10 Legendary Songs That Almost Weren't Released

It's hard to really consider Full Moon Fever as Tom Petty's first proper solo album. I mean, considering that the Heartbreakers have played a pivotal role in every other album he's made, what makes this one any different? While the other members of Petty's band may have been important in the beginning, nothing else can hold a candle to Free Fallin.

Working with ELO frontman Jeff Lynne for the first time, Free Fallin was originally thrown together in a couple of hours before eventually turning into one of the most important pieces of music in Petty's discography. It's a shame that the label didn't think so though, with most of Warner Brothers saying that they didn't want to release it as a single, thinking it wasn't really fitting in with the image that Petty had worked with up until that point. The label weren't the only ones either, with bassist Howie Epstein refusing to play on the song because he didn't like it that much.

Looking to find some support, Petty eventually took it to his former producer Denny Cordell, who then called Petty's label and told them that they should fire their A&R staff if they let this slip through their fingers. For as perfect as a song might seem in the moment, sometimes it takes that little extra push for everyone to see the big picture.