Typed out of a tiny picture in Conversations with Tom Petty. All typos were in article. Took out the last paragraph as it went to another page and it made no sense without the ending.
quote:
Gainesville Sun
Sunday, June 24, 1973
Music Is Life For Gainesville's 'Mudcrutch'
By John Bartosek
Of the Sun Staff
Tom Petty has a one-track mind. It's on music.
Bass guitarist for "Mudcrutch," that seemingly eternal Gainesville rock and roll band, Tom talks about everything. But somehow it all gets back to music.
"It's our life," he says quietly.
"Our" includes lead guitarist Mike Campbell, guitarist Danny Roberts, Ben Mont Tench on piano and drummer Randall Marsh.
And music is their life.
"Mudcrutch" returned last week from a six-week tour in Atlanta and Macon, Ga., and a short but well-recieved statewide tour. A recent weekend in Gainesville included two shows at The Keg, a small club at Southwest 16 Avenue.
Friday night doesn't really end until sunrise Saturday, so Saturday begins at 2 pm.
In a standard two-bedroom apartment on the southwest edge of the city, Tom slouches in a leather chair, eyes and mouth both half-closed. He's still waking up, with the help of an occasional cup of coffee and a cigaret. His eyes never open all the way but they do get clearer as the day goes on.
Mike Campbell -- dark hair, dark shirt, dark jeans, dark boots, light face, and incredibly quick fingers -- lies on the dull olive couch and picks an acoustic guitar...or an electric one...or a bass...anything. Mike is the quiet serious one, on and offstage.
Dan wanders out of the shower, dark brown hair still tangled and dripping on his chest. He sits down for about five minutes and wanders off again.
He's mobile; you never see him more than ten minutes at a time until he climbs on stage. Oddly enough, he's also six inches taller than he looks from the audience.
Joining the band only about two months ago, Ben was at school in New Orleans before adding his piano to the group. He first played with "Mudcrutch" a year ago, and played with them on and off since then. Ben's father is Circuit Court Judge Benjamin M. Tench of Gainesville.
Later in the afternoon, Randall walks in with a wisecrack and a smile. He's from Bushnell, Fla. and proud of it.
"Just a good old country boy," Tom agrees.
Randall is nearly a misfit: his dark hair barely covers his ears, he's shorter than he seems on stage, he insists on fresh vegetables with his meals, and he can be serious, although he obviously prefers not to.
Sound man Keith 'Duke' McAllister also ranks as a band member. Only 20 years old, not really long blonde hair, friendly and very trusting face, he doesn't claim any special electronic knowledge.
"Just have to learn where to plug in what," he says.
He wants to explain everything, though, and it sounds like he knows more than plugs. Duke reads classified ads, scrounging for equipment and still another place to rent. (Nine dogs and eight cats, and he's just been evicted again.)
As a group, Mudcrutch is bashful, almost withdrawn about themselves, but still excited about publicity. Especially Tom.
"That'll be cool, being in a Gainesville newspaper," he says. Tom is from Gainesville, a graduate of GHS. "High school was the most bitter experience of my life," he says quietly. Apparently, rules abour long hair were strict then.
But Tom, now 22, was playing bass guitar at 14 and was in his first band in eighth grade. He's even got a snapshot of it somewhere in the group scrapbook.
He's there in a coat and you can see his ears and his neck and he looks awake. The drums in the background have 'Sundowners' written on it.
Randall also started young, in a group called "Bushnell Grasshoppers." Really. Then he met Mike and the pair, both 23, were both playing rock when they ran across Tom. who was still doing country western.
"They turned me onto playing rock," Tom says. That was two and a half years ago.
Besides a bass, Tom brought the name "Mudcrutch" with him. The Mudcrutch orgins are nebulous, but it seems to be mostly a reaction to "dumb group names" like "Sundowners" and "Grasshoppers." The band is now changing names to "Bullseye."
Dan joined about three months ago after a stint with "Power," another band familiar in this area. Since he's out of the room (again), Dan's age is up for debate. Guesses range from 19 to 25 ("Well, he's seen some bad times"). He plays guitar and sings with -- and without -- Tom.
