Tom Petty’s Family Mocked Him for Buying a Book About Elvis Presley Songs

Tom Petty wanted to learn more about Elvis Presley’s songs, but teen magazines weren’t giving him any help. He bought a book about the “All Shook Up” singer that changed his life. He also revealed the book impacted his relationship with The Beatles’ songs.

Tom Petty said receiving an Elvis Presley book was like getting a Christmas present

In the 2012 book Conversations With Tom Petty, the “Free Fallin'” star said he wanted to learn more about Elvis when he was young. He couldn’t find books about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Many teen magazines focused on Elvis, but they included little information. 

“I sent a buck to England for this book, The Elvis Presley Handbook, much to the ridicule of my family for wasting a dollar,” he said. “And it took months to come, but the day it came was like Christmas.” That’s an apt comparison, considering Elvis released some of the most beloved Yuletide songs ever.

The ‘Free Fallin” star said that book about Elvis Presley songs made him understand rock

Petty said The Elvis Presley Handbook was a handy resource. “The book came, and it had every fact, and it had a review of every song he’d done and the chronology of when the records had been released,” he recalled. “And I could see what I had and what I didn’t have. And that’s what kicked off my love of music. That was the dream I followed, strangely enough.” Petty was likely alluding to Elvis’ movie Follow That Dream and its title song.

Elvis, however, was not the artist who convinced Petty to take up the guitar. “It would be some years later, two to three years later, when The Beatles came, that I would catch the fever and want to play guitar,” he said. “But learning all of those Elvis songs and having that kind of background in rock ‘n’ roll of where it had come from has served me to this day. It became an invaluable thing to have. So for that, I thank him.”

Tom Petty named some of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s songs that inspired him

During a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone, Petty said Elvis’ songs were a big part of his early years. He named several classic Elvis tunes that inspired him as a musician. They were “Mean Woman Blues,” “One Night,” “Santa Claus Is Back in Town,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “A Mess of Blues,” “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame,” “That’s All Right,” “Baby Let’s Play House,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” and “Hound Dog.” Some of these tunes were covers, but Petty was concerned with Elvis’ recordings. 

Interestingly, Petty was influenced by both Elvis tracks that remain ubiquitous like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” alongside hidden games such as “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame,” “Mean Woman Blues,” and “Santa Claus Is Back in Town.” Notably, the “I Won’t Back Down” singer didn’t seem to care much for the material Elvis released from the mid-1960s onward.

Petty’s family mocked him for buying The Elvis Presley Handbook. Considering Petty’s success, who’s laughing now?