GUITAR WORLD DECEMBER 2024
LEARNING TO FLY
HOW MIKE CAMPBELL APPLIES LESSONS LEARNED FROM TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS AND FLEETWOOD MAC TO HIS OWN BAND, THE DIRTY KNOBS
BY ALAN PAUL
MIKE CAMPBELL WAS Tom Petty’s right-hand man throughout his career. They started playing together as teenagers in Mudcrutch, moved to Los Angeles together and honed their music together, along with keyboardist Benmont Tench, the other band member who was there from Petty’s beginning.
Campbell wasn’t only the Heartbreakers’ lead guitarist; he was the only band member Petty regularly co-wrote with, and that includes landmark songs like “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl” and “Running Down a Dream.” Campbell also co-produced many of the band’s albums and did some landmark work with others. He wrote and played on Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” and Stevie Nicks’ “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and worked with a range of other artists, from Bob Dylan to Aretha Franklin.
When Petty died in 2017, Campbell replaced Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac and stayed put for a two-year world tour before turning to the Dirty Knobs, the group he had formed in 2000 as a live outlet during Petty’s touring breaks.
The Dirty Knobs, featuring Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone alongside guitarist Chris Holt and bassist Lance Morrison, both of whom have worked with Henley, released Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits on June 14. It is their third album since 2000.