This expanded fourth edition of Songwriters on Songwriting includes ten new interviews--with Alanis Morissette, Lenny Kravitz, Lou Reed, and others. In these pages, sixty-two of the greatest songwriters of our time go straight to the source of the magic of songwriting by offering their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on their art. Representing almost every genre of popular music, from blues to pop to rock, here are the figures that have shaped American music as we know it.
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"If your bookshelf or wallet can only accommodate one book at this moment, it should be this one." -Cashbox -- Cashbox
About the Author
Paul Zollo, a singer-songwriter and the editor of SongTalk, has written for magazines such as Sing Out!, Acoustic Guitar, Musician, and more. He lives in Hollywood, California.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review from SING OUT magazine,
By A Customer
This review is from: Songwriters On Songwriting (Paperback)
By MICHAEL TEARSONPaul Zollo, himself a singer-songwriter , has assembled a mighty and important book here. He has gathered 52 interviews he conducted for SongTalk. The subjects are a virtual who's who of songwriters. Zollo has an obvious love of song and songmaking and a curiosity about the process that won't quit. These qualities are reflected in his interviewing. So, too, is Zollo's uncanny knack for putting his subjects at ease so they will open up to him and candidly reveal more than they might have expected to. He probes intelligently, asking questions that evoke true responses. I often found myself thinking how good his questioning is. He clearly does his homework so that he can display an encyclopedic knowledge of the artist's full career, often asking specifically about the damnedest, most obscure songs. Two pieces juxtaposed early in the book form a kind of core around which this collection revolves. These are lengthy interviews with first Bob Dylan and then Paul Simon. In each of these, Zollo shows how well he listens and responds in his questioning. Both interviews are tremendously revealing and rewarding. This collection is about just what it is singer-songwriters of all stripes do, plus the how, in the way their various processes work, and the why of their drive to create. Essential questions all. This is compelling, don't-you-dare-miss-it stuff for anybody who writes songs, and equally for anybody else who listens to songs and cares about them.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
open your head!! something to learn from every single entry.,
By Jeffrey J. Sanders "psychedelic tunesmith" (www.mountainmirrors.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Songwriters On Songwriting (Paperback)
I love this book. It really delves into the heart and soul of the songwriter and the idea that the songs don't come as much from themselves, but an unseen force which they are conductive channels to.... I started with the interviews with artists I'd known, like Carlos Santana and Paul Simon, and when I'd eventually gotten to the ones I'd never heard of is when the genius of this collection became more apparent. There is something beautiful and inspiring to be learned from everyone in this book.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An insight into the songwriting process,
By jg_music (CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Songwriters On Songwriting (Paperback)
The author interviews songwriters about their songwriting habits, attitudes, experiences and inspirations. Each songwriter has something unique to say. The interviews are educational, insightful, and occasionally inspiring. There are many interviews, so the book is a very good value for the price. This book tells you how songwriters think and feel. The focus is on intangible artistic creation, vs. mechanical songwriting techniques.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Pete Seeger's songs are some of the most heartfelt a country has heard, songs that seem to have been born with the earth because we grew up not only hearing them but singing them, songs such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "If I Had a Hammer." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rainbow sleeves, orange crate art, small blue thing, yellow railroad, finished melody, untrustworthy narrator, many songwriters, melody writer, wolf survive, other songwriters, many great songs, inner rhymes, special lyrics, lyrical ideas, favorite keys, meaningful songs, strong melody, great melody, good melody, writing songs, interesting song, wooden planes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Bob Dylan, Los Angeles, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Brian Wilson, Woody Guthrie, Steely Dan, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Talking Heads, Beach Boys, Hank Williams, San Francisco, Van Dyke, Van Heusen, Pete Seeger, Rickie Lee Jones, Neil Young, Burt Bacharach, John Coltrane, New Orleans, Take Five New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Pete Seeger's songs are some of the most heartfelt a country has heard, songs that seem to have been born with the earth because we grew up not only hearing them but singing them, songs such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "If I Had a Hammer." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rainbow sleeves, orange crate art, small blue thing, yellow railroad, finished melody, untrustworthy narrator, many songwriters, melody writer, wolf survive, other songwriters, many great songs, inner rhymes, special lyrics, lyrical ideas, favorite keys, meaningful songs, strong melody, great melody, good melody, writing songs, interesting song, wooden planes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Bob Dylan, Los Angeles, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Brian Wilson, Woody Guthrie, Steely Dan, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Talking Heads, Beach Boys, Hank Williams, San Francisco, Van Dyke, Van Heusen, Pete Seeger, Rickie Lee Jones, Neil Young, Burt Bacharach, John Coltrane, New Orleans, Take Five New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 15
books:
See all 15 books this book cites
24
books
cite this book:
See all 24 books citing this book
- This Land Is Your Land (Collection of Woody Guthrie Songs) by Woody Guthrie on page 10, and page 80
- The Man Who Sold The Moon by Robert A. Heinlein on page 158
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Bollingen Series, No. 17) by Joseph Campbell on page 414
- Paul Simon: There Goes Rhymin' Simon (Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel) by Paul Simon on page 89
- Beginning Songwriters Answer Book by Paul Zollo in Back Matter
See all 15 books this book cites
- Dylan's Visions of Sin by Christopher Ricks in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and page 57
- Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music by Mina Carson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader by Benjamin Hedin on page 208, and Back Matter
- A Simple Twist Of Fate: Bob Dylan And The Making Of Blood On The Tracks by Andy Gill on page 202, and Back Matter
- Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Thinking) (Popular Culture and Philosophy) by Peter Vernezze on page 164, and page 175
See all 24 books citing this book
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