Even on his hits, Petty never stopped short in the vocal department. Despite being one of his best-known songs, “Free Fallin” is a deceptively difficult song to master as a singer, especially when he gets to the chorus, and he hits the high note with his full chest voice, which would be need anything it takes a few tries to get it down correctly.

Then again, all of Petty’s favorite bands had great singers in their ranks. Excluding Dylan’s world-weary voice, it was Elvis Presley who exposed Petty to soulful singing, and when The Beatles hit the scene in 1964, he knew he had to step up his vocal game if he wanted to be known as one of the best in his native Gainsville. In a world full of these harmony singers, however, none sounded as good as The Beach Boys.

Brian Wilson’s whole reason for forming the group was based on how they all sounded together, but there was a certain magic that happened when his brother Carl sang. Even though Brian had a childlike innocence in his voice, there was a good reason why Carl was singing”Only God Knows‘, usually tiptoeing around the song and putting a hint of melancholy behind every line he sang.

Despite The Beach Boys going on a downward slide in the 1990s, Petty still considered Carl the singer’s gold standard when working on the heartbreaking song “Room at the Top.”, saying“I was really trying to imitate Carl Wilson from The Beach Boys, with his angelic voice.” If you listen to the meaning behind the song, the use of Wislon as a model is not accidental.

If “God Only Knows” was a devotional song, then “Room at the Top” is what happens when two soul mates have to break up. Even though Petty wanted to keep his divorce close to his chest throughout the album, hearing him beg his ex-wife to take him back is like listening to the character from The Beach Boys’ song and crushed all his dreams at feet.

Even though it’s rarely an upbeat song, Petty got a chance to sound even more angelic on “Hung Up and Overdue” on the soundtrack to she is the one complete with a feature from Carl on background vocals and Ringo Starr standing behind the drums. While most people get into rock and roll for the glory, there was a spiritual feeling in the music Petty heard every time those California-style harmonies came out of the speakers.

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