The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened a new exhibit Tuesday featuring artifacts from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1982 album “Long After Dark” in the museum’s Main Exhibit Hall.
The display includes Petty’s personal acoustic guitar used at home, in the studio and on tour, along with handwritten lyrics, studio notes, backstage passes and ticket stubs that chronicle the album’s creation and subsequent tour. A music video script from “You Got Lucky” and cassette tapes from a 1982 Edinburgh, Scotland tour stop are also featured.
“Long After Dark” marked the band’s third and final collaboration with producer Jimmy Iovine. The album featured rock ballads and guitar anthems with the addition of Howie Epstein on bass and backing vocals. Despite being recorded during what many consider the band’s peak performance period, the album is often viewed as the group’s most misunderstood release.
The exhibit coincides with renewed interest in the era following last year’s theatrical and streaming release of “Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party,” a documentary directed by Cameron Crowe that originally aired once on MTV in February 1983. The film captured the band during the album’s completion, promotion and touring phase. The Rock Hall plans a special showing of the documentary later this year.
The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers display is included with general admission to the museum. Cleveland residents can visit free through the CLE*VIP program, sponsored by KeyBank.
Previews began Friday, July 11, opening on Tuesday, July 15
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