Buoyed by rave reviews of his recently issued album Sea Change, Richard Turgeon headed straight back to the studio to wax more musical alchemy.
Aiming to keep our spirits up in this trying time of the novel coronavirus and social and economic uncertainty, the San Francisco Bay Area singer, songwriter and multi-faceted musician has chosen to record a cover of a tune that promotes hope in the face of adversity: “Learning to Fly,” which was authored by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne. Initially released on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Into the Great Wide Open album, the track became a Top 30 hit in the summer of 1991.
Richard Turgeon shares many similar characteristics with Petty, from his Southern-styled vocals to his insightful lyrical skills to his rocking janglefest guitar workouts. So it makes perfect sense he would elect to render such a song.
Turgeon navigates the same pattern and engineering of the original cut of “Learning to Fly,” while adding a bit of a heavier feel to the medium-paced song. Tight and compressed, the tune ripples and rocks to a sturdy and steady beat.
A meditation on being broken down and realizing “the good old days” may not return, “Learning to Fly” further confesses to not “having wings,” but learning to fly is the goal. Here’s a song about coping and adapting when life is seemingly unbearable, which surely speaks to a lot of us right now.
Turgeon’s passion for “Learning to Fly” and its weary but ultimately optimistic vision are strongly evident. Tom Petty, who sadly passed away in October of 2017, would definitely approve of Richard Turgeon’s respectable treatment of the classic tune.
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