Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform a cover of the Animals classic track “Don’t Bring Me Down” at Farm Aid in Champaign, Illinois on September 22, 1985.
A performance from the first Farm Aid benefit concert. Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp founded Farm Aid and serve on the board of directors. The three agreed that family farmers were in dire need of assistance and decided to plan a concert for America. The show was put together in six weeks and was held on September 22nd, 1985 in Champaign, Illinois before a crowd of 80,000 people. It raised over $9 million for America’s family farmers. Performers included Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and many more. It would have been very difficult for Bob Dylan to decline an invitation to perform at the inaugural Farm Aid concert in Champagne, Illinois on September 22nd, 1985. The entire event was inspired by his onstage comments at Live Aid earlier that year: “I hope that some of the money . . . maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe . . . one or two million, maybe . . . and use it it, say to pay the mortgages on some of the farms.”
it inspired Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson to come together and form Farm Aid. In just two months they assembled an incredible lineup that included the Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Randy Newman, Carole King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Eddie Van Halen with Sammy Hagar and many others.
Dave Matthews joined Farm Aid’s Board of Directors in 2001 to help further Farm Aid’s mission of keeping family farmers on their land.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform “Straight Into Darkness” at Farm Aid in Champaign, Illinois on September 22nd, 1985. Bob Dylan had been off the road for four years at this point. He didn’t have a backing band, so Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers agreed to take on the task. Their six-song set was heavy on material from Dylan’s new albums, But here we feature the track without Dylan who joined the band later in the set. Just a few months later, Dylan and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers kicked off a triumphant world tour.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform “Refugee” at Farm Aid in Champaign, Illinois on September 22nd, 1985.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Setlist:
Bye Bye Johnny
(Chuck Berry cover)
Don’t Bring Me Down
(The Animals cover)
Straight Into Darkness
Refugee
Shake (with Bob Dylan)
I’ll Remember You (with Bob Dylan)
(Bob Dylan cover)
Trust Yourself (with Bob Dylan)
(Bob Dylan cover)
Maggie’s Farm (with Bob Dylan)
(Bob Dylan cover)
The Fat Angel Sings 