Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers can be heard covering JJ Cale’s classic song “Call Me the Breeze” in a newly released clip from the band’s residency at the Fillmore in San Francisco from 1997.
It appears on a box set, due on Nov. 25, which celebrates the 20-date run that’s regarded as a highlight of Petty’s career. The animated video for the track, recorded on Feb. 6 can be seen below.
“I thought the Fillmore would be the best place to do it, because the audience here is much more forgiving in as far as letting you experiment – and it proved true,” Petty said in 1999. “They just went with us, to the point that we got very comfortable over that long run. I think the long run was a great idea because we weren’t promoting anything, and we had no reason to do it other than we wanted to do it.”
Petty expressed the intention to release an album containing some of the 115 recorded songs as far back as 2005, but plans were finally firmed up earlier this year. Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell explained in August how the tracks were chosen, noting, “If the vocal is not perfect, you skip over it, because if the vocal ain’t good, nothing else will matter. No matter how good the band plays, if the singing isn’t right in the magic zone, there’s no point mixing it. So we’d listen closely to the vocal. If Tom was right on the money on that take, we’d work and finish it. He was pretty consistent, actually. He was good on most of the stuff.”
Live at the Fillmore (1997) is available for preorder now.
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