Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Pack Up The Plantation: Live! (1985/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Recorded live at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, California, August 7, 1985 except, “Don’t Bring Me Down” – Paradise Theater, Boston, Massachusetts, July 16, 1978; “Stories We Could Tell” – Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, March 7, 1980, engineered by Charles Kaplan in the Mobile Manor Unit; “Needles and Pins” & “Insider” – The Forum, Los Angeles, California, June 1981; “Shout” – The Coliseum, Richfield, Ohio, March 19, 1983; “Rockin’ Around (With You)” – Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, Irvine, California, June 1983

Exclusively on HDtracks, images of the master tapes are included with every download, along with a note from the remaster producer, Ryan Ulyate.

Until The Live Anthology was released in 2009, this was the only live album the Heartbreakers ever released. Primarily recorded at a show at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on August 7, 1985, the album also includes the following tracks recorded at other concerts. Pack Up The Plantation: Live! includes single “Needles and Pins” featuring Stevie Nicks.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers released a live video as a companion piece to their 1985 concert album Pack Up the Plantation: Live!. Taken from one show at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater, the video is in some ways superior to the record, since its single source provides a continuity missing on the LP, but the real distinction are the songs that aren’t featured on the record. “Little Bit o’ Soul,” “Make It Better (Forget About Me),” “Route 66,” “You Got Lucky,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “I Need to Know,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” and “Spike” are all on the video, not on the CD, which makes it necessary for collectors, especially since all the performances are quite good. Nevertheless, Pack Up the Plantation suffers from the same problem as its vinyl companion — it isn’t quite the stunning performance that the Heartbreakers are capable of delivering — but it’s still thoroughly entertaining. –Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:
01. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (03:36)
02. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Needles And Pins (Live At The The Forum/1981) (02:25)
03. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – The Waiting (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (05:17)
04. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Breakdown (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (07:42)
05. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – American Girl (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (04:00)
06. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – It Ain’t Nothin’ To Me (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (06:14)
07. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Insider (Live At The Forum/1981) (05:25)
08. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Rockin’ Around (With You) (Live At The Irvine Meadows Amphitheater/1983) (03:23)
09. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Refugee (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (05:20)
10. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Southern Accents (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (05:15)
11. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Rebels (Live At The Wiltern/1985) (06:11)
12. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Don’t Bring Me Down (Live At The Paradise Theater/1978) (03:48)
13. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Shout (Live At The Richfield Coliseum/1983) (09:33)
14. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – The Stories We Could Tell (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, London/1985) (03:47)

Personnel:
Tom Petty – 6 & 12-string electric & acoustic guitars, lead vocals
Mike Campbell – lead guitar, 12-string, lap steel & slide guitars
Howie Epstein – bass, mandolin & harmony vocals
Benmont Tench – keyboards & vocals
Stan Lynch – drums & vocals
Soul Lips Horns: (on tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theater)
Jimmy Zavala – saxes, harmonica
Lee Thornburg – trumpets, flugel horn
Nick Lane – trombones, euphonium
The Rebeletts: (on tracks recorded at the Wiltern Theater)
Pat Peterson – backing vocals, percussion
Caroll Sue Hill – backing vocals, percussion
Musicians:
Ron Blair – bass on “Insider”, “Needles and Pins”, “Stories We Could Tell” & “Don’t Bring Me Down”
Phil Jones – percussion on “Insider”, “Needles and Pins”, “Rockin’ Around (With You)” & “Shout”
Bobby Valentino – violin on “Stories We Could Tell”
Stevie Nicks – vocals on “Insider” & “Needles and Pins”