I debuted this questoin at a party on Satuday night. Most of my friends went with Petty, to the extent that I was beginnng to think it was landslide and not worth a post. But then I got my first vote for Winwood, and I decided to stick with it.
Petty is huge, between the Heartbreakers, FreeFallin', WildFlowers, and the Travelling Wilburys, he's had a long string of hits and critical acclaim. At the same time, tho, I can't help but think that his early career he was somewhat dismissed by critics cause he wasn't really defining a sound. He was kind of slogging it out, writing lots of good songs, but not really EXCITING a movement. Bands don't really sound like Petty, they are either Brit Pop/Cali Pop/Punk/Southern Rock or whatever, and Petty didn't really start or even evolve any of those genres.
Winwood, meanwhile, has the advantage of the early mover. He was part of the 60's scene, the that which brought us all of the pop of the 70s and 80s. Blind Faith, Traffic...and then when he made his solo comeback in the 80s, the DJs referred to him with a kind of reverance reserved for icons. So, even tho he seems to have disappeared in the last 20 years, I'm giving him a shot based on his larger-than-life influence on culture and music. What do you think-- any takers for Winwood?
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It depends on what the definition of "bigger" is.
Steve Winwood is bigger in terms of shaping pop/rock music during it's spawning. He was more experimental during the Spencer Davis Band, Blind Faith, and Traffic days than Petty has ever mustered.
Petty, on the other hand, is like a hit generating machine and is certainly a more recognizable name today to the average person. Petty also is "bigger" from the whole Americana perspective. He, like Bruce Springsteen, has successfully captured the snapshot emotions (refugee, american girl, free fallin', and on and on and on) of growing up in America in his pop songs.
I'd have to say Petty is bigger. It hurts to admit that because I believe Winwood is a huge, underrated talent.
Winwood was only 15 when he first joined the Spencer Davis band. That's impressive. Also, in the later years of Traffic, like for example, the John Barleycorn album, check the credits on that album and you'll see that winwood WAS Traffic at that point. He wrote all of the songs and play almost all of the instruments.
Arc of a Diver is an awesome record, and never really got the recognition it deserves, in my opinion. But after that, he sort pumped out some pop albums that I never really warmed up to.
Now, Tom Petty, while not my favorite artist, is unquestionably huge. Once he found his style and his place in the market he just cranked out the hits. Throughout the 80s, 90s, and still now. He still sells a lot of records, and has name recognition. As a result he's a big influence on the culture. He also took advantage of the MTV revolution.
Petty is bigger. There, I said it.
OK, so Barleycorn was not toward the end of the traffic era, it was released in 1970. The made several ablums after that.
But I stand by my assertion that it was for the most part a Winwood album.
Petty!!!!
Winwood is better - but Petty is bigger.
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