Mike Campbell – författare

A fast-paced, tender-hearted rock 'n' roll memoir for the ages, Mike Campbell's Heartbreaker is part rags-to-riches story and part raucous, seat-of-the-pants adventure, recounting Campbell's life and times as lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the band's inception in 1976 to Petty's tragic death in 2017. His iconic, melodic playing helped form the foundation of the band's sound, as heard on definitive classics like 'American Girl', 'Breakdown', 'Don't Come Around Here No More', 'Mary Jane's Last Dance', 'Learning to Fly' and 'Into the Great Wide Open'. Together, Petty and Campbell wrote countless songs, including some of the band's biggest hits: 'Refugee', 'Here Comes My Girl', 'You Got Lucky' and 'Runnin' Down a Dream' among them. From their early days in Florida to their dizzying rise to superstardom to Petty's acclaimed, platinum-selling solo albums Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, Petty never made a record without him. Their work together is timeless, as are the career-defining hits Campbell co-wrote with Don Henley ('The Boys of Summer') and with Petty for Stevie Nicks ('Stop Draggin' My Heart Around').But few know of the less-than-glamorous background from which Campbell emerged - a hardscrabble childhood on the north side of Jacksonville, often just days ahead of homelessness, raised by a single mother struggling on minimum wage. After months of saving, his mother bought him a $15 pawnshop acoustic guitar for his sixteenth birthday. With a chord book and a transistor radio, Campbell painstakingly taught himself to play. When a chance encounter with a guidance counsellor inspired him to enrol in the University of Florida, Campbell - broke, with nowhere else to go and the Vietnam draft looming - moved into a rundown farmhouse in Gainesville, where he met a twenty-year-old Tom Petty. They were soon inseparable. Together they chased their shared dream all the way to Los Angeles, where Campbell would meet his destiny, and the love of his life, Marcie.It was an at-times gruelling dream come true that took Campbell from the very bottom to the absolute top, where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would remain for decades, creating an astonishing body of work.Brilliant, soft-spoken and intensely private, Campbell opens up within these pages for the first time, revealing himself to be an astute observer of triumphs, tragedies and absurdities alike, with a songwriter's eye for the telling detail and a voice as direct and unpretentious as his music. An instant classic, Heartbreaker is Mike Campbell's heartfelt portrait of one throwaway kid's lifesaving love of music and the creative heights he achieved through luck, collaboration, humility and extraordinary talent.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA fast-paced, tender-hearted rock 'n' roll memoir for the ages, Mike Campbell's Heartbreaker is part rags-to-riches story and part raucous, seat-of-the-pants adventure, recounting Campbell's life and times as lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the band's inception in 1976 to Petty's tragic death in 2017. His iconic, melodic playing helped form the foundation of the band's sound, as heard on definitive classics like 'American Girl', 'Breakdown', 'Don't Come Around Here No More', 'Mary Jane's Last Dance', 'Learning to Fly' and 'Into the Great Wide Open'. Together, Petty and Campbell wrote countless songs, including some of the band's biggest hits: 'Refugee', 'Here Comes My Girl', 'You Got Lucky' and 'Runnin' Down a Dream' among them. From their early days in Florida to their dizzying rise to superstardom to Petty's acclaimed, platinum-selling solo albums Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, Petty never made a record without him. Their work together is timeless, as are the career-defining hits Campbell co-wrote with Don Henley ('The Boys of Summer') and with Petty for Stevie Nicks ('Stop Draggin' My Heart Around').But few know of the less-than-glamorous background from which Campbell emerged - a hardscrabble childhood on the north side of Jacksonville, often just days ahead of homelessness, raised by a single mother struggling on minimum wage. After months of saving, his mother bought him a $15 pawnshop acoustic guitar for his sixteenth birthday. With a chord book and a transistor radio, Campbell painstakingly taught himself to play. When a chance encounter with a guidance counsellor inspired him to enrol in the University of Florida, Campbell - broke, with nowhere else to go and the Vietnam draft looming - moved into a rundown farmhouse in Gainesville, where he met a twenty-year-old Tom Petty. They were soon inseparable. Together they chased their shared dream all the way to Los Angeles, where Campbell would meet his destiny, and the love of his life, Marcie.It was an at-times gruelling dream come true that took Campbell from the very bottom to the absolute top, where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would remain for decades, creating an astonishing body of work.Brilliant, soft-spoken and intensely private, Campbell opens up within these pages for the first time, revealing himself to be an astute observer of triumphs, tragedies and absurdities alike, with a songwriter's eye for the telling detail and a voice as direct and unpretentious as his music. An instant classic, Heartbreaker is Mike Campbell's heartfelt portrait of one throwaway kid's lifesaving love of music and the creative heights he achieved through luck, collaboration, humility and extraordinary talent.

First published in 1981, Capitalism in the UK clearly states the Marxist position arguing that capitalism dominates the world economy, and that the world’s trade and multinational enterprises favour the capitalist system. It shows how orthodox economics is not value-free and how orthodox economics implicitly assumes that capitalism is the only possible form of economic organisation for society. Designed for students on Political Economy and Marxists Economics courses, this comprehensive and concise volume provides an important counterweight to traditional first- and second-year introductory textbooks.

First published in 1981, Capitalism in the UK clearly states the Marxist position arguing that capitalism dominates the world economy, and that the world’s trade and multinational enterprises favour the capitalist system. It shows how orthodox economics is not value-free and how orthodox economics implicitly assumes that capitalism is the only possible form of economic organisation for society. Designed for students on Political Economy and Marxists Economics courses, this comprehensive and concise volume provides an important counterweight to traditional first- and second-year introductory textbooks.

First published in 1985, Capitalism and Public Policy in the UK provides a comprehensive account of the development, contemporary character and impact of public policy in the UK. It relates public policy to the distinctive features of capitalism, class relations and the state. The first chapter is used to outline the theoretical framework adopted throughout the book. This sees public policy as strongly influenced by the requirements of the capitalist mode of production, the balance of class forces, historical influences, gender divisions and international relations. Each of the subsequent chapters focuses on a particular area of policy. The relevant theoretical concepts are first introduced followed by an historical account of the development of policy with particular emphasis on the post-1945 period. Where appropriate the impact of a particular area of policy on inequalities of class, gender, race and age is examined. Finally, the impact of each area of policy and the state to the process of economic change, to class relations and to other social divisions. It will be of interest to all those studying the state, public policy and political economy generally.

First published in 1985, Capitalism and Public Policy in the UK provides a comprehensive account of the development, contemporary character and impact of public policy in the UK. It relates public policy to the distinctive features of capitalism, class relations and the state. The first chapter is used to outline the theoretical framework adopted throughout the book. This sees public policy as strongly influenced by the requirements of the capitalist mode of production, the balance of class forces, historical influences, gender divisions and international relations. Each of the subsequent chapters focuses on a particular area of policy. The relevant theoretical concepts are first introduced followed by an historical account of the development of policy with particular emphasis on the post-1945 period. Where appropriate the impact of a particular area of policy on inequalities of class, gender, race and age is examined. Finally, the impact of each area of policy and the state to the process of economic change, to class relations and to other social divisions. It will be of interest to all those studying the state, public policy and political economy generally.

Outside of his extensive career, not much is known about Mike. We of course know and love him for his time with the Heartbreakers and his solo career, which includes co-writing Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, Runnin Down A Dream and many more with Petty, co-writing The Boys of Summer with Don Henley, co-writing, recording and touring with Bob Dylan, touring with Fleetwood Mac after Petty's tragic death, and eventually, forming his own band, The Dirty Knobs. But along with his abounding success, Mike experienced his share of hardship, including bouts with near homelessness, bankruptcy, betrayal, and more. Skirting close to poverty in 1960s Cold War-era Jacksonville, FL, drifting through high school as an aimless loner, Mike's trajectory was far from a given until one morning, his single mother surprised him with a beat-up Harmony guitar. From there, he mastered it, constantly itching to take his playing to the next level. A few years later, he's tapped to play guitar for a band named Mudcrutch, led by a twenty-year-old, Tom Petty. Instantly, Tom declared Mike his guitarist for life, and they remained bandmates, songwriting collaborators, and best friends up until Tom's tragic death in 2017. HEARTBREAKER (written in cooperation with Ari Sudoval) will roll back the veil, exploring one of the greatest American bands of all time from the perspective of its lead guitar player Mike Campbell, one of the all- time greats in his own right. We'll follow the rags to riches story of the unassuming Northern Florida boy who ended up co-writing some of the most iconic rock songs of the past 40 years while realizing his dream of playing and collaborating with his heroes.