WCSX Classic Cuts
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: “I Need to Know”
The Hook: Recorded so loud in a tiny studio that keyboardist Benmont Tench had to overdub his keyboard parts, because he couldn’t hear himself with the whole band playing.
Album: You’re Gonna Get It
Year: 1978
Writer: Tom Petty
Stats: Peaked at number-41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded their first two albums in the little Hollywood studio owned by their label. Keyboardist Benmont Tench recalls that the size of the room played a big part in the way he had to record his parts for “I Need to Know.”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ keyboardist Benmont Tench on recording his parts for “I Need to Know.” OC:…was great. :23
“‘It’s a loud song. We were in this tiny homemade studio at Shelter Records, and it was too loud for me to play the piano on the track so I had to wait until they finished the track and then go in and pound on the piano. I had a ball on that song, and then Stan and I did the background vocals at like two or three in the morning. This place on Hollywood Boulevard across from a porno theater or something. It was great.”