Conversations with Tom Petty

by Paul Zollo, Jim Meskimen (Narrator)

Tom Petty has long been considered one of the great songwriters of American rock 'n' roll, as well as one of the key standard bearers of integrity in the music business. Conversations with Tom Petty is the first authorized book to focus solely on the life and work of the man responsible for some of the most memorable rock anthems of our generation, "American Girl", "Breakdown", "Refugee", "The Waiting", "Don't Come Around Here No More", "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin", "Runnin' Down a Dream", "You Don't Know How It Feels", "Mary Jane's Last Dance", and many others. Author Paul Zollo conducted a series of in-depth discussions with Tom about his career, with special focus on his songwriting. The conversations are reprinted here with little or no editorial comment and represent a unique perspective on Tom's entire career.

Originally published in 2005 (also by Omnibus Press), Tom's wife Dana has fully approved this updated edition, which retains its foreword by Petty, adds additional interview material, an expanded introduction as well as additional photos from Petty’s last ever live performance. This is, perhaps, as close as you can get to an autobiography by the great man.

Audible Audio

Published July 7, 2020

About the author

Paul Zollo is a singer-songwriter, author, and music journalist. Since 1987, he's dedicated himself to interviewing the world's greatest songwriters. From 1987 to 1997, he was the editor of SongTalk, the journal of the National Academy of Songwriters. He's currently the senior editor for American Songwriter. Born in Chicago, he studied English and Music at Boston University and is the author of The Beginning Songwriter's Answer Book, Songwriters on Songwriting, and Hollywood Remembered.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

If someone random asked me if I was into music, I would definitely say yes. And I am - I rarely watch TV and usually have music on in the background while I am hanging out at the house. But I know that there is a whole other level of music fan out there that is way more into all of it - and that is not me. I don't read setlists and know who is playing with whom and who was a guest on what album and listen to live shows I didn't attend. And then there is another who talks about the chord progressions and the keys and the amps and, well, things I don't think about. This book is definitely more for the latter groups than me, even though I really did enjoy it. The first section on "Life" was the most interesting to me and I learned so much about how Tom Petty became Tom Petty - as well as super interesting trivia that I had no idea about. The second section devoted to a breakdown of each song got a little more in the weeds for me. I know that music devotees are going to love that section, but I won't say I didn't do a lot of skimming. And the last section of other articles and reviews rehashed a lot of what was in the first section. For anyone who wants to absorb every little bit of Petty lore, this is the book. And for the most part, it is in his own words, with little editing considering it is conversational. But for someone looking for a bio with editing for a "good read", this might not be the best bet. It definitely has its audience and I do appreciate I read it, but the last third was a bit of a slog for someone who isn't *that* into the music. But I love that it inspired me to put on his music while I was reading to try to hear what the author and Petty were talking about - I usually failed. But it was entertaining!