Legendary rock icon Bob Dylan may be known for his calm, cool, even reclusive demeanor, but a recent interview with Mike Campbell, who was the lead guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, reveals Dylan’s edgier side.
Campbell had purchased a 1962 Gibson Les Paul “SG” Junior—the guitar he famously used on the outro guitar solo on “Runnin’ Down a Dream”—from a random video store in Hartford, Connecticut that happened to have a few guitars for sale. The guitar became a beloved part of Campbell’s arsenal.
In 1986, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers supported Bob Dylan on his True Confessions Tour. On the tour’s third-to-last stop at the LA Forum, Dylan took a break from playing to talk to the crowd. Campbell stood at the ready with his beloved guitar in place.
“I had this guitar on, and I’m standing there, trying to be cool,” Campbell explains. “And I kind of went like this to scratch my ears or whatever. And Bob was talking to the audience going on with some important spiel about something.
“And the strap came loose and [the volume control] was wide open. And it went ka-blam! Loud! You know, this thing’s loud.”
“Bob turned around like, ‘What the {Expletive} were you doing back there? I’m trying to talk up here!’”
Campbell looked down to see the guitar split in two at the neck, stating, “And my heart just broke, because I love that guitar, you know. I just thought they’re gonna repair it, but it’ll never be the same.”
Good news for Campbell: despite the incident, the guitar still plays great and “gets the job done every time.”
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Dylan and Petty: The ‘True Confessions Tour’
The True Confessions Tour began with shows in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Both headliners took a short break after this portion of the tour before launching a 41-date tour across the United States and Canada.
The successful tour included two dates at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., three shows at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden, and two concerts at Philadelphia’s Spectrum. The tour came to a close on August 6 in Paso Robles, California.
Petty and Dylan would join forces again four years later on the Temples in Flames Tour.
Tom Petty passed away in 2017 at the age of 66.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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