Tom Petty originally envisioned 1994’s Wildflowers as a double album, but was forced to cut a number of songs when it came time to finalizing the official tracklist. Some of those eventually ended up on later projects — such as Petty’s She’s the One soundtrack — however, most were stashed away in the archives for decades to come. Now, those “lost” recordings are being unearthed as part of a massive and long-awaited Wildflowers reissue.
Officially titled Wildflowers & All the Rest, the comprehensive, multi-disc collection pairs the original album with a plethora of bonus material sure to have fans giddy. Five previously unreleased tracks are contained on the “All the Rest” disc, while “Home Recordings” consists of home studio tracks. Another disc that’s called “Alternate Versions” (aka Finding Wildflowers) comes with 16 alternate takes of Wildflowers songs, captured just as Petty, his bandmates, and producer Rick Rubin neared the end of completing the final album.
The forthcoming re-release was curated by Petty’s daughters, Adria and Annakim, and wife Dana, who described it as “many, many hours of pure sonic joy.” Petty’s Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench also had a hand in putting together the sprawling effort, while longtime engineer Ryan Ulyate oversaw production.
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Wildflowers & All the Rest is due out October 16th via Warner Records and will be available in multiple formats. The Super Deluxe Edition — spread across five CDs and nine LPs — boasts the most goodies, including a “Wildflowers Live” disc of 14 live performances, an introduction written by Rubin, and an essay from veteran music journalist David Fricke.
As a teaser, check out the solo demo version of “Wildflowers”. Its accompanying video features never-before-seen footage of Petty working on Wildflowers at his home. The clip was shot by Mary Atkins and co-directed by Alan Bibby and Jonny Kofoed.
In Fricke’s liner notes on the track, he writes, “It would be some time before he understood the complexity of ‘Wildflowers.’ It was, he realized, ‘me singing about me.’”
Watch it below and then head here to pre-order Wildflowers & All the Rest. For more of the reissue, listen to a demo of “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and the previously unreleased song “There Goes Angela”.
Wildflowers & All the Rest Tracklist:
Wildflowers
01. Wildflowers
02. You Don’t Know How It Feels
03. Time to Move On
04. You Wreck Me
05. It’s Good to Be King
06. Only a Broken Heart
07. Honey Bee
08. Don’t Fade on Me
09. Hard on Me
10. Cabin Down Below
11. To Find a Friend
12. A Higher Place
13. House in the Woods
14. Crawling Back to You
15. Wake Up Time
All The Rest
01. Something Could Happen
02. Leaving Virginia Alone
03. Climb That Hill Blues
04. Confusion Wheel
05. California
06. Harry Green
07. Hope You Never
08. Somewhere Under Heaven
09. Climb That Hill
10. Hung Up and Overdue
Home Recordings
01. There Goes Angela (Dream Away)
02. You Don’t Know How It Feels
03. California
04. A Feeling of Peace
05. Leave Virginia Alone
06. Crawling Back to You
07. Don’t Fade on Me
08. Confusion Wheel
09. A Higher Place
10. There’s a Break in the Rain (Have Love Will Travel)
11. To Find a Friend
12. Only a Broken Heart
13. Wake Up Time
14. Hung Up and Overdue
15. Wildflowers
Wildflowers Live
01. You Don’t Know How It Feels
02. Honey Bee
03. To Find a Friend
04. Walls
05. Crawling Back to You
06. Cabin Down Below
07. Drivin’ Down to Georgia
08. House in the Woods
09. Girls on LSD
10. Time to Move On
11. Wake Up Time
12. It’s Good to Be King
13. You Wreck Me
14. Wildflowers
Alternate Versions (Finding Wildflowers)
01. A Higher Place
02. Hard on Me
03. Cabin Down Below
04. Crawling Back to You
05. Only a Broken Heart
06. Drivin’ Down to Georgia
07. You Wreck Me
08. It’s Good to Be King
09. House in the Woods
10. Honey Bee
11. Girl on LSD
12. Cabin Down Below (Acoustic Version)
13. Wildflowers
14. Don’t Fade on Me
15. Wake Up Time
16. You Saw Me Comin’
