If you already have read Zollo's Songwriters on Songwriting then you will not be surprised that this volume of over 650 pages of interviews with leading songwriters doesn't deviate from the successful model introduced in his first book. If you haven't bought the former then I'd suggest buying both as they complement each other well. Songwriters On Songwriting: Revised And Expanded
When I first read the list of interviewees, I was slightly disappointed to read that there were some songwriters from the first volume included again including Brian Wilson, Rickie Lee Jones, Paul Simon and Randy Newman. Rest assured these are new interviews but personally I would have preferred the space to be given over to alternate songwriters who hadn't featured in his previous book. Actually across the two books there could have been more female songwriters and more from diverse backgrounds, maybe that is a reflection of the failings of the music industry itself.
The scope is as you might expect with folk, rock n roll, Broadway, Jazz, Country, Motown, Pop and Rock well represented from the likes of Lieber and Stoller, Loretta Lynn, Herbie Hancock, Kris Kristofferson, Bernie Taupin, Bryan Ferry, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, Richard Thompson and Sia. That is just the tip of the iceberg as there are 46 interviews in all.
As in the first volume you will learn a lot from these interviews and there are plenty of albums and songs you can then listen to either after or alongside reading this book.
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