Not only do New Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem worship at the feet of Bruce Springsteen, the band also fancy themselves as devotees of Tom Petty (“Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”, off The ’59 Sound, namechecks Mr. Petty). Now, as the B-side to their recently-released single “45″, the four-piece have covered Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1982 hit “You Got Lucky”. While keeping the song’s message (“Yeah, you got lucky, babe/When I found you”) intact, the band make their version sizzle with heavy organ and pained, raspy vocals. Stream it below (via Stereogum).

The band’s latest album, Handwritten, hits stores on July 24th via Mercury Records.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have scheduled 2012 tour dates, including their first major performances in the UK and Europe in two decades. The legendary outfit will first tour the U.S., beginning in Broomfield, CO, on April 19th. The nine-date leg includes an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and a pair of shows in Florida before wrapping up in Austin, TX, on May 5th.

In June, the band will perform in the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for the first time and then travel across the Atlantic for that aforementioned UK and European trek. The leg includes a headlining appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival alongside Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Pearl Jam, along with stops in Germany, Denmark, France, and Italy. Check out the band’s full tour schedule below.

On-sale dates and ticketing info can be found on the band’s website.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 2012 Tour Dates:
04/19 – Broomfield, CO @ 1st Bank Center
04/21 – Little Rock, AR @ Verizon Arena
04/24 – Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
04/26 - Wichita, KS @ INTRUST Bank Arena
04/28 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
04/29 – Alpharetta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheater
05/01 – Estero, FL @ Germain Arena
05/03 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
05/05 – Austin, TX @ Frank Irwin Center
06/03 – St. John’s, NL @ Mile One Centre
06/07 – Dublin, IE @ O2 Arena
06/10 – Hamburg, DE @ O2 World
06/12 – Horsens, DK @ Open Air
06/14 – Stockholm, SE @ The Globe
06/15 – Oslo, NO @ Norwegian Wood Festival
06/22 – Isle of Wight, UK @ Isle of Wight Festival
06/24 – Zurich, CH @ Hallenstadion
06/25 – Cologne, DE @ Lanxess Arena
06/27 – Paris, FR @ Grand Rex
06/29 – Lucca, IT @ Piazza Napoleone
06/30 – Mannheim, DE @ SAP Arena

Other notable acts includes Allen Toussaint, Jill Scott, The Neville Brothers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Levon Helm Band with Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Ne-Yo, The Nevil Brothers, Herbie Hancock and his Band, Esperanza Spalding, Iron & Wine, Rodrigo y Gabriella, Steve Earle, Ani DiFranco, Bruce Hornsby, and Givers. Check out Festival Outlook to see the full lineup.

Single-day and weekend passes go on sale Wednesday, December 14th. Visit the festival’s website for complete pricing information.

Since 1985, Neil Young has hosted his annual Bridge School Benefit, bringing together an assortment of artists for a two-day festival that supports the Hillsborough, CA-based school, which assists children with severe speech and physical impairments. This year’s inclusion, set to take place this weekend at The Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 22-23rd, marks the event’s 25th anniversary, and to celebrate Young has tagged the likes of Beck, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, and many more. However, unlike previous years, the organizers are ensuring millions witness the event.

To start, Saturday’s festivities will be webcast online for the first-time ever. Thanks to Facebook and YouTube, fans will be able to watch the surefire spectacle from the comfort of their own home. A special landing page has been designed by Facebook that allows users to interact while experiencing the event. In fact, those actually in attendance at the show will be able to upload content and messages to share amongst those watching from home. Visit the respective pages at Facebook or YouTube for more information, and peep the trailer for the event below. An exact webcast schedule is still to be announced.

Then, on October 24th, there’s the CD/DVD release of The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition. This collection digs deep into the benefit’s history, featuring appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, Band of Horses, Thom Yorke,  Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and many, many more musical elite. You can pre-order the DVD set here and the CD set here. NPR Music is streaming the two-disc album portion in its entirety until next Tuesday.

And while your puny 32″ flat-screen and sub-par sound system may be enough to enjoy the all-star footage, the organizers are offering one better: on the day of the CD/DVD release (once again, 10/24), movie theaters across the nation will air the effort’s concert  film. Check out the entire listing of cities and locations below; all showings kick off at 7 p.m. For more information on tickets, head here. The trailer for the release is also available below.

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition Theater Locations:
Atlanta, GA @ Midtown
Austin, TX @ Alamo Drafthouse Lakecreek
Boston, MA @ Kendall
Chicago, IL @ Century
Dallas, TX @ TBC
Denver, CO @ Mayan
Los Angeles, CA @ The Laemmle Santa Monica
Madison, WI @ Sundance
Milwaukee, WI @ Oriental
Minneapolis, MN @ Edina
New York City, NY @ Sunshine
Philadelphia, PA @ Ritz Bourse
Pleasantville, NY @ Jacob Burns
Portland, ME @ Nickelodeon
Portland, OR @ Hollywood Theatre
San Diego, CA @ Hillcrest
San Francisco, CA @ Embarcadero
Santa Cruz, CA @ Nickelodeon
Santa Rosa, CA @ Summerfield
Seattle, WA @ Harvard Exit
Silver Spring, MD @ AFI Silver Theatre
Washington, DC @ E Street

Each year, Neil Young opens up his Rolodex (and it’s a mighty impressive one) and calls on all his rock star friends to play his charity concert, the Bridge School Benefit. With the shindig celebrating its 25th anniversary this October, Young and the folks behind the event have compiled the concert’s best moments in three-DVD and two-CD sets aptly titled The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition. 

The DVD release includes performances from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Fleet Foxes, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Devendra Banhart, and a plethora of other big-name acts. The third disc also includes documentaries on the concert’s history along with a bonus feature on the Bridge School.

The two-CD set features even more classic performances from the concert’s past 25 years. Artists include Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Thom Yorke, Metallica, Band of Horses, R.E.M. featuring Young, and much, much more.

The two releases, which also benefit the Bridge School, are in stores on October 24th. Check out a video trailer for both sets below and pre-order the DVD set here and the CD set here.

This year’s Bridge School concert goes down October 22-23rd at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. Acts scheduled to appear include Beck, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, and many more. Tickets are available via LiveNation right now.

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition DVD Tracklsit:

DVD 1
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
Patti Smith – People Have the Power
Pearl Jam – Better Man
David Bowie – Heroes
Ben Harper – There Will Be a Light
Bob Dylan – Girl From the North Country
R.E.M – Country Feedback
Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller – Love Hurts
Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
Devendra Banhart – At the Hope
Bonnie Raitt – The Road Is My Middle Name
Billy Idol – Rebel Yell

DVD 2
Brian Wilson – Surfin’ USA
Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
The Pretenders – Sense of Purpose
James Taylor – Fire and Rain
Simon and Garfunkel – America
Tom Petty – Shadow of a Doubt
Dave Matthews – Too Much
Neil Young – Crime in the City
Tom Waits – 16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six
Elton John & Leon Russell – A Dream Come True
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Metallica – Disposable Heroes
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

DVD 3
Backstage at the Bridge School Benefit Concert
The Bridge School Story

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition CD Tracklist:

CD 1
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
Dave Matthews – Too Much
No Doubt – Magic’s in the Makeup
Jack Johnson – Gone
Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Love and Only Love
Sonic Youth – Rain on Tin
Pearl Jam – Better Man
Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
R.E.M & Neil Young – Country Feedback
Willie Nelson – The Great Divide
Nils Lofgrin – Cry Just a Little

CD 2
Sarah McLachlan – Elsewhere
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Elton John & Leon Russell – A Dream Come True
Band of Horses – Marry Song
Metallica – Disposable Heroes
Thom Yorke – After the Gold Rush
Sheryl Crow – The Difficult Kind
Tony Bennett – Maybe This Time
CSNY – Deja Vu
Norah Jones – Jesus – Etc.
Jonathan Richman – I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar
Brian Wilson – Surfin’ USA.
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

This October, HBO will air the Martin Scorsese-directed George Harrison biopic entitled George Harrison: Living In A Material World (the film also premieres at the New York Film Festival, which kicks off on September 30th). Now, that film’s first official trailer is available for viewing below. Painting a wide portrait of Harrison as both a man and an artist, the trailer features insight from Harrison’s widow Olivia Harrison, longtime friend Eric Clapton, and Monty Python‘s Eric Idle.

George Harrison: Living In A Material World premieres on HBO in two parts on October 5th and 6th.

After directing the Stones’ Shine a Light, Scorsese went to work last year on a George Harrison documentary. The end result of his efforts, titled George Harrison: Living In A Material World, is now set to debut in two parts on October 5th and 6th, 2011 on HBO. (Also, anyone saying Scorsese can’t pick both bands will undoubtedly get both legs broken by Joe Pesci.)

As previously reported, the documentary makes use of archival home movies, personal photos, and concert footage to tell the story of the iconic rocker, who along with his role in the Fab Four produced movies, dabbled in philanthropy, and was a spiritual seeker. Along with the material provided by Harrison’s widow Olivia Harrison, a number of Harrison’s famous friends and collaborators are interviewed over the course of the film, including Eric Clapton, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, George Martin, Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty, Phil Spector, Ringo Starr, and Jackie Stewart.

“Like so many millions of people, I first came to know George through the music, which was the soundtrack of our world,” Scorsese, who also directed No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, said in a press release. “So when I was offered the chance to make this picture, I jumped at it.  Spending time with Olivia, interviewing so many of George’s closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music – it was a joy, and an experience I’ll always treasure.”

Abrams Books will also release Olivia Harrison’s accompanying archive George Harrison: Living in the Material World, which features photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia from her personal collection, in September.

Unless you’re a die-hard fanatic, you probably don’t know too many Petty albums outside of …Torpedoes – nor should you. It’s the one that brought him commercial and critical appeal, taking him outside of the nation’s peninsula and into everyone’s Trans-Ams, unleashing three, if not four, of the greatest songs of the ’70s. It also sports the most iconic album cover he’s put out. It defined him, really. The black sport coat, the sly, boyish smile, and the juicy reds everywhere. This is what the Heartbreakers would come to represent. Pure, unconditional rock ‘n’ roll. Not southern rock, not even garage rock, just straight up rock ‘n’ roll. Only with lots of heart ‘n’ flavor.

There’s really no complaints on Damn the Torpedoes. “Refugee” literally kicks things off, working off Stan Lynch’s trademark drum kicks and Petty and Campbell’s balmy guitar lines. Altogether, it just punches you in the same way switching from second to third gear would while powering down a lone, leaf-clogged highway. Then there’s the melody of “Here Comes My Girl”, essentially the only rocker any high school student ever needs to hear. When Petty croons the titular line, Benmont Tench’s piano work just hugs you. It feels genuinely youthful, and one would imagine it takes Petty back, even today. Other radio staples include the Billy Joel-channeling “Don’t Do Me Like That” and the riff ride “Even the Losers”. Without a doubt, these remain the album’s finest tunes, and, not coincidentally, they’re all on that pesky 1993 collection, too.

But four songs don’t make an album great. As for the remaining five, they all shine in their own respects. Actually, it’s almost impossible to dismiss a Petty tune. They might not be on par with his classics, but they’re usually everything you’d want in a rock ‘n’ roll song: heartfelt, raw, and empowering. “Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)” coasts at 65 mph, “Century City” packs on more adrenaline albeit sounding a tad too Springsteen, and “You Tell Me” glows with fine organ work. The only two nearly forgettable tracks arrive at the end. They’re not bad songs at all, they’re just not that strong. “What Are You Doin’ In My Life?” feels like a weaker “I Need to Know” while “Louisiana Rain” treads a little water, although admittedly it’s a nice break from the long, speedy drive beforehand.

As a Deluxe Edition, however, Damn the Torpedoes feels more like an extended road trip. In fact, if you play it front to back, it sounds rather seamless. It’s almost as if the band wakes up after “Louisiana Rain” and continues jamming. The chord-cruncher “Nowhere” sweats with a ’70s fever, exuding this shuffle that, with only a tad more distortion, could have easily worked out for KISS. “Surrender” rings loud with melody, starry instrumentation, and a progression that’s programmed specifically for FM radio. Why they opted out of this song remains a mystery. It’s far stronger than “What Are You Doin’ In My Life?”, and it could have made for a powerful closer even. In fact, if one were debating on picking this up, this track would be worth the price of the whole package. No kidding.

The remaining tracks don’t offer as much, but they’re interesting enough. Petty beat Conor Oberst to writing about “Casa Dega” – after all, he only lived miles away from the town – but here it’s less of a folk number and more of an early ’80s jam. “It’s Raining Again” might draw up some nodding, if nothing else, while the remaining live outtakes and demos should whet any purist’s appetite. Let’s just say, thank god they worked out the kinks on “Refugee”.

Okay, so Petty’s strongest album might very well be his Greatest Hits collection. Musically, you’re really not going to miss much if you skipped over Damn the Torpedoes and became one of the 10 million or so who nabbed the hits set. But, you’d be skipping over a semi-important facet to Petty’s identity. Simple truth: Petty’s not so much of a lyricist as he is a songwriter. That explains why every one of his albums usually contain two or three diamonds and lots of, well, filler. However, there’s something intriguing about …Torpedoes, and it’s something Petty hasn’t accomplished again, even if he’s tried his hardest (e.g. 2006′s Highway Companion). Though fans and casual listeners could tell that Petty had his eye on Americana (see: 1976′s “American Girl”), it wasn’t until …Torpedoes that they could see where he was looking from.

While not a concept album per se, this record remains his only real cohesive collection of tunes that successfully paints a vivid picture of the band and the artist as a whole. What exactly is that? A slacker-minded southern boy with a heart that belonged neither north nor south, east nor west. That’s why he’s so damn universal and why it’s sort of unfair to pit him against either Skynyrd or Springsteen. It’s almost as if he’s the boy with no home. A Johnny Appleseed, if you wanna get literary. So, with that in mind, perhaps it’s more valuable to stick to this album than his hits collection. It might not sound as great, but, hey, you’ll walk away with something else. Still, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”. Come on, man.

This release comes hot on the heels of the band’s recently completed North American tour in support of their latest album, Mojo. Seems like after 30+ years, this group has no problem staying busy.

Fans will be able to obtain this Deluxe Edition on pretty much any format they desire: 2CDs, 2LPs, Blu-Ray, or Download (sorry, cassette enthusiasts).

Damn The Torpedoes, The Deluxe Edition Tracklist:
Disc One – Original Album
01. Refugee
02. Here Comes My Girl
03. Even The Losers
04. Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)
05. Century City
06. Don’t Do Me Like That
07. You Tell Me
08. What Are You Doin’ In My Life?
09. Louisiana Rain

Disc Two – Bonus Tracks
01. Nowhere *
02. Surrender *
03. Casa Dega/B-side
04. It’s Rainin’ Again/B-side
05. Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)/Live – Hammersmith Odeon 1980 *
06. Don’t Do Me Like That/Live – Hammersmith Odeon 1980 *
07. Somethin’ Else/Live – Hammersmith Odeon 1980 *
08. Casa Dega/Demo *
09. Refugee/Alternate Take *
* = Previously unreleased