Tom Petty 'Wildflowers' Documentary Streaming Online

Bruce Henne | 11-14-2021

Film poster

(hennemusic) Tom Petty's team are streaming a documentary about the making of his 1994 album, "Wildflowers." Directed by Mary Wharton and now available in 4K resolution as part of the YouTube Originals series, "Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers" offers an intimate look into the making of the rocker's second solo effort through the period of 1993-1995 as he worked with producer Rick Rubin for the first time.

The film presents archival footage of Petty and his band in the recording studio, behind-the-scenes on tour, and at home with his family, and includes never-before-seen video from a newly discovered archive of 16mm film, as well as new interviews with Wildflowers co-producer and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell along with Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, and many more.

The project - which won the 2021 SXSW Audience Award, and Best Documentary Film at the Boulder Film Festival, ahead of its debut in cinemas last month in sync with Petty's birthday - comes on the heels of the release of a 2020 series of expanded editions of the 1994 record, which Petty wrote and recorded as a double album before his record label convinced him to trim it back to a single record; almost two decades later, "Wildflowers & All The Rest" delivered the second half of the album as originally intended.

Petty passed away in October of 2017 at the age of 66 in a Santa Monica, CA hospital after being found unconscious and in cardiac arrest at his Malibu home. Stream the documentary here.

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