Tom Petty and George Harrison performed together in the Traveling Wilburys, but they were also close friends. Petty revealed they formed a quick bond, which he found surprising. He spoke about their friendship and what it meant to him to be so close to the former Beatle.
Tom Petty knew he wanted to be a musician because of the Beatles
One of Petty’s childhood idols were Elvis, but he knew he wanted to be a musician the first time he saw the Beatles perform. Because of her enthusiasm, he saw music as a way out of a job he didn’t want.
“Suddenly the road was clear; You could see what needs to be done,” he told dem Independently. “You turned 14, faced the task of looking for a job and you wanted to avoid it at all costs. They looked like they were having so much fun playing this rock ‘n’ roll music and really didn’t reply to anyone. So in every neighborhood there were kids with electric guitars forming bands. And I just kept going.”
Tom Petty was surprised that George Harrison became his close friend
Years later, Petty found himself Appearance with Harrison, a former Beatle. After being a fan of the band for so long, Petty was shocked that Harrison liked him.
“I was surprised that he liked me so much,” he said Rolling Stone in 2014. “He was an instant hit point. That was embarrassing. I would say to him, ‘How do we deal with this? You’re a Beatle.” He’d say, “Yeah, whatever. It’s been a long time.'”
He shared that the two musicians became close almost immediately.
“There was an odd click,” he told Rolling Stone in 2001, per The little archive. “It felt like we’d known each other our entire lives and in a very personal way. We ended up just hanging out a lot.”
The relationship was extremely meaningful to Petty.
“That’s what I needed in my life, the older brother figure I never had,” he explained. “And it was someone who had gone through something so extraordinary in rock ‘n’ roll. If I needed to talk to someone, I could call them and he had a pretty fresh attitude about it.”
The Heartbreakers frontman shared what he missed about George Harrison
Harrison died in 2001. The following year, Petty shared what he about his old friend missing.
“His enthusiasm was very contagious in a recording session, in a writing session. He just had irrepressible enthusiasm. One of the things I’ll miss the most is when he used to come over and have a guitar or a ukulele in his hand most of the evening,” he said. “He taught me so much guitar. I miss him showing me the guitar and some Beatles licks I never got to figure out. He would slow me down these licks and they would be the easiest things in the world, but they had eluded me because I didn’t think they could be that easy. But what a beautiful player he was. He just had this extreme taste. He was really something on the guitar.”
TIED TOGETHER: Tom Petty Said George Harrison Was Achingly Honest: ‘He Said Anything That Was On His Mind’
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tom-petty-surprised-george-harrison-liked-much-awkward.html/ Tom Petty Surprised George Harrison Liked Him So Much: ‘It Was Awkward’