Song: “American Girl”

I’m reading Mike Campbell’s new book, Heartbreaker: A Memoir. I’m only about two-thirds finished, yet feel confident in recommending it wholeheartedly. Campbell is an excellent storyteller, a gentle soul with an amazing story of his own, and a humble guy as surprised by his run of talent-infused luck as anyone.

Campbell relates the story of how the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ classic “American Girl” came to be. It was the bicentennial, and a hot, fetid night in the studio. The band had banked “Breakdown” and a few other songs over the prior weeks, but were looking for more. Petty had penned the start of some lyrics almost as a jab at celebrating the 4th of July when gas prices were high, inflation rampant, the Vietnam War still an open wound, and social unrest prevalent. Then a story coalesced about a girl finding the strength to move on, the music came, and the song took flight.

Campbell’s young wife was very pregnant at the time, and there was no certainty about whether the musical career he sought was going to elevate them out of her grocery store job and his nights playing gigs.

If you look closely at the cover of the band’s first album, you can see how the producers were hedging their bets — it’s not “Tom Petty and the Hearthbreakers,” it’s “Tom Petty — Heartbreakers.” Campbell relates how the band found out that if the record bombed and they needed to swap out musicians before making another Tom Petty record, the album could be recast as a record by Tom Petty (who had the contract) entitled, “Heartbreakers.” No need to redo the art.

But this was revealed later, after the magic of “American Girl” was captured.

That magic included a trailing solo that Campbell played just as filler, borrowing from some songs he used to pick at when he was a kid. After he played it, he indicated to Petty that he’d come up with something better they could splice in later. Petty scoffed, “Are you kidding?”

Campbell remains amazed that thousands have cheered him playing that same simple filler solo for decades now. It made him realize that music is about connection, not affectation.

An urban legend about the song having something to do with a girl’s suicide at the University of Florida has to be routinely debunked. As Campbell said, “It’s just a really beautiful love song.” One written on the 4th of July.

Late that night, after the recording session and with “American Girl” in the proverbial can, Campbell tumbled into bed next to his very pregnant wife. She asked him how it went. He said, “I think you can quit your job now.”

A few days later, Campbell’s daughter was born — his own little American girl.

The song was never a hit, but it has become one of Petty’s most popular songs.

I’m featuring a video of the band I’m with playing the song at a local hilltop farm a few years ago. It’s a fun “in the round” experience — see if you can catch the grunt of a dancer striking the cameraman, which always cracks me up — and it shows how much joy connections through music can bring to American girls of all ages.

Enjoy!