Books – Page 8 – The Daily Opinion

The Lost World

A couple of weeks ago, a well-thumbed copy of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic 1912 novel The Lost World caught my eye on a bookshelf. Having read and enjoyed at one time or another similar tales of adventure by the likes of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs, I took it down and indulged myself. I’ve had great pleasure in reading the majority of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories so therefore I felt certain I was going to enjoy this too. And enjoy it I did. The mix of Victorian characters, exotic adventure and prehistoric fantasy all written with that turn-of-the-century eloquence made it an eminently pleasurable page-turner.

Naturally, upon completion it led me to check out the original filmed version of the story which in turn led me to a comparison with a contemporary one. The first, directed by Harry Hoyt, was made in 1925 and the date of this alone is impressive, not least because this was still the silent era of cinema. One can almost imagine those early studio bosses scratching their heads and wondering how on earth do you take prehistoric beasts off of the page and bring them to life before a paying audience.

The answer was, of course, stop motion special effects and this was the first feature film to use such a technique courtesy of, in this instance, Willis O’Brien. O’Brien was a pioneer of this style of special effects and would become responsible for some of the best-known images in the history of cinema, his best known work perhaps being the greatest monster movie of them all, King Kong (1933). For audiences of the time, it must have been incredible to see dinosaurs moving about on screen when all they had ever seen of them before were drawings on a page. The film itself is significant for this reason and overall it’s worth a viewing not just to see how far cinema has come since those early days but also to see how creative these filmmakers were with the resources they then had.

In the film, Wallace Beery plays the brusque Professor Challenger who leads a group of British explorers into the Amazon in order to prove to the world that a land of prehistoric creatures exists on an isolated plateau. The South American jungle is depicted by set pieces of rainforest and river with the occasional snake dangling from a tree and one or two cutaways to stock footage of a snarling jaguar. The prehistoric plateau is more of the same but with models of distant smoking volcanos and of dinosaurs roaming around or fighting in that uniquely disjointed way that is stop motion animation. One panoramic scene of dozens of dinosaurs fleeing an erupting volcano was created on a tabletop that was 150 ft long by 75 ft wide!

By today’s standards it is, of course, laughably crude but then in this digital age where everything from men made out of liquid metal to flying vampires can be brought to life so convincingly, we’ve all become a little immune to the impossible.

The second adaptation of this story I watched was the 2001 BBC TV movie starring Bob Hoskins as Professor Challenger and boy! what a difference 75 years make. This version was obviously always going to be more accessible and with the special effects taken care of by the same team that produced the hugely popular Walking with Dinosaurs series (indeed, some creatures were used for both programmes), it was far more watchable and more entertaining entirely.

But is it as important a film as the earlier one? No, definitely not because as artistry in film goes, it is no better than average. In 1998 the Library of Congress selected the 1925 film for preservation in the US National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”, something that the BBC version will never be deemed. Perhaps one of the reasons it is less significant is that we all recognise the creatures to be computer generated, after all, ever since Steven Spielberg made Jurassic Park in ’93 (a film that will surely gain inclusion to the registry at some point), we’ve got used to seeing them this way. And let’s face it, they look about as real as we’d ever want them to

Let’s just suppose for a moment that Spielberg had dreamed up a hoax (perhaps a ‘market experiment’ would be a better term) sometime before the 93′ release of Jurassic Park and that hoax involved a crackpot professor with an outlandish story. This professor made headlines because he wanted to tell the world about some fantastic trip he had just returned from and he then proceeded to show the world footage of prehistoric beasts he had reputedly taken while there, footage which was actually pioneering computer-generated imagery of dinosaurs Spielberg had recently perfected. Would the world have been fooled? After all, we’d never seen anything like it before had we? Isn’t it just possible we would have reacted in the same way as Sam Neil’s Dr. Grant and his party when first encountering the Brachiosaurus in the movie – i.e. pinch me, I must be dreaming.

It’s hard to imagine now but in 1922, Arthur Conan Doyle showed a test reel of Willis O’Brien’s work to a meeting of The Society of American Magicians, one of whom was none other than Harry Houdini. The footage – which Doyle craftily refused to discuss the origins of – depicted a Stegosaurus, a family of Triceratops and an attack by an Allosaurus. The next day, the New York Times ran a front page article saying, “(Conan Doyle’s) monsters of the ancient world, or of the new world which he has discovered in the ether, were extraordinarily lifelike. If fakes, they were masterpieces”. You get my drift? If those magicians were fooled by something they’d never seen before, couldn’t we be? Or has the coming of the digital age, where any visual representation is possible and incredibly lifelike, robbed us of that mystique of the unknown? UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster – even if (for the sake of this argument) it were genuine, would even the clearest of film footage convince us nowadays?

There’s no denying special effects evolved enormously between The Lost World of 1922 and Jurassic Park of 1993 and in terms of lifelikeness these two examples are at opposing ends of the visual spectrum. But my God! didn’t it take a long time to get from one end to the other? The stop motion technique was refined and better filmed perhaps with the passing of decades (Ray Harryhausen will forever be a favourite of many) but it took 70 years for any groundbreaking improvement. And then, BAM! with the help of computers, suddenly we’re seeing monsters that don’t twitch when they move, suddenly we’re seeing dinosaurs that actually breath, that flow with their movements, that look, for want of a better adjective, REAL. And all this creativity and invention simply to make our visual experiences more lifelike and thrilling.

But where is the future? Most special effects are virtual reality now – that is, what we see on screen is virtually real – but it can never be ‘really’ real because it’s on screen and consequently not reality so again, I ask, where is the future? Where do filmmakers go from here? Let’s all be honest now and admit that apart from involuntarily ducking your head out of the way of some apparent incoming object, 3D doesn’t really add that much to the cinematic experience yet. Haptic technology such as that found in flight simulators and certain video games which simulate motion to the user by applying forces and vibrations is quite exciting but whether it will ever have a place in cinema is debatable. And yet there’s bound to be a continued progression – it’s simply the way of things. But who can see the road ahead?

Personally, ever since Jean Luc Picard and his crew occupied the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek The Next Generation, I’ve been looking forward to the arrival of the Holodeck. Surely, that’s the future right there. A room projecting an optical reality all around us in which we can interact with simulated people and objects and move around on a virtual treadmill. That’s got to be fun. Sadly though, if that’s going to take another 70 years to become fact, I’ll never know because I’d have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Book Review: Damaged Goods by Alexandra Allred

Just because this book opens with a disgruntled wife forcing a bloody tampon into the hand of her husband, does not necessarily mean it is a book just for women, although some might be put off by the opening. Damaged Goods follows the life of Joanna Lucas, a well-spoken divorcee who moves to Marcus, Texas to begin a life she can finally be proud of. Unfortunately for her, this town full of possibilities is actually home to the worst case of pollution in the US and a whole host of other issues that are set to make life hard for her, including rape, arson, and a beer-guzzling emu named Eduardo. Amongst this mess she finds herself adopted by a group of outspoken and eternally youthful women who bring out the true feistiness of her nature.
This is not a book to gloss over topical issues in favour of a happy ending, but neither is it didactic in tone. All too often if an author chooses to tackle complex issues you find yourself feeling sometimes enlightened, but rarely entertained and quite often bored. Allred combines her clever narrative techniques with continually evolving conflicts that keep the reader turning each page. Behind all the plot twists, one-legged Lion lovers and the beer-seeking emu there are some very real lessons. Allred makes you face up to the fact that if you want to see change then you have to do something about it. Sitting back and pretending nothing is happening makes you just as guilty as those causing the damage. She also shows the power of female friendship, without painting all male characters in a bad light, which is refreshing.
At times you are given a lot of information about new characters, and that can be a little hard to retain, but this is only at the start. Overall this is a complex story about friendship, politics and free-thinking that will keep you hanging on long after you’ve read the final page.

Book Review: Kiss the Sky – DC Gallin

Kiss the Sky is the story of three beautiful young women learning to be true to themselves in the drug-infused haze of London in the 90s. Claudia, the heroine of the book, is an impulsive artist determined to carve her own path in life using anything and everything to inspire her painting. She is joined by Paloma and Q and together the three women learn to embrace the London buzz through their creative instincts and sexual freedom.

Gallin’s novel is more of an experience than a bedtime read and with each twist of fate that Claudia faces you are drawn further in. Written in the first person from Claudia’s perspective, there is something very honest and real about the narrative. Kiss the Sky is the perfect insight into the creative mind with no detail spared. We are given everything from beauty regimes to the birthing experience and it is all linked back into her art.

Many reviews have suggested that Gallin has the marvellous ability of transporting people right back to this time of hidden raves and psychedelics, but for a child of the 90s such as myself who has grown up in a very different world, Gallin creates a vision that I can just as easily relate to and be inspired by. The sex is raw and free and yet the consequences are painfully real. It can work as both an inspiration and a lesson learned.

This is a story that goes beyond portraying the wild parties, copious drugs and sex with strangers and Gallin portrays the true conversation of the 90s. Everyone is desperate to make a difference and the dole is ‘today’s patron of the arts’. This is a novel that is greatly needed in today’s society as it teaches the reader of a world without money, where happiness is still accessible and creativity is more satisfying than a year of one night stands. In the words of Claudia’s father: ‘Why so much luggage for a journey so short?’

The drugs are enlightening, the sex is arousing and the friendships are ever-lasting. I’m really keen to read her next novel, set in India, and that alone is the sign of a good writer.

Get your copy from Amazon at the following link:

Book Review: Ghostwriter – Lissa Bryan

*Author Lissa Bryan will be answering questions on October 11, and there will be a giveaway of Ghostwriter for a random commenter. Click the sidebar link on the 11th to take part.*

A good book is about getting caught up in a story and forsaking reality for a few precious moments. With its combination of intrigue, romance and a truly idyllic setting Ghostwriter ticks all the boxes. My first piece of advice would be to avoid reading the blurb and delve right in, without expectations or knowledge of the plot. From the outset Bryan captures the imagination and you’ll quickly find that all awareness of the real world has gone.

Ghostwriter is the story of a work-weary English Graduate, keen to make her mark in the world of journalism. Lumbered with the dull task of ghostwriting a biography for an idiotic politician with minimal information or inspiration, Sara is running out of ideas and funds. Luck, or fate, offers her the chance to live on a quiet island in the cottage of her literary hero. Snapping up the chance she quickly becomes consumed with the history of the cottage and the traumatic circumstances of its owner’s death. She finds herself transported to events in WWI with a troubled ambulance driver as her companion and a deep desire to help heal both of them of their romantic scarring.

Sara is like any graduate and the problems she faces at the start are universal. Perhaps it is this harsh reality that really grounds the reader and helps them follow Sara unquestioningly through her journey of discovery. Any strong sceptics out there might not enjoy this novel for what it is: an escape into the world of writing and romance. It is not realistic, but it doesn’t have to be and wouldn’t work if it was. However, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to relate to it. Anyone who came across an unknown novel at a young age and swiftly fell in love with that author and everything they wrote will be able to appreciate Ghostwriter and get lost amongst its pages, just like Sara did.

Book Review: 50 Shades of Grey – E L James

Everyone is talking about it and even those who haven’t read it know exactly what to expect. Mummy-porn, Clit-Lit, whatever you choose to call it, the result is the same. A naughty novel with a simple story. The most frustrating part about this new craze is that from a literary point of view the book is terrible. Repetitive phrases, unbelievable characters and poor use of a thesaurus! Even from an erotic fiction point of view it is weak. I’ve read many Mills and Boon books that are much more captivating, but at the end of the day that isn’t the point. While the trilogy may be infuriating to an English student, for many people across the globe it has awoken something that was long forgotten.

Aside from the content itself, everything about this trilogy has caught the attention of millions worldwide. Starting out as Twilight fanfiction, many people were drawing comparisons between the two love stories before they even knew of its origins. This could be partly to blame for the immense publicity that 50 Shades has achieved. It is the perfect example of just how valuable word-of-mouth can be. Women of all ages have been talking about this book, with many finding themselves unable to resist reading it. While some unwitting readers may have picked it up thinking it was an innocent love story, it is surprising how many did not cast it aside as crude, but used it as inspiration to try out different things in the bedroom.

The BDSM content has been criticised as misleading, but it is very much an introductory lesson, not a hardcore demonstration of all things bondage. The increase in Ann Summers sales of the more adventurous variety of toys is certainly a tribute to the success of the story. So with all this in mind, it is difficult to decipher what the real definition of a good book is. In terms of literary skill and the criticism it has received it is certainly nothing to write home about. However, when a book rejuvenates so many people’s sex lives, opens their eyes to new experiences and new forms of literature, can it really be called a bad book?

Paul Zollo Interview

Paul Zollo is an acclaimed songwriter, writer and photographer. Having interviewed some of the biggest and best names in music and writing one of the premier books on songwriting, and amidst numerous musical, writing and photography pursuits, he took the time to answer some of our questions about his career so far.

Tell us a little about yourself

Born in Chicago, raised in Wilmette, Illinois, went to Boston University in the great city of Boston. I love music, Charlie Chaplin, riding my bike. Have lived in Los Angeles since 1982 and I love it. Am married to Leslie Diller Zollo, who is an artist, and we have one child – our son Joshua Zollo. We also have six cats.

You are both an accomplished writer and musician; your band The Ghosters was named The Best Unsigned Band in Los Angeles in 1993 and you have since recorded solo albums including a duet with Art Garfunkel. Would you say you are a musician or writer first and foremost, and why?

I am a songwriter. Writing songs – and singing and recording them – is the most important thing in my life. That being said, I love the other work I do – writing and photography. It’s all part of the same thing, creative
expression, and all creative work, I find, leads me to do more. Taking pictures is great for my songwriting, and it’s a joy. So I’m happy doing all of it, but nothing matters more to me than songwriting.

Did you always have ambitions in music and writing, or has it just turned out that way for you?

Since the summer I turned 11, all I ever wanted was to be a singer-songwriter. I wrote my first song that summer of 1969, and never stopped. At that time songwriting seemed like the most fun and the most magical pursuit there is. Prior to that I liked the idea of being an astronaut – primarily for the weightlessness in outer space, which seemed like a lot of fun. But I got over that. And to this day I love songwriting with the same passion I had then, and I’m really glad I am still a songwriter, that I didn’t lose that somewhere. I became a music writer when I moved to L.A. in 1982 just to pay my bills and try to afford being a musician. I had done some journalistic writing before then, in college. Did an interview with Woody Guthrie’s wife Marjorie Guthrie in college, just so I could meet her. I went to work for her in NYC right after college, but just briefly, and mostly so I could be with Woody’s notebooks and crayons and pencils. Marjorie was a wonderful lady, and I was so happy to get to know her.

First job in L.A. was in a Hollywood recording studio first and while there I got my first stories published. Also had a job writing radio dramas and radio documentaries, sort of. In ’87 the National Academy of Songwriters in the heart of Hollywood hired me to be editor of what was a newsletter then, a calendar of events. It was called SongTalk. It was on newsprint and with few ads – so we had a lot of space to do stories. The director of NAS was a great guy named Kevin Odegard, a musician who performed with Dylan, and a man of real vision. He had somehow invited many of the world’s greatest songwriters to become Gold
members and donate money.

So I asked him if we could invite these people – people such as Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Prince, Burt Bacharach – to do interviews. He said I could try. So I did, and for my first issue I had Frank Zappa! Also Livingston & Evans, the legendary writers of “Que Sera” and “Silver Bells” and other great songs.

And it went from there. My second issue had Randy Newman, who I adore and am proud to say has become a friend. I have interviewed him many times since then. But that first one – we connected well cause I know his work so well, inside and out, and so revere him – it became a wonderful interview, to this day one of the best I’ve ever done. The industry really noticed it. It put us on the map. And from there I interviewed so many legends of songwriting – Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Harry Nilsson, Pete Seeger, Sammy Cahn, Willie Dixon, Laura Nyro.

The list goes on. And it’s an intentionally diverse list, in terms of genre and generation, because the ruling idea was always based on Pete Seeger’s quote to me, “Songwriters are links in a chain.” The understanding that although the industry segregates songwriters into separate genres and separate bins – so as to market them – that all songwriters are connected, building on the work of what came before. That regardless of genre or era, all these people are doing the same thing – combining language and music to create songs. From the start I always intended to collect these interviews into a book. Songwriters On Songwriting was an idea I had for many years before it was realized, and then it was published in a small version with Writer’s Digest books before first before being expanded and then again by Da Capo Books, NYC.

One look at your accomplishments in the past 20 years and people could consider you one of the most prolific creative people ever, with envious achievements in many fields – the ability to work with Art Garfunkel in one area and then compile a book with interviews of such people as Paul Simon and Neil Young in Songwriters on Songwriting is not something most
people have the fortune to do. What do you think it is that has enabled you to accomplish these things, beyond hard work?

That’s very kind of you to say. The only answer is persistence. And hard work, yes. I’m glad from your perspective it seems like a chain of unbroken accomplishments, whereas I’m very aware, of course, of all the things that didn’t work out, the interviews I didn’t get, the duets I wasn’t able to sing. But it is very rewarding to see the work expand – and to matter – after all these years.

In terms of getting great interviews, hard work and persistence both paid off in that I always worked hard on each interview, doing an intense amount of research into the work and wisdom of each songwriter. So that when I went into each interview, the subject knew of my knowledge of and reverence for their work, and that elevated the conversations. Some songwriters, like Paul Simon and Laura Nyro, I knew their work from a lifetime of knowing and studying their work inside out. But it took me years to convince either to do an interview. But when Simon did, we really connected – and we continued the interview in NY and L.A. at first – and then he invited me to write liner notes for his first boxed set in 1994 – and so I got to know him, and interview him many times. I just interviewed him last year for his most recent album.
I also had the remarkable experience of playing him some of my songs, in his apartment, a few years back. He was pretty critical!

Similarly with the great Laura Nyro, one of the world’s most inspirational and beautiful artists, she resisted for a long time – I think because she was afraid my question would be “What happened to you – you used to be so great?!” Whereas my questions were “How did you write that song? It is a miracle.” And so when she realized how much I loved her, and how well I knew her work, we had an amazing talk, and she used parts of it for her song book and her boxed set as well. So it was hard work that led to the interviews becoming as good as they could be – Tom Petty said I would come “ridiculously prepared” which I liked
– and that, in turn, led to other great songwriters knowing I would do a good job, and consenting to do an interview.

As for dueting with Art Garfunkel, that was a dream come true unlike anything ever in my life. I got to know Artie from interviewing him several times, and not only is he one of the planet’s greatest singers – a genius
with harmony singing, really – he’s a very very smart man, very funny, a poet. He’s more than most people know, I think. And he very kindly agreed to do the duet with me – and did it in Hollywood at the studio on Hollywood Boulevard where I was recording. And he could have done the whole thing fast and be done in 30 minutes. Instead he spent four hours working on it, crafting harmony parts for each verse. He brought
such love to it, it blew me away. To this day when I hear it, it just kills me. It’s on my song “Being In This World,” a song influenced by the beautiful books of John Fante. And Artie’s part on it is so beautiful.
I am presently working on a new album, my first for Trough Records, to be called Universal Cure. It will be out in October of this year. And happy to say the great Terre Roche – of the Roches – sings a duet on my song “Maggie.” Terre actually sang with Paul Simon a few times too and also on Robert Fripp’s Exposure. And she did a gorgeous job on this. Like Artie, she’s just one of those miracle harmony singers. And also a very sweet, generous person – who put a lot of time into it.

Also I have Tomas Ulrich on cello on that song – he is a brilliant cellist, called ‘the Miles Davis of cello’ – he also played on the song with Artie. And fantastic musicians throughout like Mike Baird, Bob Malone, Billy
Salisbury, Aaron Wolfson, Chad Watson, and beautiful harmonies by the very great Earl Grey and Lisa Johnson, who are currently in The Zollo Band.

Songwriters on Songwriting has been called “the ultimate book about songwriting” and is used as a textbook in courses in such universities as UCLA and Berklee. What gave you the idea to write such a book?

To be honest, the first idea came from a book by Bill Flanagan called Written In My Soul. A book of interviews with songwriters. Bill used to be editor of Musician magazine – and thanks to him I used to do a lot of
writing for Musician, which was a thrill as it was one of the best American music mags ever. Bill went onto VH-1 and other great stuff – a very fine writer and thinker. But not a songwriter, so his interviews didn’t get
into the depth of songwriting process I yearned for. So when I got the job as editor of SongTalk, I made a big list of all the songwriters I wanted to interview. Some, as mentioned, were already Gold members of NAS Many great songwriters were not – but through my work, many of them joined, such as Yoko Ono, who after I did a cover story on became a member – and also donated a lot of money. Of all these people, Yoko remains perhaps the most generous. I’d say she is the most misunderstood songwriter I have ever met. People ascribe dark motives to her life and history – which is so so far from the truth. John Lennon loved her with good reason!
So I made this big list and very gradually – over about 10 years in that job – I interviewed many on my list. Writer’s Digest books of Cincinnati asked me to do a book for them called The Beginning Songwriter’s Answer Book. I agreed to do it if they would do Songwriters On Songwriting. Which they did. So I did the first version of the book with them, a pretty small version, with only about 20 interviews. Subsequently, I signed with Da Capo Books in New York to do a new version of it, and following that we did another expanded version which came out in 2000. I did interview most of the songwriters on my list – but there are still a few I have yet to interview, despite much trying over the years – so the work goes on. I am Senior Editor with American Songwriter mag right now – and my own web magazine is Bluerailroad (www.bluerailroad.com) where the work is published until being in the next volume.

You have been fortunate enough to interview such prestigious and influential songwriters as Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. How did you decide who to approach for interviewing and what prompted this venture?

I approached those songwriters who influenced and impacted my own life. And then those who I didn’t know as well personally but I know they had been impactful over the years. My main criteria was and is to celebrate those songwriters who have written work which lasts, work which has sustained over the years. If you write one song like that which lasts – which matters, which people love even after the season of its arrival – that is important. And if you have done that many times, as have all of these songwriters, it’s miraculous, really. I happen to love a lot of music – I love Pete Seeger and Frank Zappa and Dylan and Brubeck – and Sinatra – there’s a big range, and as I said, it’s all connected by this singular pursuit of songwriting. Then as editor of SongTalk – and from there I was with Performing Songwriter mag for a while and now American Songwriter mag – I got pitched a lot of stuff from record companies. So in addition to all these stories with legendary songwriters in my book, I have done countless stories on bands and songwriters that most people never heard of, or didn’t last. A lot of people I wrote about I did think would last – and have been surprised sometimes by which careers spark and soar – and which ones don’t.
I met and wrote about a lot of famous songwriters long before they became known – such as Jewel, Tori Amos, Katy Perry, Joan Osborne, Siedah Garrett, Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard – and it’s been fascinating to see which ones become big – some huge – and some not at all. So I’ve written many more stories and interviews than the ones which are in the book. For that, I had to choose what I considered the most influential
and impactful of all these songwriters.

Have you interviewed everyone you have tried to talk to, or have you suffered many rejections?

No, I have not interviewed everyone I would like to. Not close. There are several which have been on the top of the list for years, but for whatever reason, it’s been impossible to ever arrange an interview. Sometimes it is all set and then is cancelled. It’s frustrating and I don’t like to linger on it. That being said, it is a great joy when I finally get to interview someone I have wanted to for many years. It is hardly ever the songwriter themselves who has anything to do with it – it’s their gate-keepers – managers and publicists. But I never give up. Very happy to say I interviewed Chrissie Hynde – took me forever – and also Patti Smith recently. Both brilliant people and great interviews – but took forever. Also Leiber & Stoller – and recently Don McLean! Also James Taylor, Stephen Stills, John Mellencamp. And the very great Matisyahu, who I adore.
So the others I won’t name here, but I won’t give up on trying – cause I want them in Songwriters On Songwriting, Vol. II.

Songwriters… in particular has been expanded a few times already, and you have since interviewed more people. Do you think there will ever be a final version, or will you keep updating it for as long as musicians agree to share their opinions with you?

We updated it as much as we could – just over 700 pages. So now as mentioned I’m working on Volume II, which has been in the works for some time. When that is done, that will be it. I do have other books I am working on.

Of all the people you have interviewed, who was your favourite – for whatever reason – and is there anyone on your wish list for a future interview or collaboration?

I truly can’t name just one. So many amazing experiences for me. I have so idolized, admired and respected these folks for so long, it’s a thrill unlike any other to be able to sit down with them and ask questions. Dylan was maybe the most exciting of all – but Paul Simon was amazing, as was Leonard Cohen and not to mention Zappa, Pete Seeger. Randy. Becker & Fagen. Going into John and Yoko’s home to talk to Yoko at the Dakota, wow. Driving around the hills of L.A. with Harry Nilsson listening to demos of him and Lennon. I could go on and on. All of these have been very meaningful and extraordinary; I’ve tried to get that across in the intros, the texture of those times. In my Dylan intro I put it in terms I was thinking in, seeing Bob Dylan’s guitar, Bob Dylan’s moccasins. And sitting there with him – as I wrote – to me it felt not unlike sitting with Shakespeare, knowing the impact and breadth of this one man’s work on our lives, our culture, our history.

The two main names on my list I have been trying to set to forever is Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. Make that three names! I have met all of them – and Joni even agreed at one point to do an interview – and I am a thorough expert on all three, and would SO love the chance – also Paul McCartney. Four! McCartney too I have met – and have tried hard for a real interview for a long time – so the pursuit persists. I never give up.

Your writing extends beyond talking about songs and musicians, and aside from your editor roles for magazines and your contributions to such magazines as Rolling Stone and Variety, you have also written a novel entitled Sunset and Cahuenga. Do you have any plans for more novels, or books that deviate from your passion for music?

Sunset & Cahuenga is a novel based on my true – and truly crazy – experience working in a Hollywood recording studio at that title location in the 80s. Not sure I’ll ever write another novel again. It remains unpublished.

I also wrote Hollywood Remembered, which is an oral and narrative history of Hollywood – and more. I love Hollywood and its history – and so this was mostly a non-musical book – although I have chapters on Else Blangsted – who was a legendary music editor for films, as well as David Raksin, who was a great film composer and worked with Chaplin.

I do have plans for several more books that are musical – which isn’t the question I know – but similar to the book I did with Tom Petty, Conversations with Tom Petty, I am planning to do similar books with Paul
Simon, Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones, John Hiatt. These books are kind of under-way in that I have interviewed each several times; I could put out a Simon book now, but won’t yet.

Also working on a documentary about John Prine presently which will be very great – and hoping to do a book with him as well. For a long time – six years now – I have been working on a book of my
photographic portraits which will be called Angeleno. It will have portraits of every kind of person who lives here, which is every kind of person alive, really – the very rich and famous, the homeless, and everyone
inbetween. I have yet to get a publishing deal for this one, but I am dedicated to this book being what I want it to be, and though it’s not yet in the world, I can see that it will be. And I am excited by it.

In addition to your music and writing, your photography has been displayed at galleries in New York and Los Angeles, you have photographed more celebrities than most people could mention, and you are working on a photograph book now. How do you find the time to do so much work in multiple areas?

Well, I don’t have a daily commute, and I don’t talk on the phone much. So there is a lot of time in each day, and as the years pass, the work accumulates and it seems the artist has been working all the time! People
think this about Woody Allen, because he’s so prolific. A movie every year. But as he always explains, that leaves him plenty of time to go to a basketball game, or out for dinner or a movie. It’s just about dedication,
about keeping it going. I wish I was more productive, and am endlessly aware of what I haven’t finished or accomplished. There’s a long way to go. But I am very happy that it appears that I am doing a superhuman amount of work. I’m not, really.

What music, books and photography does Paul Zollo enjoy on his downtime, when not creating his own projects?

I read mostly non-fiction, and for about the last seven months, I read only books about Elvis. Both because I was writing a song about him (“Elvis in Aurora”) but also because I get obsessed with certain subjects, and want to read everything I can. Of which Peter Guralick’s two books on Elvis were by far the best, great books.

Right now I am reading Miles Davis’ autobiography and really enjoying it. I’ve been reading poetry by Phillip Larkin also. My son got me a book on the making of The Wizard of Oz for Father’s Day which I loved, it was great.

Musically I am really into Matisyahu right now – I think he’s doing things nobody else is doing – and his work is just extraordinary. I interviewed him again for the second time recently – and have seen him in concert a few times – and I adore everything about what he does. His new album is Sparkseeker with the song “Sunshine” for his son, which is my favorite song of this summer of 2012.

I’ve also been listening a lot to Warren Zevon. Met him but never interviewed him, and have gone through a true obsession with his music. Just can’t get enough of it. Through every chapter of his career, his songs were so strong and great. And in that place where I like to write, his content is unexpected and delightful. Writing songs nobody else ever wrote – about stuff nobody else touched – which to me is the ultimate. I tire of music eventually, and yet I find I do not tire of his songs – I always love them and want to hear them. My son, too, he loves Zevon. And also Matis.

Really loved Amy Winehouse – and also Mark Ronson, who produced her – his two albums are two of my favorite albums ever.

Listening to a lot of John Prine too, as I am working on a movie about him. And always in my iPod are my faves – Dylan, Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Randy Newman, Beck, Pretenders, Mose Allison. Steely Dan for sure. LOVE Steely Dan. And many more. Just reviewed a new album by Robert Morgan Fisher – Notes For a Novel – that is very great.

Photographically – I have always loved Diane Arbus – and have been very inspired and motivated by her approach and ideas and her work. I also really love Robert Frank and Weegee.

If you had to pick just one creative outlet for the rest of your life, what would you choose and why?

Songwriting. Nothing to me is more captivating, inspiring and exciting than writing songs. Photography is a very close second. Songwriting is harder for me – it takes way more brain and heart and soul. It takes a lot. But to write a song that you love, that you feel is great, that you want to sing every time you perform, nothing’s better than that. Nothing moves me as much in my life as music – songs, primarily – that great intersection of words and music. So to be a part of that world – that’s all I’ve ever wanted – and I have no doubt I’ll be writing songs for my whole life. I sure hope so.