Hard Promises is the fourth album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...

 released in May, 1981. Its original working title was Benmont's Revenge. The album features guest vocals from Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks

Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...

 of Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

 on the duet "Insider." The Heartbreakers also recorded the hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was the first single from Stevie Nicks' debut solo album Bella Donna. It was written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell as a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, but Jimmy Iovine, who was also working Stevie Nicks at the time, arranged for her to sing on it...

" for Nicks' album Bella Donna

Bella Donna (album)

-The Band:* Stevie Nicks – vocals* Lori Perry – backup vocals* Sharon Celani – backup vocals*Tom Petty – vocals, guitar *Michael Campbell – guitar *Don Felder – guitar *Benmont Tench – organ, piano...

 around the time Hard Promises was recorded.

This was the second Tom Petty album on the Backstreet Records

Backstreet Records

Backstreet Records was an MCA Records subsidiary label founded in 1979 by Danny Bramson, who at the time was executive director of MCA's Universal Amphitheatre. The name was derived from the Bruce Springsteen song "Backstreets". The label's first release was the self-titled debut album by Tears...

 label. The album's release was delayed while Petty and his distributor MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

 argued about the list price. The album was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan

Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...

's Gaucho

Gaucho (album)

Gaucho is the seventh studio album by the American Jazz rock band Steely Dan, released in 1980. The sessions for Gaucho represented the peak of Steely Dan's recording studio perfectionism and obsessive recording techniques...

 and the Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

/Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

 Xanadu

Xanadu (Soundtrack)

Xanadu is the soundtrack of the 1980 musical film of the same name, featuring the Australian singer Olivia Newton-John and the Britsh group Electric Light Orchestra....

 soundtrack. This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98. Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album or naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.

During the recording of the album John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 was scheduled to be in the same studio at the same time. Tom Petty was looking forward to meeting him when he came in. The meeting never occurred; unfortunately, John Lennon was murdered before he could ever make it into the studio. In order to pay tribute to one of their influences the band decided to etch "WE LOVE YOU JL" on the master copy of the album. To this day "WE LOVE YOU JL" is seen on every Hard Promises vinyl copy pressed.
The album's title comes from a line in the chorus of "Insider."

Side one

1. "The Waiting
   The Waiting (song)
   "The Waiting" is the lead single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' album Hard Promises released in 1981. The song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the magazine's new Rock Tracks chart, where it remained for six consecutive weeks.- Covers :*Linda Ronstadt covered...
   
   " – 3:58
2. "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)
   Woman in Love (It's Not Me)
   "A Woman in Love " is the title of a song recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in June 1981 as the second single from their album Hard Promises. It peaked at number 79 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Chart performance:...
   
   " (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 4:22
3. "Nightwatchman" (Petty, Campbell) – 3:59
4. "Something Big" – 4:44
5. "Kings Road" – 3:27

Side two

1. "Letting You Go" – 3:24
2. "A Thing About You" – 3:33
3. "Insider" – 4:23
4. "The Criminal Kind" – 4:00
5. "You Can Still Change Your Mind" (Petty, Campbell) – 4:15

Personnel

• Tom Petty
  Tom Petty
  Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
  
   – lead vocals, 12 & 6 string guitar electric & acoustic guitars, bass & electric piano on "Something Big"
• Mike Campbell – 12 & 6 string guitar electric guitars, auto-harp, accordion, harmonium, bass guitar
• Benmont Tench
  Benmont Tench
  Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...
  
   – organ, piano, background vocals
• Stan Lynch
  Stan Lynch
  Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch is an American songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994.- Early years :...
  
   – drums, background vocals
• Ron Blair
  Ron Blair
  Ron Blair is the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was the band's bassist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002, he returned to the group after a 21-year hiatus, replacing his own replacement, the late Howie Epstein.His father was a Navy man, so the family relocated every few years...
  
   – bass

Additional musicians:

• Phil Jones – percussion on all tracks
• Stevie Nicks
  Stevie Nicks
  Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
  
   – harmony on "Insider", background vocals on "You Can Still Change Your Mind"
• Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass on "A Woman in Love"
• Sharon Celani – background vocals on "You Can Still Change Your Mind"
• Alan "Bugs" Weidel – piano on "Nightwatchman"