Wildflowers is the second solo studio album by American musician Tom Petty, released on November 1, 1994. The album was the first released by Petty after signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records (where he had recorded as part of the Traveling Wilburys) and the first of three albums produced by Rick Rubin. The album was certified 3x platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Three singles were released from the album between 1994 and 1995, the most successful of which, “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart for one week.
The album features all members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with the exception of drummer Stan Lynch. Steve Ferrone plays drums on Wildflowers and would join the band officially the following year. However, the album was not credited to the Heartbreakers because, in Petty’s words, “Rick (Rubin) and I both wanted more freedom than to be strapped into five guys.”Freedom notwithstanding, Petty chose to use most of his regular band as session players, demonstrating his comfort with that format.
Tracks
1 Wildflowers (Tom Petty) 3:12
2 You Don’t Know How It Feels (Tom Petty) 4:49
3 Time To Move On (Tom Petty) 3:15
4 You Wreck Me (Tom Petty, Mike Campbell) 3:22
5 It’s Good To Be King (Tom Petty) 5:10
6 Only A Broken Heart (Tom Petty) 4:30
7 Honey Bee (Tom Petty) 4:58
8 Don’t Fade On Me (Tom Petty, Mike Campbell) 3:32
9 Hard On Me (Tom Petty) 3:48
10 Cabin Down Below (Tom Petty) 2:51
11 To Find A Friend (Tom Petty) 3:23
12 A Higher Place (Tom Petty) 3:56
13 House In The Woods (Tom Petty) 5:32
14 Crawling Back To You (Tom Petty) 5:05
15 Wake Up Time (Tom Petty) 5:21
Musicians
1 Wildflowers
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Acoustic Guitar | Tom Petty |
Harpsichord | Mike Campbell |
Harmonica | Benmont Tench |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
2 You Don’t Know How It Feels
Bass | Tom Petty |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Acoustic Guitar | Tom Petty |
Harmonica | Tom Petty |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Background Vocals | Howie Epstein |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
3 Time To Move On
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Slide Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
4 You Wreck Me
Bass | Howie Epstein |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Organ | Benmont Tench |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Percussion | Phil Jones |
Background Vocals | Howie Epstein |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
5 It’s Good To Be King
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Background Vocals | Howie Epstein |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
6 Only A Broken Heart
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Harmonium | Benmont Tench |
Mellotron | Benmont Tench |
Organ | Benmont Tench |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
7 Honey Bee
Bass | Howie Epstein |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Background Vocals | Howie Epstein |
Background Vocals | Carl Wilson |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
8 Don’t Fade On Me
Acoustic Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Acoustic Guitar | Tom Petty |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
9 Hard On Me
Bass | John Pierce |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Acoustic Guitar | Tom Petty |
Organ | Benmont Tench |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
10 Cabin Down Below
Bass | Howie Epstein |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
Percussion | Phil Jones |
11 To Find A Friend
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Ringo Starr |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Sitar | Mike Campbell |
Acoustic Guitar | Tom Petty |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
12 A Higher Place
Bass | Tom Petty |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Harmonium | Benmont Tench |
Keyboards | Benmont Tench |
Organ | Benmont Tench |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Harmonica | Tom Petty |
Acoustic Guitar | Tom Petty |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
13 House In The Woods
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Pedal Steel Guitar | Marty Rifkin |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Sax | Brandon Fields |
Sax | Gary Herbig |
Sax | Jim Horn |
Sax | Kim Hutchcroft |
Background Vocals | Howie Epstein |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
14 Crawling Back To You
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Mike Campbell |
Guitar | Tom Petty |
Organ | Tom Petty |
Organ | Benmont Tench |
Piano | Benmont Tench |
Mellotron | Benmont Tench |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Background Vocals | Howie Epstein |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
15 Wake Up Time
Bass | Mike Campbell |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Piano | Tom Petty |
Vocals | Tom Petty |
Other Musicians
Conductor (Orchestra) – Michael Kamen (Tracks 1, 3, 5, 15)
Featuring – The Yard Dog Orchestra
Performer (Must Have Played Something) – George Drakoulias (Track 1)
Liner Notes
Producer – Mike Campbell, Rick Rubin, Tom Petty
Engineer – David Bianco, Jim Scott
Engineer (Assistant) – Jeff Sheehan, Joe Barresi, Steve Holroyd
Engineer (Orchestra) – Stephen McLaughlin
Engineer – Richard Dodd
Mastered By – Stephen Marcussen
Mixed By – Richard Dodd
Mixed By (Assistant) – Kenji Nasai
Art Direction, Design – Martyn Atkins
Photography – Robert Sebree, Martyn Atkins
Mastered At Precision Mastering
Mixed At Andora Studios
Recorded At Sound City, LA, CA
Recorded At Ocean Way Recording, LA, CA