Last month, the Tom Petty estate teased an upcoming release of famed lost recordings from his 1994 solo masterpiece, Wildflowers. Now, they have officially announced the comprehensive reissue, Wildflowers & All The Rest, featuring unreleased songs, demos, home recordings, live performances, alternate recordings and more, will arrive on October 16th (pre-order here).
Originally arriving after a long creative renaissance, Wildflowers quickly became Tom Petty's fastest-selling album, certified triple Platinum only nine months after its release. The album was also a deeply significant work to Petty, who included 18 songs from the tracklisting at his final live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
As per a press release, the “resurrection of Wildflowers has been a long time coming.” Widely regarded as Petty’s “most acutely confessional album,” he originally intended it to be a double album, completed by more than 25 songs; but it was shortlisted down to a single 15-track disc by release, on the advice of co-producers Rick Rubin and Mike Campbell. The upcoming reissue will include these 'lost' 10 songs, a long with a treasure trove of bonus material and previously unheard recordings.
To commemorate the much-anticipated announcement, Petty’s estate has premiered a solo demo version of the album’s title track, along with a video featuring previously unseen footage of Petty in his home, shot by Martyn Atkins during the Wildflowers recording sessions. Watch below.
Tom Petty | “Wildflowers (Home Recording)” [Official Music Video]
Revisiting the ten lost tracks from this collection was a project extremely close to Tom’s heart. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, he detailed plans for the reissue and told the magazine, “I broke through to something else. My personal life came crashing down, and it derailed me for a while. But I was at the top of my game during that record.”
Wildflowers & All The Rest has been curated by Petty’s daughters, Adria and Annakim, and his wife Dana – and is truly is a vast collection! Along with the 10 tracks that didn't make the original cut – like “There Goes Angela” – there are unearthed solo demos, live performances, alternate versions and much more, across multiple formats.
The Deluxe Edition features 15 recordings made by Petty as he was writing the album in his home studio, revealing priceless insight into his songwriting process as he plays all the instruments and revises lyrics. And 14 live performances of the album’s songs recorded on various tours from 1995 to 2017. Pre-order the Deluxe Edition, here.
The Super Deluxe Edition is a 5-CD and 9-LP 180g limited set, that featuring 70 tracks, nine unreleased songs and 34 unreleased versions, plus an introduction penned by producer Rick Rubin, an essay written by David Fricke – Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty’s Road to Wildflowers and lyrics to all the songs on Wildflowers and All The Rest. This set also comes with a hardbound book, cloth patch of Wildflowers logo, sticker of Wildflowers logo, replica of Dogs With Wings tour program (the 1995 Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers tour), hand-written 4-song lyric reprints in vellum envelope, a litho of new and exclusive art by Blaze Ben Brooks for the song “Only A Broken Heart,” and a (numbered) Certificate of Authenticity.
The Ultra Deluxe Edition is a 9-LP, very limited set (only 475 copies will be sold). The package includes the same contents as the Super Deluxe Edition, plus an exclusive unique unisex necklace…hand-made by Maria Sarno in a faux suede pouch, an exclusive lyric book with the illustrations by Blaze Ben Brooks, an exclusive 7” of “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” packaged in a custom fabric bag with a metal Wildflowers logo as the closure – designed and made by Los Angeles-based, Made Worn. The Super Deluxe and Ultra Deluxe edition's are only available via Tom Petty's official website, here.
Wildflowers & All The Rest is out on October 16th. “Wildflowers (Home Recording)” is available now, in addition to the recently released songs, “There Goes Angela (Dream Away) (Home Recording)” and “You Don’t Know How It Feels (Home Recording).” Pre-order the Deluxe Edition here.
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