A posthumous, career-spanning Tom Petty box set is set for release on September 28. The four-CD collection was compiled by Petty’s daughter Adria, wife Dana and and former collaborators including Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, and studio collaborator Ryan Ulyate. A press release announcing the set describes it as “a tribute and love letter pointing to the music in between the hits.”
TItled An American Treasure, the set features 60 tracks including dozens of previously unreleased recordings, alternate versions of classic songs, rarities, historic live performances and deep tracks that spotlight Tom’s remarkable depth and evolution as a revered and tremendously influential songwriter, recording artist and performer.
The set marks the first release of Tom Petty music since his passing.
BACKSTAGE ACCESS: Tom Petty – Can’t Believe He’s Gone
The first single from An American Treasure is “Keep a Little Soul”, available now. The song was recorded in 1982 during the Long After Dark sessions. You can hear it here, accompanied by previously unseen archival video footage.
“Keep a Little Soul” is also available immediately when you pre-order the box set.
An American Treasure will be released in multiple formats:
An American Treasure: Deluxe Edition— A 4-CD set that features all 60 tracks, plus a 52-page booklet with rare and previously unseen photographs of Tom, his bandmates, family and friends. The booklet also features detailed track-by-track liner notes by noted journalist and Tom Petty aficionado Bud Scoppa, who drew upon his previous interviews with Tom and new conversations with Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Ryan Ulyate, as well as Adria and Dana Petty.
An American Treasure: Super Deluxe Limited Edition—A 4-CD set that features all 60 tracks and an 84-page hardbound book expanded from the Deluxe Edition to include many additional photographs and an essay by renowned author Nicholas Dawidoff – written especially for An American Treasure – that speaks to Tom Petty’s presence in our lives and influence on our culture for more than 40 years. This special package also includes a newly-created lithograph of Shepard Fairey’s cover artwork, as well as custom reproductions of Tom Petty’s handwritten lyrics to four songs featured in this collection and a numbered certificate of authenticity.
An American Treasure: Vinyl Edition—A 6-LP set that features all 60 tracks and a 48-page booklet containing all of the photographic and editorial elements found in the CD Deluxe Edition. This set also includes the Nicholas Dawidoff essay. This special Vinyl Edition will be released on Friday, November 23, but is available for pre-order now.
An American Treasure: Standard Edition—A 2-CD set that features 26 career spanning tracks chosen from the Deluxe editions, as well as Bud Scoppa’s detailed track-by-track.
All newly released recordings on An American Treasure have been mixed by Ryan Ulyate from pristine transfers of the original studio multitrack masters. All 60 recordings have been re-mastered for this collection by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.
Click here for the full track listing.
Tom Petty died suddenly on October 2, 2017 at the age of 66. He had just wrapped up a 40th anniversary tour at the time. A statement later confirmed that he died of an “accidental drug overdose as a result of taking a variety of medications” for pain.
Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide over the course of his career with the Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch, the Traveling Wilburys and as a solo artist. In 2002 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This article has been updated from an earlier version.
