Live Broadcast

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (with Al Kooper)

April 23, 1977 · Record Plant Sausalito

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Months after their debut album and before they'd broken nationally, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers played the Record Plant on April 23, 1977, with Al Kooper guesting on keyboards. Denny Cordell of Shelter Records was in the room. The ten-song set includes "American Girl," "Breakdown," and "Listen to Her Heart," a track that appears on the broadcast but was dropped from the LP edition. The circulating copy is a KWST-FM Los Angeles rebroadcast of the original KSAN feed, later issued in a grey-market remaster as The Record Plant '77.

Session
Type
Live Broadcast
Date Recorded
April 23, 1977
Date Broadcast
April 23, 1977
Archive note

KSAN 95 FM broadcast. Tom Donahue series. CENSUS 2026-05-31: Verified. Type: FM Broadcast, live-in-studio with small audience (~20-30). One of the Heartbreakers' earliest radio shows. Personnel: Tom Petty (guitar, vocals), Mike Campbell (guitar), Ron Blair (bass), Stan Lynch (drums), Benmont Tench (keyboards); Al Kooper (keyboards, vocals, guest); Denny Cordell (Shelter Records) present. Setlist (10): Surrender / Jaguar & Thunderbird / American Girl / Fooled Again (I Don't Like It) / Luna / Listen to Her Heart / I Need to Know / Strangered in the Night / Dogs on the Run / Route 66. Best free source: Internet Archive (Recording URL) — circulating copy is KWST-FM (Los Angeles) rebroadcast of KSAN feed. Also Guitars101 Beanstalk 4 and setlist.fm. RELEASE: grey-market remaster 'The Record Plant '77' on Spotify/CD (Discogs URL2). 'Listen to Her Heart' on broadcast but dropped from LP edition. Provenance: grey-market, not official band/label release. ARTICLE: see Articles table (Published). URL2 CLEANUP 2026-07-05: Recording URL2 (Discogs release page, https://www.discogs.com/release/16154380-Tom-Petty-And-The-Heartbreakers-Al-Kooper-The-Record-Plant-Sausalito-CA-April-23-1977) cleared per audio-URL-only policy; full reference preserved here in Notes.

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