Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers : Hard Promises (Expanded Edition)

I'M AN INSIDER

I'VE BEEN BURNED BY THE FIRE

AND I'VE HAD TO LIVE

WITH SOME HARD PROMISES

I'VE CRAWLED THROUGH THE BRIARS

I'M AN INSIDER

Hard Promises

 is the fourth 

studio album

 by

 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

 released on

 May 5, 1981, 

on Backstreet Records.

Its working title was

 Benmont's Revenge,

 referring to

 keyboard player 

Benmont Tench. 

The album features 

guest vocals from 

Stevie Nicks 

of Fleetwood Mac 

on the duet

 "Insider". 

The Heartbreakers 

also recorded the hit

 "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" 

for Nicks' album

 Bella Donna 

around the time

 Hard Promises

 was recorded.

This was the second

 Tom Petty album 

on the Backstreet Records label. 

The album's release was 

delayed while 

Petty and his distributor 

MCA Records

 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's

 Gaucho

 and the 

Olivia Newton-John/

Electric Light Orchestra 

Xanadu 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.

The final title

 comes from a line

 in the chorus of 

"Insider."

Hard Promises

 is the last full album

 to feature the 

original 

Heartbreakers lineup, 

as bassist 

Ron Blair 

left after 

the album's release. 

He returned on

 Mojo, 

and he would make 

guest appearances on

 Long After Dark

 and 

Southern Accents 

and, 

after rejoining the band

 in 2002, 

played on 

select tracks on

 The Last DJ. 

He was replaced by 

Howie Epstein,

 who continued to play 

until his removal

 in 2002

 due to deteriorating health.

In 2000

 it was voted number 968

 in Colin Larkin's 

All Time Top 1000 Albums.

During the recording of the album, 

John Lennon 

was scheduled to be

 in the same studio 

at the same time. 

Petty was looking forward

 to meeting him 

when he came in. 

The meeting never occurred,

 as Lennon was murdered

 before the date

 of his planned visit

 to the studio. 

Petty and the band 

paid tribute to

 the slain former Beatle

 by etching 

"WE LOVE YOU J.L."

 in the runout deadwax 

on early U.S. 

and 

Canadian pressings of

 Hard Promises

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