The guitarist co-produced several of the group’s albums as well as all three of Petty’s solo sets, and he co-wrote hits such as “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl,” “You Got Lucky,” “Runnin' Down a Dream” and more. (He’s also helmed some posthumous releases, including “Live at the Fillmore 1997”).
Since Petty’s death in 2017, Campbell has toured with Fleetwood Mac and brought his side band, the Dirty Knobs, to the fore, releasing three albums and touring extensively with the quartet.
With that kind of track record Campbell, 75, clearly has stories to tell -- and he does, with great depth and detail, in his new book “Heartbreaker: A Memoir” (Grand Central Publishing).
Co-written with novelist Ari Surdoval (“Double Nickels”), its 464 pages are packed with behind-the-scenes specifics about his life and career that will please and surprise fans -- and make some guitar aficionados and studio nerds drool over its insights. It tracks his journey from an impoverished, single-parent upbringing to international stardom, ultimately triumphant despite hardships, setbacks and some tragedies along the way ...
What was the story you wanted to tell with “Heartbreaker?”
Campbell: I didn’t want to write a sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll book. ... the naughty, stupid things that every rock star writes about. I don’t find that very interesting. I wanted to talk about the creative energy for the songs and the personal relationships between me and my bandmates. And I wanted to show the struggle that it took to get where we got; it wasn’t just handed to us, and I wanted to tell the whole story -- how we started out really poor and sacrificed for many years before we saw any income. But mostly I wanted to touch base on the creative mystery of songs and where they come from and that sort of thing.
It doesn’t feel like you pull punches, though. You write about the good and the bad, the inner-band politics, people’s drug addictions. It’s very frank.
Campbell: Well, I wanted to be real, and I wanted to be truthful. I kind of set those boundaries at the beginning. I didn’t want to dwell on other people’s drug and alcohol problems, but they were there. It’s a fine line to walk. I wanted to respect them as people, and their families. I didn’t want to disrespect anybody or embarrass anybody. I tried not to be that guy. But I also wanted to let people look behind the curtain and see a little bit of what it was like being in a band like this. And aside from that I wanted to illuminate my relationship with my brothers in the Heartbreakers -- Tom especially, and Ben (Benmont Tench) and Stan (Lynch) and Ron (Blair). We all come from the South and we grew up in similar ways, and I wanted to show how special that brotherhood was. (...)
What kind of overall, rearview perspective did you get from writing this?
Campbell: It kinda made me feel old, to be honest (laughs), and to see how much I’ve done -- all the miles I’ve covered and the stages I stomped across and the records I worked on. There’s a lot, and I kept thinking, ‘Wow, I did all that? I guess I did.’ I got an overall sense of pride. I think the work is really good. I think the songs hold up and will hold up for a long time after I’m gone, ‘cause I think the quality of the work and the art is really strong, and I was really proud to revisit that.
It was interesting to read in “Heartbreaker” how much you would take blame on yourself when things were going wrong, or bad. Where do you think that comes from?
Campbell: That’s a therapist question. I think maybe if I dig deep and look at it, maybe my parents' divorce affected me in a very deep way, where my whole world was broken apart. Throughout my whole life I’ve tried to build a world that won’t break up, and keep it together -- my band and my marriage. So maybe that’s why. Maybe it’s genetics. I don’t really know the answer, but ... I’m still here doing it, so I think I’m dealing with it all right.
Did you get a boost from co-writing “The Boys of Summer” for Don Henley and have that be a hit? That was a pivotal moment that pushed you outside of and beyond the band.
Campbell: I think it gave me a lot of confidence, yeah; even Tom said at one point, ‘That song must’ve really been good for your confidence,' ‘cause I tend to be maybe a shy, reserved type of person. But having that song connect with Don and then connect with the whole world ... It’s an amazing song, and how lucky was I to have that pretty much be my first foray into writing outside of my band? It was truly just kind of a miracle. But it’s a great song, and I’m very proud of it. At that point in our career Tom was doing a solo record here and there and I was involved with that, and we were beginning to work outside the group a little bit -- but never to the detriment of the group. As a matter of fact, I brought that confidence back into the group. I think that’s a healthy thing.
Are you able to ever step back and look at everything you’ve done, and if so how does that make you feel?
Campbell: I say in the book, in different places, that while things are happening that are kind of over the top, I just look around and go, ‘How did I get here?’ When a song would come it’s like, ‘Why me? How did I get so lucky that this song just came out of the air to me, of all people?’ There have been a lot of those, ‘How did I get here?’ kind of moments.
There’s a great cast of characters in the book, as you mentioned before. Who’s the most surreal to think that you crossed paths with.
Campbell: Probably Bob Dylan. He is a mystery genius, a beautiful creature (laughs). He’s so enigmatic, but so brilliant. I’ve met a lot of my heroes, from George Harrison to Johnny Cash; they’re all intimidating and have the aura. And I try to learn from everybody I work with. But Bob has this special thing around him that’s intriguing ‘cause he’s so brilliant and he’s so mystical and so hard to read. But he’s so good. And he came across the band’s path when we were kinda at odds with each other, and he reminded us that, ‘Y’know, you got a good band. Keep it together. Don’t fight all the time. Just play.'
It seems like your relationship with George Harrison was meaningful, too -- you close the book with him, even.
Campbell: I think I speak a lot about him in the book ‘cause he’s a very special human being, and he made a profound impression on me as a person as well as a musician. For some reason he really liked me; he thought I was really good, which blew my mind. (laughs) Being around him was just very inspiring.
by Gary Graff, Cleveland.com | Read more:
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[ed. One of the most respected and versatile lead guitarists ever, always played just the right thing (and nothing more). See also: 'It Stung a Little Bit' Mike Campbell on How the Heartbreakers Navigated Tense Band Dynamics' (American Songwriter).]
