Radio Daze 1970-1976

That brings us to Mudcrutch. They were milling around backstage, talking to me a s I helped get all the banners and other radio station paraphernalia put out and visible. The bass player and lead singer, Tom, told me that he got interested in recording when as a teenager in Florida, he stumbled onto a movie set on the beach in his home state of Florida. He said he spent a few hours watching from a distance as Elvis filmed the movie Follow That Dream. He decided right there on the beach that day he wanted to be like Elvis.

This was much like when I met Reggie Young and the other Memphis Boys. I didn't realize how talented they were when I met them. Tom, the bass player and lead singer is much more talented than I knew at the time. I was talking to a young Tom Petty. Mudcrutch was his first recorded band. They were signed to Leon Russell's Shelter Records.

Mudcrutch also included future Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker members, Mike Campbell on guitars, and Benmont Tench on keyboards. Petty, Campbell, and Tench reunited with drummer Randall Marsh and original guitarist Tom Leadon and reunited as Mudcrutch.  In the summer of 2007, and recorded an album, the self-titled Mudcrutch, released a year later in 2008 on Reprise Records. Yes, I know you are wondering. Tom Leadon is the brother of the Eagles Bernie. The band followed the album with a limited tour.