How many American rockers out there can perform 20 songs in a given night, not a clunker in the bunch, and still have a dozen or so great tunes in their repertoire that you wished they played also?

Tom Petty was one of those rare musicians: A great singer, songwriter and live performer who got better with age and whose extensive catalog has truly passed the test of time.

Despite being from Gainesville, Fla., and having an indelible Southern drawl, rock 'n' roll fans in the Bay State considered Petty one of their own, and we took it for granted that Petty would always be there for us, with the next concert tour just around the corner.

But, that all changed early this week when Petty’s rock 'n' roll heart gave out.

Whether he was "Free Fallin'" or "Learning to Fly," whether he was "Running Down a Dream" or insisting “You Don’t Know How it Feels,” Petty always listened to his heart and the crowd got lucky, baby, whenever Petty played in the area.

In celebration of their 40th anniversary, Petty and his trusty Heartbreakers played two sold-out shows July 20-21 at the TD Garden. Three years earlier, Petty played Aug. 30, 2014, at Fenway Park.

These three memorable shows would be the last that he would play in the Bay State and all three shows were very Boston-centric to say the least.

On July 20, Petty said he envisions the last four decades of his life as being “one long side vinyl record” and, side two, would be what comes next. But Petty never got a chance to flip over the record.

Armed with his old, reliable Rickenbacker guitar, the 66-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer showed no signs of slowing down as he proves that he still had a youthful take on rock's reoccurring themes of broken romances, redemption and psychoanalyzing the beautiful, complicated girls from the heartland.

Even though he had been delivering the same no-frills, guitar-driven melodies for 40-plus years, Petty and his Heartbreakers never sounded like an oldies act. They still sounded honest and real and living in the moment.

Not only was Petty's rock 'n' roll heart still beating back in July at the Garden, it was beating stronger, harder and better than ever before.

At Fenway, Petty addressed the Bay State crowd about his excitement for playing at the beloved baseball diamond, as well as Boston being his favorite city to play in. And it showed.

Petty’s voice sounded great. His guitar playing sounded great and his spirits were great. He seemed to be getting a kick out of the journey that took him from playing to a splattering of curious rock music lovers at the legendary Paradise Club back on July 16, 1978 to thousands upon thousands of diehard fans packed to the Green Monster.

Addressing the Fenway crowd, Petty said when “American Girl” was released, it didn’t do anything. One day, however, someone came in the room and told Petty, “They’re playing it in Boston” (on the legendary WBCN 104.1 FM) and, from that point on, everything changed for the aspiring rocker



Back in July at the TD Garden, Petty gushed, “We first came to this town in 1976. It has been my favorite town ever since,” which makes it arguable which love affair of Petty’s has been longer — the one with the American girl or the devoted Bay State fans. Either way, both has certainly withstood the test of time.

While I recall hearing "Breakdown," off his 1976 self-titled debut, and “I Need to Know,” from 1978's "You're Gonna Get It!'' both on WBCN, Petty's lasting impact on my life started with “Refugee” from 1979’s "Damn the Torpedoes."

At the Garden recently, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ breakthrough hit “Refugee” still sounded as fresh and infectious as it did when it first came out and far better than anything making the rounds on the radio airwaves today.

The first time I saw Petty was June 11 and 12, 1985 in the front row at the Worcester Centrum for the “Southern Accents” tour. Not only was I blown away, I made a solemn pledge to do my darndest to catch Petty every time he came around here some more.

In my capacity as a music critic, I’ve reviewed Petty’s last eight studio albums (from 1991’s “Into the Great Wide Open” to 2014’s “Hypnotic Eye”) and reviewed a half-dozen Petty concerts (and seen him more times than that). Heck, I even saw Petty perform live during the XLII Super Bowl halftime show in 2008, which, except for Petty’s performance, I’ve blocked out everything else that happened that day, so much so I don't even remember who played.

“Who’s gonna come and take this badass down?” Tom Petty asks at the halfway mark on 2014’s “Hypnotic Eye,” which turned out to be his last studio album with the Heartbreakers released while he was still alive.

While the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was singing in reference to an out-of-control megalomaniac, Petty could have been easily singing about himself. This late into his recording career, Petty’s guitar-driven, hook-laden music was still strong, still rocking, still relevant and no one was going to take him down, ever.

Petty was a master in creating honest-to-goodness rock songs with catchy hooks and easily relatable narratives for the underdog that sounded concise rather than cluttered. He never set out try to rewrite rock 'n' roll music. He's was just concerned with consistently delivering solid, cathartic music.

Petty was more than a romantic loser who got lucky sometimes and a rock 'n' roll rebel that you couldn’t keep down. Petty was a true torch-bearer of rock ‘n’ roll who always remembered how great classic garage rockers (such as the Byrds’ “So You Want to be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” The Standells’ “Dirty Water,” Them’s "Gloria,'' The McCoys “Hang On Sloopy" and The Box Top’s “The Letter”) made him feel the first time he heard them, so much so that he would regular throw in one (or two) prominently in a given set-list.

Dedicated to "everyone who loves music just a little bit more than money," 2002's "The Last DJ'' was a loose concept album on the evils of the recording industry and corporate radio that's destroying the sanctity of music.

Eternal gratitude always to you, Tom Petty, for keeping rock ‘n’ roll honest and pure.

Note: The following playlist was created from suggestions by Telegram & Gazette readers who were asked, "What would be an 'essential' song for a Tom Petty playlist." The torrent of responses covered both his solo work and career with the Heartbreakers, as well as songs from his original band, Mudcrutch, his legendary duets with Stevie Nicks, his tenure with the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys and even a live recording of Petty at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, collaborating with the likes of Prince, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison.









