Tom Petty Said His Elvis Cover Beats the Original

Tom Petty put his own spin on an Elvis Presley song and thought his cover was the superior song. The track in question is from one of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll‘s numerous cheesy movies. Surprisingly, another version of the song outperformed Elvis’ in the 1960s.

Tom Petty said a cover of an Elvis Presley song was one of his best tunes

In the 2012 book Conversation With Tom Petty, the “Free Fallin'” singer said that the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was a big influence on his vocals. He said he obsessively hunted down all of Elvis’ recordings when he was a kid.

“One of my favorite records that probably no one would ever think about is in the boxed set, when we covered his song ‘Wooden Heart,'” Petty did. “I love our record of that. I think we did it better than Elvis. That’s saying a lot, but I think we did. And that was a one take.”

How Joe Dowell’s cover of ‘Wooden Heart’ outcharted Elvis Presley’s

Petty is correct that “Wooden Heart” was an Elvis song. However, the most well-known version of the tune came from pop singer Joe Dowell. According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, Elvis recorded the track for his film G.I. Blues. After producer Shelby Singleton Jr. saw the film, he decided that Dowell should put out a cover of it. Dowell’s version was recorded and rushed out within three days.

Dowell also went on a tour to promote his version of the song. Dowell’s “Wooden Heart” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, making it his only No. 1 single in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Elvis’ version of “Wooden Heart” was the hit, topping the chart for six weeks.

Today, Dowell is probably mostly remembered by Elvis fans for stealing the spotlight from the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll for a brief moment. Regardless of the fate of “Wooden Heart,” Elvis continued to reign as the King of Easy Listening for a few more years before getting overshadowed by The Beatles and other British Invasion bands and then staging his ’68 Comeback Special and regaining his stature in the music industry.

Tom Petty said his cover of the song ‘came from the heart’

In Conversations With Tom Petty, the “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” singer gave fans more insight into his cover of “Wooden Heart.” “I had no idea I was going to do it,” he recalled. “I just said, ‘Let’s play ‘Wooden Heart,” and I just started it, and we played it. And that was the only time we did it. But it was right from the heart. 

“We just did it, and sang it live,” he added. “And when I hear that, I’m really touched by it, because it reminds me of being young and listening to those records. It doesn’t sound like Elvis, really, but I’m sure there’s some of that influence.”

Elvis and Petty had very different careers, but they have a shared history with “Wooden Heart.”