Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers- Don’t Bring Me Down- Boston 1978

When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers only had two albums of material from which to draw for their club sets (which often meant several sets a night), the band would reach down at just the right time and throw a change up cover song such as “Don’t Bring Me Down” that would shift the set into another gear. As their career evolved and Tom and Mike Campbell’s prolific songwriting made that option less and less of a necessity, it was gratifying to see Petty and the Heartbreakers continue to embrace the rich rock’n’roll canon passionately and perform these chestnuts without any hint of self-conscious  like many of their peers.

This performance from The Paradise Club in Boston in 1978 serves as homage, not only to Eric Burden and the Animals who popularized it originally, but also to composers Carole King and the late Gerry Goffin. –Redbeard