Mudcrutch

Formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1970, Mudcrutch were essentially a precursor to <a href="spotify:artist:4tX2TplrkIP4v05BNC903e">Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers</a>, with a then 17-year-old <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Tom Petty</a> on bass, Mike Campbell and Tom Leadon (the brother of ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0ECwFtbIWEVNwjlrfc6xoL">Eagle</a> <a href="spotify:artist:6Owil7XUQjKn5rnhhcBelK">Bernie Leadon</a>) on guitars, <a href="spotify:artist:64BpBvN4VY7JdhV9GaEbiV">Benmont Tench</a> on keyboards, and Randall Marsh on drums. Popular on the Florida bar circuit, Mudcrutch relocated to L.A. in 1974 and was offered a recording contract from <a href="spotify:artist:6r1Xmz7YUD4z0VRUoGm8XN">Leon Russell</a> and Denny Cordell's Shelter Records, but the band splintered before any significant recording was completed, although <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Petty</a> remained under contract to Shelter as a solo artist. In time, the band drifted back together, this time with <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Petty</a> and Campbell on guitars, <a href="spotify:artist:64BpBvN4VY7JdhV9GaEbiV">Tench</a> on keyboards, and a rhythm section of <a href="spotify:artist:2aV53V4yZ5xkBG2VIiZ6gs">Ron Blair</a> on bass and Stan Lynch on drums. Calling themselves <a href="spotify:artist:4tX2TplrkIP4v05BNC903e">Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers</a>, they assumed <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Petty</a>'s solo contract with Shelter Records and released the self-titled Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers LP in 1976. The rest, as they say, is history. In the summer of 2007, <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Petty</a>, Campbell, <a href="spotify:artist:64BpBvN4VY7JdhV9GaEbiV">Tench</a>, Leadon, and Marsh reunited as Mudcrutch and recorded a self-titled album, which was released a year later in 2008 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise+Records%22">Reprise Records</a>. The band followed the album with a limited tour. The EP Mudcrutch Extended Play Live was also released in 2008, featuring four songs recorded in concert performance. Mudcrutch reconvened in 2015 to begin work on a second album. The resulting 2 appeared in May of 2016. The death of <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Tom Petty</a> on October 2, 2017, put an end to the group's reunion. Guitarist Tom Leadon died on March 22, 2023; he was 70 years of age. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi