Runnin’ Down a Dream With Tom Petty: His Childhood Abuse, His Relationship With Stevie Nicks and His Short, Wacky Run With Gary
“Hear that?” Buckle asked, pulling at his mangy beard. Chuck looked sort of like a homeless Mick Fleetwood, if you shot Mick out of a cannon into a liquor store.
“Hear what?” I replied.
“Exactly,” he said as the guitars slid into the groove low and tight. “It’s sparse. That crap music they make these days don’t give you no space to think. Petty, he always gives you space.”
Chuck held up one finger for quiet and opened the mic. “11:49 under grey skies and overnight threats of rain.” He leaned over and took a long drag off his Marlboro Gold. “Cold tonight,” Buckle said, his voice an octave deeper. “Cold tomorrow. Warm inside right here with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I’m Chuck Buckle leaving you now, handing it over to … ” He nodded for me to speak.