The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell Names ‘Exile On Main St.’ His Favorite Album

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' co-founding lead guitarist, Mike Campbell, has listed the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. as his favorite album. While talking records with Mojo, Campbell — who is also now a member of Fleetwood Mac and fronts his own band, the Dirty Knobs — went on to sing Exile's praises, saying of the Stones' 1972 double-album, “There is a live-ness about it, and a jammy quality. When it first came out, I didn’t have a record player, and a rumor went around that so-and-so owned it, so we all went to their house to hear it from start to finish. It was a religious experience.”

When asked to list his “favorite Saturday night record” — Campbell said, “Exile On Main St. (and) Abbey Road too, possibly because I listened to it on acid once, and it sounded incredible! If I can pick one of ours, when I hear the first Heartbreakers album, I can still feel the kinetic energy and the exuberance of the band discovering itself.”

Campbell also offered up his favorite “Sunday morning record,” saying, “The Beatles' 'Here Comes The Sun' is a beautiful way to wake up, and a beautiful way to start side two of Abbey Road. And you can’t go wrong with some blues with your first cup of coffee.”

When we last caught up with Mike Campbell, he admitted it was fascinating to listen to the Heartbreakers' evolution over the decades: “It was really different to hear the different eras of the band. Like to hear the band back in the late-'70s, early-'80s, and to hear the youthful energy, Stan Lynch on the drums, and the original lineup was really refreshing to hear what that was after all these years.”