Trail Stops

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32603

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     Plaza of the Americas is the main campus green at the University of Florida. It is also where Tom Petty once mowed the lawn and performed in concert with his band, Mudcrutch. The band included future Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and, starting in 1972, Benmont Tench. 

     The Halloween Masquerade Ball, which was held here in 1970, 1971 and 1972, included Mudcrutch in the lineup each year.

     During the third Ball, some audience members got out of control, prompting university authorities to attempt to end the show -- including a university official ripping the drum sticks from the 17-year-old hands of future Heartbreaker Stan Lynch, who was then in the band Road Turkey. UF disallowed the event on campus in 1973, so it was held across the city at Santa Fe Community College.

    Future Mudcrutch drummer Randall Marsh performed in a band called Dead or Alive in this Plaza on the Valentine's Day Love-In concert in 1970. 

Image of poster from Gainesville Rock History website research that Marty Jourard created as a companion to his 2016 book Music Everywhere: The Rock and Roll Roots of a Southern Town.

1814 W University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32603

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      Tom Petty's early bands, The Sundowners and the Epics, performed in several fraternities along Frat Row and elsewhere around campus. And it is where he said he partied starting at age 15 while in these bands.  In the 1985 "Southern Accents" documentary, which was made for MTV, he drives by, points out and talks about a skirmish at Delta Upsilon, which he says resulted in a broken nose. To watch the documentary, see the link below. But to see the Delta Upsilon clip, start watching at the 18:35 mark.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmVU3LOcLds  

     Keith Harben, Tom's neighborhood friend and band manager of the Sundowners, told me that he recalled the night the band broke up. It happened as a result of a fist fight in this frat house between 16-year-old Tom and the band's drummer, which Keith witnessed. 

Photo from "Southern Accents" documentary by Richard Schenkman.

2033 Mowry Rd, Gainesville, FL 32608

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     Lake Alice, which is part of the broader Lake Alice Conservation Area, is located on the campus of the University of Florida. The lake, which is home to countless alligators, is where at age 16 Tom Petty accidentally drove his mother’s white Chevrolet Impala when he was supposed to be at a high school dance. 

     Keith Harben, Tom's neighborhood friend, told me that they were at a dance together that night. Tom, who had very recently received his driver's license, drove them that night in Tom's recently acquired car. During the dance, Tom left with a date in his car to go parking. Tom told Keith he'd be back to pick him up at the dance. Later that night when Tom hadn't shown up, Keith became worried. Eventually, Tom's mother showed up in the family car to pick up Keith -- with an embarrassed Tom riding along. 

     To read about this, see this Gainesville Sun article: https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2017/10/08/tom-petty-rebel-and-friend/18354679007/ 

    Years later, after Petty had dropped out of Santa Fe Junior College after successfully avoiding being drafted into the Vietnam War, he needed a daytime job to supplement the meager pay from early Mudcrutch gigs. So, he landed a job working for the University of Florida's grounds crew, where he initially was assigned to work at Lake Alice.

     "I just changed the screens on a water purification system they'd set up in Lake Alice," Petty told Warren Zanes for the 2015 book Petty: The Biography. "They were dredging the lake, trying to get all the water hyacinths out so there would be more oxygen in the water, which was filled with alligators, all kinds of wildlife. I had  a few adventures with snakes out there" (pg. 53).

Photo by Shawn Murphy.

157 Gale Lemerand Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611

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NOW MAPPED: Mudcrutch performed in a WUFT studio on the campus of the University of Florida circa January 1971 with Tom Petty on bass guitar, Randall Marsh on drums, Mike Campbell on guitar,  and Tom Leadon on guitar; guesting on banjo was Bernie Leadon, who later became an Eagle. The studios and office for WUFT, a PBS affiliate that is owned by the University of Florida, was then located inside Florida Field complex, the football arena that is today named Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The studios were on the first floor in Stadium West, in the north corner. In 1980, WUFT relocated to the newly constructed College of Journalism and Communications building, which was later named Weimer Hall. WUFT's transmitter is located on Northwest 53rd Avenue, in the woods just north of Devil’s Hillhopper Geological State Park.

    David T. “Lefty” Wright videorecorded what is believed to be the earliest known film of the band. The video was shot on Super 8 film using a silent film camera, which Wright borrowed from his friend Jim Lenahan, a founding member of Mudcrutch and later a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ tour lighting director as well as a director of some of the iconic music videos in the 1980s. The video can be watched here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15859tQpYx/?mibextid=xfxF2i

Screen capture by Shawn Murphy. Video courtesy of David T. Wright via Tom Petty Nation.

333 Newell Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611

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     University Auditorium was the site of several Mudcrutch concerts sponsored by The Rose Community from 1971-1973, including one that had Lynyrd Skynyrd as the opening act on Aug. 21, 1971.

     Listen to a Mudcrutch show that is noted to have been here on Jan. 14, 1971, in this bootleg soundboard recording: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl4VeidzKos 

     RGF, which had future Heartbreaker Ron Blair in the band, performed here in 1972.

Photo from Concert Archives.

205 Fletcher Dr, Gainesville, FL 32608

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     Before there was the Academic Advising Center here, there was Johnson Hall, a multi-purpose building that burned down in 1987 after a grease fire started in a food service kitchen. Within Johnson Hall at the time was The Rat, or The Rathskeller, which opened in 1969 as the first campus venue serving beer with food and live music -- then German music. The German beer hall theme was short-lived, though, traded out for a 700-capacity concert venue serving beer. 

     Mudcrutch (including future Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) played here several times in 1971, 1972 and 1973. Road Turkey (including future Heartbreaker Stan Lynch) and RGF (including future Heartbreaker Ron Blair) also performed here during these years. 

     The Rat's lineup of musical acts over its history was vast. Among the many acts were the Allman Brothers Band in 1970, Lynyrd Skynyrd (then spelled Lynard Skynard) in 1971 and 1972, and U2 in 1981. The Box Tops, Dion, Blues Image, Goose Creek Symphony, and Bette Midler, among many others, also performed here. 

Photo courtesy of the University of Florida Digital Collections at the George A. Smathers Libraries.

686 Museum Rd, Gainesville, FL 32611

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      Formerly known at the Student Union, but commonly referred to as The Union when it opened in 1967, its South Terrace was the site of a concert by Mudcrutch (with future Heartbreakers Tom Petty and Mike Campbell) the afternoon of Feb. 27, 1971. 

     The Union North Lawn was also the site of concerts by Road Turkey (with future Heartbreaker Stan Lynch) in 1974. 

     The Union also was the site of 1970 and 1971 concerts by RGF (which included future Heartbreaker Ron Blair). 

Image of poster from Gainesville Rock History website research that Marty Jourard created as a companion to his 2016 book Music Everywhere: The Rock and Roll Roots of a Southern Town.

1765 Stadium Rd, Gainesville, FL 32608

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     Formerly known at the Student Services Building, but commonly referred to as The Hub when it opened in 1950, this was the site of a 1973 concert by Mudcrutch (with future Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench), who performed on the lawn behind The Hub. 

     This location was also the site of a 1972 concert by Road Turkey (with future Heartbreaker Stan Lynch). 

Photo courtesy of Explore Historical Alachua County.

2129 Museum Rd, Gainesville, FL 32603

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     At the original Hume Hall, a dormitory, which was built here in 1958, a three-band concert was held in October 1973. Topping that bill was White Witch, followed by New Days Ahead and Mudcrutch (with future Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench). 

     The original Hume Hall was razed in 2000. In 2002, the current Hume Hall was constructed. 

Photo courtesy of UF Libraries.

1659 Museum Rd, Gainesville, FL 32611

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     On a terrace at the Florida Museum on Natural History in 1971, there was a concert by Mudcrutch (with future Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench). Opening for them was Road Turkey (with future Heartbreaker Stan Lynch). 

     Note that while the museum is today located at 3215 Hull Road on campus, it was then located at Dickinson Hall, a building that today is used for housing its expansive collections and for its scientific research. It is closed to the public.

Photo courtesy of Department of Natural History, University of Florida.