
Wildflowers is the second solo studio album by American musician Tom Petty, released on November 1, 1994. The album was the first released by Petty after signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records (where he had recorded as part of the Traveling Wilburys) and the first of three albums produced by Rick Rubin. The album was certified 3x platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Three singles were released from the album between 1994 and 1995, the most successful of which, “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart for one week.
The album features all members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with the exception of drummer Stan Lynch. Steve Ferrone plays drums on Wildflowers and would join the band officially the following year. However, the album was not credited to the Heartbreakers because, in Petty’s words, “Rick (Rubin) and I both wanted more freedom than to be strapped into five guys.” Freedom notwithstanding, Petty chose to use most of his regular band as session players, demonstrating his comfort with that format. Rolling Stone placed Wildflowers at number 12 on their list of the best albums of the 1990s. Guitar World placed the album at number 49 in their “Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994” list.
In April 2015, when Petty’s back catalog was released in High-resolution audio, this was one of only two albums not included in the series (Songs and Music from “She’s the One” was the other one), but a hi-res version is available on Pono Music.
- “Wildflowers” 3:11
- “You Don’t Know How It Feels” 4:49
- “Time to Move On” 3:15
- “You Wreck Me” 3:22
- “It’s Good to Be King” 5:10
- “Only a Broken Heart” 4:30
- “Honey Bee” 4:58
- “Don’t Fade on Me” 3:32
- “Hard on Me” 3:48
- “Cabin Down Below” 2:51
- “To Find a Friend” 3:23
- “A Higher Place” 3:56
- “House in the Woods” 5:32
- “Crawling Back to You” 5:05
- “Wake Up Time” 5:19
Tom Petty – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, bass guitar, harmony vocals, Hammond organ (14), piano (15)
Mike Campbell – electric guitar (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9–14), bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13–15), slide guitar (3), acoustic guitar (8), coral sitar (11), harpsichord (1)
Benmont Tench – piano (tracks 1, 3–7, 9, 10, 12–14), grand piano (2), electric piano (2), Hammond organ (4, 6, 9, 12, 14), Mellotron (6, 14), tack piano (11), harmonium (1, 6, 12), zenon (11), orchestron (12)
Howie Epstein – harmony vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5, 13, 14), bass guitar (4, 7, 10), backing vocals (7)
Steve Ferrone – drums (tracks 1-7, 9, 10, 12–15)
Lenny Castro – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14)
Brandon Fields – saxophone (track 13)
Greg Herbig – saxophone (track 13)
Jim Horn – saxophone (track 13)
Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone (track 13)
Phil Jones – percussion (tracks 4, 10)
Michael Kamen – orchestration, conductor (tracks 1, 3, 5, 12, 15)
John Pierce – bass guitar (track 9)
Marty Rifkin – pedal steel guitar (track 13)
Ringo Starr – drums (tracks 11)
Carl Wilson – backing vocals (tracks 7)