, the live album from the tour of Southern Accents finds Petty in his most meaningful, heartfelt period. My personal view is he feared revealing his most innermost thoughts about the South and himself on Southern Accents, so he felt he needed to gloss up those concepts with Dave Stewart's production tricks and copious horns. Don't forget -- this was 1985. But strip all that away and you have pure Petty, from the heart. The songs skew toward that album, with strong performances of "Rebel" and "It Ain't Nothing to Me," but he throws in some fan favorites as well. It's rounded out with some fun covers, though I agree "Shout" probably didn't need to be included. \n\nI do find this particular cd release to be lacking, however, in that two songs are cut short and the order rearranged from the original release. There's no reason to truncate or reorder the original, and I hope subsequent pressings fix this glitch. \n\nIn sum, this is vintage mid-period Petty, rocking out on songs from his heart, even getting Stevie Nicks to join in a few tunes. Is it a comprehensive overview of his career, live? Clearly not. But taken for what it is, Pack Up the Plantation is a very enjoyable live Petty experience and an example of why this artist has been so enduring for so many years.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGreat Live Tom Petty Album, Even If The Horns And Covers Are Too Much, 7/5/2005\nReviewer: The Footpath Cowboy "rockerusa2002" (Suffern, NY United States)\nPACK UP THE PLANTATION: LIVE! is a great live album by Tom Petty, with only two flaws: the addition of horns to many of the songs, which were previously rawer in their studio versions, and the excessive number of cover versions that fill out the album. It would have been nice to hear more of Petty's own songs, but some of the renditions of other people's compositions are great, and, combined with Petty's advocacy of sanctions against Indonesia for that country's recent trumped-up drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist, that more than compensates for the lack of original material on this album.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nwhy not everything on one disc?, June 28, 2004\nReviewer: timmy (MA)\nI just finished listening to the tape version of this release, which timed out at 78:04. So why were those songs left off the CD?\nThat being said this is a pretty good document of the band at the time and nearly twenty years later holds up as an introduction to their music.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nEssential for TP&HB fans, but not representative, June 2, 2004\nReviewer: A music fan\nTom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been together for well over 25 years, they have an extensive, excellent catalog of their own songs and are an awesome live concert band. So the problems with this album (for me, as a major fan) are that 1) there's only this one CD of live music after more than 25 years; 2) a lot of the songs are "covers", rather than the band's own self-authored songs; 3) the songs are taken from various tours from 1978 to 1985, and not even presented in chronological order; 4) there's none of Petty's commentary between the songs as there would be in a concert 5) a lot of these songs include horns in new arrangements, quite a change from their original form. So while I enjoy this CD, it's not really representative of the band's overall work.\nOk, so what's good about the CD? While it falls down as being "representative" of the band, it is a nice supplement for those who have heard some more "typical" TP&HB concerts in person, via the official live concert videos, via radio concert broadcasts, or via bootleg recordings. I've been to many of their shows, have the official concert videos, have tons of bootlegs, etc. so for me the horns on "Refugee" and "American Girl" are interesting, but I'm glad I've also heard them performed live elsewhere, without the horns. And the songs where horns were in fact intended, "Rebels" and "It Ain't Nothing to Me", do truly rock here. Another treat for fans is "Rockin' Around With You", on the CD here from a late 1970's live recording with Ron Blair on bass - I've never heard this song performed live anywhere else, not on any bootleg. And it's great to have Stevie Nicks on a couple of the songs ("Needles and Pins", and "Insider") even though, again, she's not normally with the band, so those songs are untypical. \n\nAltogether, this CD is a mishmash of well recorded and well performed songs, but it doesn't really work as an overall album - because it's not at all like a typical TP&HB concert. If you were wanting to hear a typical concert from this band, with mostly the band's own songs, Petty talking between songs, etc., you'll be disappointed if this CD is the only live material you hear from them. Personally my favorite "official" live release from the band was the "Take the Highway" video concert (now out of print, unfortunately). And there are several bootlegs I prefer to this CD, but I won't name them since they aren't for sale. However, if you are a fan and you can enjoy these tracks one song at a time, taking them for what they are rather than a full "typical" TP&HB concert, then you ought to buy this CD. And hopefully they'll release more official CDs from this band eventually (they do include a handful of live songs in the 6 CD boxed set, but only one is a Petty authored song, a slow though excellent version "King's Highway") - they would do well to release some of their old tv and radio show concerts to DVD and CD, but even if they do, this CD will still have something to offer for serious fans.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nnot bad, November 14, 2003\nReviewer: A music fan\nIn the late 80's, Tom Petty went into a bit of a creative slump, and a live album let him put out a record without having to write new songs. Fair enough, this isn't a bad recording, and it's nice to have another Byrds cover, something T.P. and the Heartbreakers have always done really well in concert. My main problem with this CD is that the horns really detract from the band's original sound, which was great in the way it recaptured the simple (brass-free!) flavor of late 60's rock bands. The horns ruin that for me, but you may feel differently (I mean, I didn't like the bit of trumpet the Byrds put after the chorus in the original "If You Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star"). As someone else noted, to fit the original double album onto a CD, two good tracks were removed, including "I Need to Know", one of my favorites on the vinyl version.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nALMOST a Classic of Intense and Intelligent Live Rock, January 5, 2003\nReviewer: "chuckdutoit" (Montreal, PQ, Canada)\nIMHO, Petty and the Heartbreakers can do three things very well: 1. they can write some intelligent songs, 2. they can get VERY intense musically when they let themselves go a bit, and 3. they can also be very effective with quick three-to-four minute songs, as long as they're well-written. On this album, the first three tracks, "American Girl," and "Southern Accents" accomplish task #3 really effectively. "Refugee" and "Rebels," meanwhile, merge the first two qualities--really effective jamming on powerfully written songs. So the album's really building up to be a heck of a piece of work, and then--we get "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Shout," which are basically just good-timey get-down stuff. It's a major letdown for me.\nSo as always, it all comes down to taste. If you're into the three qualities I mentioned above, you'll really like this album but feel let down at the end. If you're only into good-timey get-down stuff, there's only a few things here for you ("Breakdown" is another example). If you're into both, this is five-star stuff!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWhat you would expect, July 10, 2002\nReviewer: J. Carroll "Jack" (Island Heights,NJ)\nPack up the Plantation is pretty much what you would expect from a Petty concert CD. A raucous crowd, (Check out the sing along on "Breakdown" they even get the two part harmony right) solid performances by the band, and emotive singing by Petty (particularly on "Southern Accents" where Petty slows things down and gets to the emotional heart of the song.) There are no major surprises here, just the talent and performances you would expect.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPacks a Pretty Good Punch - But Could be Better, June 28, 2000\nReviewer: Sal Nudo (Illinois)\nOverall, this is not exactly Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers at the top of their game, somewhat due to the song selection. Granted, it was released in 1985, so obviously future Petty classics are missing. Nonetheless, they could have left off songs like "Rockin' Around (With You)" and the ever-played cover, "Shout," in order to include cooler Petty live tracks.\nHaving mentioned the bad, there is still plenty of good to "Pack up the Plantation," a basically fun, crowd-pleasing disc in most spots. They begin with a cover of their heroes, The Byrds, on "So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star," which starts things off in a good time mode. The crowd also eats up popular 80's hits like "The Waiting" and "Breakdown," which features the crowd doing vocals for the entire first verse, a truly cool and seemingly spontaneous moment, as Petty deadpans afterwards, "you're gonna' put me out of a job." Stevie Nicks joins Petty on "Needles and Pins" and the great ballad "Insider," where the duo click fabuously on both songs, their voices just melting together. Another nice ballad is "Southern Accents." The rougher "It Ain't Nothin' To Me" weirdly has an R.E.M. type bridge that will take listeners aback, but Petty's typical lyrics of ignoring trends, hype, fashion, and doing things your own way will all sound familiar on that song. Come to think of it, perhaps Petty and R.E.M. have more in common than people would think. Anyway, noticeable in these tunes is the ever-present background horns, which happened to accompany many popular AOR tunes back in the 80's (in case you forgot). \n\nBy the end, things seem somewhat thrown together, due to changed venues that seem more intimate than before. The editing between songs leaves a little to be desired, and the flow of the album suffers as a result. Give Petty credit, however, choosing and playing songs like "Don't Bring Me Down" and the closer, "Stories We Could Tell." These are not well-known Petty staples, yet pretty good tunes. \n\nIf Petty's voice annoys you, avoid him live, since his nasally twang comes off as even more accentuated. Also, the cover warning, "Configuration Different than CD" is absolutely no joke; the track listing is completely messed up. Perhaps MCA Records will remedy this in the future. At any rate, if you're a fan, check it out.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSnapshot of a Petty show taken just after Southern Accents, March 16, 2000\nReviewer: redtunictroll (Earth, USA)\nPetty's 1985 double-LP live outing was reduced to a single disc for CD releaese, and lost two tracks ("I Need to Know" and "You Got Lucky") in the process.\nRegardless, this is a great spin: it sounds just like a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers live show. Of course, if you don't like Petty, you probably won't much like this, and if you do, well...\n\nCut 1, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are the Byrds! Cut 2, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are the Searchers! Most of the rest of the disc shows that they're really Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers after all, but jeez, that guitar sure sounds familiar (12-string Rickenbacker maybe?).\n\nThe originals are stretched out nicely on this disc, giving them a new dimension over the studio recordings. The studio version still maintain more radio punch power, but the live versions, replete with audience sing-a-long and howling are a good second opinion. The Heartbreakers are quite the crack live rock'n'roll band.\n\nPoints off for CD-booklet reproduction of the cover that renders the credits almost unreadable.\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Mike Campbell, Tom Petty \n\nAlbum Notes\nTom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (vocals, acoustic, electric, 6- & 12-string guitars); Mike Campbell (electric, 12-string, lap steel & slide guitars); Howie Epstein (mandolin, bass, background vocals); Benmont Tench (keyboards, background vocals); Stan Lynch (drums, background vocals).\n\nAdditional personnel: Stevie Nicks (vocals); Bobby Valentino (violin); Jimmy Zavala (harmonica, saxophone); Lee Thornburg (trumpet, flugelhorn); Nick Lane (trombone, euphonium); Ron Blair (bass); Pat Peterson, Carroll Sue Hill (percussion, background vocals); Phil Jones (percussion).\n\nRecorded live at various locations during Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' 1985 tour.\n\nCaptured in concert in their mid-'80s "eclectic" phase, backed by horns and female vocalists, Petty and the Heartbreakers get to show more sides of their personality than the confines of a studio recording generally permit. That's most obvious in the preponderance of spirited cover tunes that lay the band's roots squarely on their collective sleeve. Listening to their version of the Byrds' "So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" makes it plain where Petty got his drawling vocal style and penchant for ringing guitars, just as a rendition of "Shout" lays bare the band's soul influences. Atmospheric jamming vehicles like "Breakdown" also benefit greatly from the live circumstances, and on early tunes like "American Girl," Petty and company prove that they can still blaze through a heartland rocker like no one else.
This rock cd contains 14 tracks and runs 72min 30sec.
Freedb: c710fc0e
Buy: from Amazon.com

Categories

Latest lists

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Pack Up The Plantation - Live! (Japanese Mastering) CD Track Listing

Category

Tags

cyList

Legal