I was listening Howard Stern’s interview with Foo Fighters last week.
They have a new album that came out this month called Medicine at Midnight and they of course
have been doing the talk show circuit.
One of the things that frontman and guitarist Dave Grohl discussed with Stern was how he
got an offer to join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in the mid 90’s. Grohl even performed with
Tom Pety in the mid 90's, but what happened and why did he not join the band what did
Tom petty think of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain?
Stay tuned for the full story.
Nirvana would come to an abrupt end in April of 1994 following the death of frontman and
guitarist Kurt Cobain.
Grohl would take many months off from music as he was reeling from the death of his bandmate
and close friend and pondered what he may do next.
By October of 94 Grohl would take some of the songs he had written over the past few
years and head down to Robert Lang studios in Seattle and record them over the span of
a week playing pretty much all of the instruments, with the exception of one guitar solo that
Greg Dulli of Afghani Whigs did on the song X-Static.
That week long session resulted in Foo Fighters first album.
A month after Grohl recorded the Foo’s first record, he got a call from Tom Petty who was
scheduled to play Saturday Night Live on November 19, 1994.
Petty’s band the Heartbreakers had recently lost longtime drummer Stan Lynch and needed
someone to fill in so he offered Grohl the spot and he agreed.
Stan Lynch from Tom Petty's band the Heartbreakers has announced he is leaving that group after
19 years to pursue independent writing and recording projects.
The split is amicable Lynch says he simply found himself growing apart from the group.
Dave Grohl of Nirvana will sit in for Lynch when the Heartbreakers will appear on Saturday
Night Live next month.
According to the book The Dave Grohl Story, Petty had seen Grohl play drums during Nirvana’s
MTV Unplugged set and was impressed.
In fact Petty counted himself a fan of Nirvana telling the sydney herald in September of
1994 "I particularly loved his music," referring
to Kurt Cobain "When one of his songs came on it just hit you - it was so good and there
won't be any more.
"I didn't know him.
I'm just sorry it happened.
He was really my favourite and it just sort, of leaves a big gap.
By late 1994 Petty was promoting his second solo album at the time Wildflowers.
All of the Heartbreakers had played on the album except Stan Lynch who was replaced by
Steve Ferrone.
That night on Saturday Night Live, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed two songs
“Honey Bee” and You Don’t know how it feels” with Grohl behind the drum kit.
I was really excited to play both songs, but mostly 'Honey Bee.'
Because 'Honey Bee's' such a rocker it's like the thing a bunch of 16 year old's would play
in the garage to get off it's a good, it's killer, it's a barn burner.
Following that gig Petty called Grohl and offered him the drummer’s seat with the
former Nirvana drummer revealing to stern last week
“We had so much fun and we all got along so well,.
“Afterwards he was like, ‘Man, that was good.
It would be a shame if that’s the only time we do it’ sort of thing.
And then he called me at home and he was like, ‘Look, here’s how we do it: You get your
own bus and we don’t tour too hard … If you’re into it, come out and let’s do
it for a little while.’”
Grohl would go on to say that he had just started Foo Fighters and thought it would
feel “weird” to get back behind the drum kit revealing
“It would have just reminded me of being in Nirvana.
It would have been sad, for me personally.
It would have been an emotional thing to be behind the drum set every night and not have
Kurt there.
“So I was like, ‘Nah, f it.
I’m gonna try this other thing.’”
Petty would end up enlisting drummer Steve Ferone who played on Wildflowers to be the
band’s new drummer and he would remain the Petty's drummer for the rest of Petty’s
career until 2017 Since their gig on SNL Petty and Grohl had
remained friends and Gorhl even joined petty and the heartbreakers on stage in new york
city in 2006.
Petty would also appeared in Grohl’s 2013 documentary Sound City.
And following his passing in 2017 Grohl said the following about the musician to rolling
stone “I saw him maybe a week before he died,.
“I saw his last show, and it was fwonderful.
It was exuberant and beautiful and happy and sounded amazing and the band was better than
I had seen them in a long time and…and then he’s gone.
It’s hard to believe he’s gone, but fortunately we have his music.”
That does it for today's video guys.
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