Here’s something you don’t see every day: A poster-sized reproduction of an old Rolling Stone cover featuring Tom Petty. I honestly have no idea how, where or when I got this sucker. This cover date in the top-right corner is 1991, around the time he released Into the Great Wide Open. But I seriously doubt the poster is that old. I suspect I got it years later, as part of a promo package with one of his later albums. I never had the pleasure of interviewing Petty, though I did talk to his guitarist Mike Campbell when they put out the bluesy Mojo album in 2010. I’ll dig that interview up and post it sometime. My only other Tom Petty anecdote revolves around the fact that the first time he played in Winnipeg in 2008, I was inundated with calls and emails from people who wanted me to help them get tickets to the show. Not surprisingly, it was an instant sellout. Which clearly impressed somebody enough that the band returned less than two years later — and didn’t sell out. Of course, that says way more about the fickle nature of Winnipeg music fans than anything else. I’ve seen that same scenario repeated time and time again over the decades: Band shows up once, everybody goes nuts. Band shows up again, nobody cares. Anyway, now that Petty is gone, this poster seems like kind of a nice little keepsake for a fan. If you fit that bill and would like to have this to put on your wall, email me. I’d be happy to see it go to a good home. Oh, and just so you know, the left side of the poster isn’t out of focus: That’s just my lousy photography.
