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| Manufacturer: Reprise
Buy New: $8.99
Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 295
Genre: pop-music
Media: Music Download
Running Time: 0 Minutes
ASIN: B0017TASW8
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Great Time Is Had By All... April 29, 2008
Lyn Pastac Lynsey (West Hurley, NY)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
What I enjoy the most with "Mudcrutch". Is that it feels and certainly sounds as though everyone is having a great time. The music is loose and filled with groove and tasty instinctive playing by Tom Leadon (Bernie Leadon's brother. ie; see The Eagles) and Mike Campbell. While Benmont Tench, Randall Marsh and Tom Petty all lock into a very solid backing rhythm and beat. That sounds as though it is felt. Not just played by numbers. Good musicians playing good music.
There is an optimism in Tom Petty's lyrics throughout. A bar-band feel. But, also a sentiment, a yearning. He is a great, great songwriter.
It is simply a tasty record. There is a freedom to Tom Petty's tone and very satisfied vocal delivery. He just sounds like he is happy and hanging out with some old friends.
I have listened to it repeatedly and I enjoy it more and more as the songs gain familiarity. The Byrds, "Lover Of The Bayou" is great! Benmont takes a lead vocal spot on one of his own tunes, " This Is A Good Street". It is one of my favorites on the record. He has a really cool voice. Tom Leadon also contributed an original in, "Queen Of The Go-Go Girls". His voice is alot like his brother's. Which is good thing.
"Crystal River" is a new classic! It's an emotionally melodic taste of his true southern spirit, like nothing I have heard TP tap into before. With a graceful, Grateful Dead/American Beauty-ish type of flow.
Plus, "Orphan Of The Storm". This tune is like the long lost CCR tune. Randall Marsh swings with a really sweet driven groove and flow. "Shady Grove" is a traditional bluegrass number that is spun off here with exactly the type of back-porchy type of feeling it was first conceived on a long, long time ago somewhere far away. But, not too far from Gainesville Florida where these guys first found their way.
So far, one of my favorite records of the past 5 years. I repeat, 5 YEARS! And one I have been really excited about hearing upon release. Dig in. I love it!
 After a Period of Reflection and Review, Our Esteemed Panel Finds This Album to Be ... April 29, 2008
Miguel Gonzalez (OAK PARK, IL United States)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
... Excellent. It's a feel good story for sure. How many of us played in bands at one point or another, seriously or just for fun, and never got that one sweet taste of national exposure? Tom Petty reached back to his roots to bring us all an excellently written, wonderfully played boot-kickin' album of Americana rock 'n' roll. And he brought a couple of his own pre-fame friends along for the ride.
Reunion of Gainesville's finest April 29, 2008
r.j. zurek (Cape Coral, FL United States)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
After a successful 30 year career, Tom Petty felt the time was right to reunite his pre-Heartbreakers band, Mudcrutch. Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell followed Petty to fame and fortune, while guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh did not stay for the ride. Regarding his erstwhile band mates in an interview, Campbell said "I wonder if they can still play?"
Not only can these guys PLAY, they play very well, thank you. The disc starts off with the traditional "Shady Grove", a perfect vehicle for a Florida band. The Byrds are an obvious favorite of Petty's, as "Lover of the Bayou" illustrates. That song and "Crystal River" feature Campbell and Leadon, very reminiscent of Roger Mcguinn and the late Clarence White.
"Six Days on the Road" is the Dave Dudley trucker's anthem popularized by the Flying Burrito Brothers, but Mudcrutch does this number justice. "Oh Maria" features some of Petty's best singing ever, while "This is a Good Street" and "Wrong Thing to do" are back to back rockers.
"Queen of the Go-go Girls" is the most countrified performance here, while "June Apple" allows the band to stretch out Allmans style, especially the guitars and keyboardist Tench.
Mudcrutch is an obvious labor of love for Petty, and his band has produced vital rock music as well as a reunion of kindred spirits.
Days of Past Future April 29, 2008
Anthony Gliozzo (Mission Viejo, CA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Mudcrutch - Tom Petty and gang truly are keeping those lighters lit on good ole fashioned RnR. Kind of like the Bob Dylan LP cover of Before The Flood.
This CD shines from start to finish. Even Mike Campbell has stated it could be his favorite recording so far. Completed in only 10 days - it's an essential for all rock fans. After seeing them perform 4/25/08 at the Troubadour (just a foot away from the stage) brought me back in time like no other concert/recording of the past 20 years. Crystal River is a true highlight - a psychedelic southern mind bending song. If you've played in bands in the 70s you'll truly appreciate this track. The CD is interwoven with harmonies, hooks, hammond keys and a buoyant feel throughout. It's refreshing and what a lot of us older generation rock fans have long waited to hear. You might compare this to early Eagles, Quicksilver Messenger Service meets Damn the Torpedoes. Can't wait for the 2nd Mudcrutch CD, I've already worn this one out (released today 4-29-08) :)
Country-Rock Gem May 1, 2008
JEM (CT)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch (2008)
This album comes as a pleasant surprise. Who would have thought that a rock legend of Tom Petty's stature would resurrect a long-forgotten, unknown band from his early woodshedding years? It would be like Bruce Springsteen getting Steel Mill back together or Billy Joel reuniting Attila.
But whether it was a case of nostalgia for his youth or just a desire to play together with some old buddies, Mudcrutch could end up being the "reunion of the year."
Except for a couple of obscure singles and an early version of "Don't Do Me Like That" that wasn't released until many years later, Mudcrutch never recorded an album until now. And what a debut it is too. This could be the most vital music Petty has made in a long time - which is not to take anything away from his recent recordings. But working with these musicians (of which Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell are of course longtime members of the Heartbreakers, the band Mudcrutch morphed into back in the mid-70`s) has clearly inspired him in a big way. All of his contributions on here can stand alongside his older material.
This album sounds like a long-lost country-rock gem, circa 1971. The sound of the late-period Byrds was obviously a huge influence on this album. Not only do Mudcrutch do a spirited cover of "Lover of the Bayou" (from 1970's (Untitled)) but even some of the original songs have titles that sound like they could have come straight from the Clarence White version of the Byrds - "Topanga Cowgirl," "Bootleg Flyer," "June Apple" and "Orphan of the Storm" are all of late-60's L.A. vintage. But there are also other influences on here, including "Crystal River," which sounds like the Byrds if Neil Young and Jerry Garcia had sat in with them and traded guitar solos with Roger McGuinn. Throughout the course of the album, I also hear traces of the Flying Burrito Brothers, 50's music and bluegrass.
First single "Scare Easy" is an instant Petty classic. If there is any justice left in the world, this song will become a big hit. This is probably Petty's most memorable single in at least a dozen years. Of course, it's hard to predict how any album or single will sell these days. The state of radio is more fractured than ever. But it should be a popular download, if nothing else.
The traditional song "Shady Grove," which features co-lead guitarist Tom Leadon sharing lead vocals with Petty, sounds alot like "Matty Groves" by Fairport Convention. Or perhaps Fairport borrowed from "Shady Grove" in the first place? Anyhow, it's a great album opener.
They really stretch out on the spacy "Crystal River" to brilliant effect. A great chorus, excellent guitar playing by Campbell and Leadon and Benmont Tench proves why he is one of the most underrated piano players in rock `n' roll. Tench also takes a rare writing and singing turn on the short, enjoyable "This is a Good Street." Leadon (whose brother Bernie was an early member of the Burrito Brothers, as well as The Eagles) contributes "Queen of the Go-Go Girls," which sounds like some forgotten late-60`s country-rock gem.
The old trucker classic "Six Days on the Road," rocks along nicely. "Oh Maria" has a sweet, laid-back feel to it and the instrumental "June Apple" sounds like a tribute to the late, great Clarence White. It also features some excellent organ work from Tench.
This album, which was recorded in two weeks, has a raw, unpolished feel to it, which really suits these songs. Petty, who plays bass for the occasion and sings superbly, is clearly having fun here. They all are. This sounds like a well-seasoned bar band playing for the love of it, without worrying whether the album will sell a million copies or not. It took them over 30 years to finally make a record. Let's hope there's more magic where this came from.
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