Dierks Bentley has released a music video for his cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “American Girl,” which sees him playing Petty’s own Rickenbacker guitar.
“Holding an instrument that carries so much musical history and significance was surreal, you could almost feel the stories resonate from it as I played it,” Bentley said in a press release. “Tom Petty’s lyrics and delivery were a huge part of what made his music so impactful.”
You can watch the music video below.
READ MORE: Underrated Tom Petty: The Most Overlooked Song From Each Album
Bentley’s cover is part of an upcoming tribute album, PETTY COUNTRY: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty.
The Making of the Original ‘American Girl’
Petty’s “American Girl,” which became a staple of his set lists, appeared on the Heartbreakers’ debut, self-titled album.
“I was living in an apartment where I was right by the freeway,” Petty would later recall for 2005’s Conversations With Tom Petty. “And the cars would go by. In Encino, near Leon [Russell’s] house. And I remember thinking that that sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean. My Malibu. I think that must have inspired the lyric. … I would have written that on my Gibson Dove, because I wrote everything on that then. It was the only guitar I had.”
Interestingly, Petty acquired that Gibson Dove after trading in his six-string Rickenbacker. In later years, however, Petty would often utilize a 12-string Rickenbacker in solo, Heartbreakers and Traveling Wilburys songs.
“I think one of the things that appeals about the Rick is just how effortless it is to play,” he once told Reverb. “It’s really a nice playing model. I’ve tried all sorts, and none of them chime quite like a Rickenbacker, there’s just something to the sound of it that you’re not going to get out of the others.”
Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers: Where Are They Now?
The surviving members continue to forge new paths.
Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp
