Description By 1985 Tom Petty had already obtained legendary status.
Follow him on Twitter at @whalelines..
About the Author Michael Washburn , Director of Programs at Humanities New York, has written about books, culture, and politics for a number of publications.
Washburn also examines how the record both grew out of and reinforced enduring but flawed assumptions about Southern culture and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.
Michael Washburn explores the history of Southern Accents and how it sparked Petty\'s reinvention.
Reeling from the defeat, Petty reimagined himself as deeply, almost mythically, Californian, obtaining his biggest success with Full Moon Fever.
Despite its artistic failure and public controversy, Southern Accents was a pivot point for Petty.
Then, while touring for the album, Petty made extensive use of the iconography of the American Confederacy, something he soon came to regret.
The result is a hodgepodge of classic rock songs mixed with nearly unlistenable 80s music.
Initially conceived as a concept album about the American South, Southern Accents \'s marathon recording sessions were marred by aesthetic and narcotic excess.
But he was restless, hoping to stretch his artistry beyond the confining format of songs like "The Waiting" and "Refugee." Petty\'s response to his restlessness was Southern Accents .
He had money.
He had fame.
Description By 1985 Tom Petty had already obtained legendary status
