Paul Zollo
Encyclopedia
Paul Zollo is a singer, songwriter
, author
, journalist
and photographer.
, Paul Simon
, Randy Newman
, Laura Nyro
, Pete Seeger
, Leonard Cohen
, Neil Young
and Frank Zappa
. It has been called “the ultimate book about songwriting” and "the songwriter's bible," and is used as a textbook in songwriting courses in many universities, including USC, UCLA, and the Berklee School of Music.
The Ghosters released one self-titled album featuring Zollo's songs.
In 2000, he embarked on a solo career and released his first solo CD Orange Avenue, which features a duet with Art Garfunkel
on the song "Being In This World". In 2007 Zollo began working on his next solo album, which will be released by Trough Records, and has been performing around the world with The Zollo Group, featuring Billy Salisbury, Aaron Wolfson and Kirke Jan.
Zollo has also collaborated with many songwriters, including:
, Billboard
, Rolling Stone
, Musician
, Oxford Press, Playback
, Gorgeous, Boulevard
, Music Connection, Campus Circle and others.
In September 2004 Zollo was named Senior Editor of American Songwriter magazine headquartered in Nashville, though Zollo lives and works in Los Angeles.
He is also the co-founder, editor and chief photographer for Bluerailroad, an online magazine of the arts (www.bluerailroad.com). Bluerailroad features Zollo's interviews in their pure, unexpurgated form, as well as galleries of his photographs. It also features a poetry section edited by John Doe, short fiction by Robert Morgan Fisher, and shifting galleries of photography, poetry, essays on music and art, and much more.
, Costa Mesa and New York City
, including Cannibal Flower, the Infusion Gallery, Soho Dream, Nocturne, Valjenna, Memphis Café and Joe’s Diner. He has contributed frequent photo essays to Campus Circle magazine as well as portraits in American Songwriter. He has photographed many notable personalities, including Ringo Starr
, Graham Nash
, Brian Wilson
, Leiber & Stoller, Al Pacino
, Jon Bon Jovi
, Randy Newman
, Stephen Stills
, Larry Flynt
, David Crosby, Van Dyke Parks, Taylor Swift, Alice Cooper, Stephen Colbert, James Taylor
, Billy Beck
, Paris Hilton
, Rickie Lee Jones
, Michelle Phillips
, Micky Dolenz
, Amy O'Neill
, Claudia Rose, Aimee Mann
, John Doe
, Christina Linhardt, Peter Case
and others. He is presently at work on a book of portraits entitled Angeleno.
Presently he lives in Hollywood with his wife Leslie and his son, Joshua Diller Zollo.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and photographer.
Author
Paul Zollo is the author of several books, including several on the craft of song-writing. His book Songwriters On Songwriting ISBN 0306812657 has been expanded three times and features in-depth interviews with many of the world’s greatest songwriters, including Bob DylanBob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. It has been called “the ultimate book about songwriting” and "the songwriter's bible," and is used as a textbook in songwriting courses in many universities, including USC, UCLA, and the Berklee School of Music.
Musical career
Zollo is an accomplished songwriter and singer. He was the leader of the Hollywood band The Ghosters, who were named “The Best Unsigned Band in Los Angeles” in 1993 by the Los Angeles Free PressLos Angeles Free Press
The Los Angeles Free Press , also called “the Freep”, was among the most widely distributed underground newspapers of the 1960s. It is often cited as the first such newspaper...
The Ghosters released one self-titled album featuring Zollo's songs.
In 2000, he embarked on a solo career and released his first solo CD Orange Avenue, which features a duet with Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
on the song "Being In This World". In 2007 Zollo began working on his next solo album, which will be released by Trough Records, and has been performing around the world with The Zollo Group, featuring Billy Salisbury, Aaron Wolfson and Kirke Jan.
Zollo has also collaborated with many songwriters, including:
- Darryl PurposeDarryl PurposeDarryl Purpose is an American singer-songwriter folk musician, known for his narrative lyrics and fingerstyle guitar. Before becoming a professional musician, Purpose was a professional blackjack player and was known as one of the best in the world...
, with whom he wrote the Chavez Ravine song “Crooked Line”, the title song of one of Purpose’s albums. They’ve also written many other songs together, such as “Baltimore”, about the mysterious death of Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, “Koreatown”, “The Ghost of Crazy Horse", "California", and "Rutherford Hayes In The Morning". - Steve AllenSteve AllenSteve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
on the song “Blue Stars”. - Severin Browne on a song about L.A.’s beloved billboard queen, “Angelyne”.
- James Coberly Smith on a song about Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
and Bo DiddleyBo DiddleyEllas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
called “Muddy and Bo”. - pianist Bob MaloneBob MaloneBob Malone is a pianist, singer-songwriter, composer and arranger born in New Jersey.Bob Malone grew up in Milton, New Jersey, where he started piano lessons at nine – within a year he could play anything put in front of him – and dreamed of being a classical musician...
on “Flying Machine”. Malone also cut Zollo’s song “Halloween”, which has been released as a special holiday record.
Journalist
Zollo was the editor of SongTalk magazine for many years, and went on to become Managing Editor of Performing Songwriter magazine. He’s also contributed to many magazines, including VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Musician
Musician (magazine)
Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...
, Oxford Press, Playback
Playback (magazine)
Playback is a Canadian film, broadcasting and interactive media website owned by Brunico Communications. In May 2010, after 24 years of publication, Playback magazine stopped publishing its biweekly print edition....
, Gorgeous, Boulevard
Boulevard (magazine)
Boulevard magazine, published by St. Louis University, is an American literary magazine that publishes award-winning prose and poetry. Boulevard has been called "one of the half-dozen best literary journals" by Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman in The Philadelphia Inquirer.- Overview :Richard Burgin...
, Music Connection, Campus Circle and others.
In September 2004 Zollo was named Senior Editor of American Songwriter magazine headquartered in Nashville, though Zollo lives and works in Los Angeles.
He is also the co-founder, editor and chief photographer for Bluerailroad, an online magazine of the arts (www.bluerailroad.com). Bluerailroad features Zollo's interviews in their pure, unexpurgated form, as well as galleries of his photographs. It also features a poetry section edited by John Doe, short fiction by Robert Morgan Fisher, and shifting galleries of photography, poetry, essays on music and art, and much more.
Photography
Zollo is also a celebrated photographer – mostly known for his portraits – and has had his work displayed at galleries in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Costa Mesa and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, including Cannibal Flower, the Infusion Gallery, Soho Dream, Nocturne, Valjenna, Memphis Café and Joe’s Diner. He has contributed frequent photo essays to Campus Circle magazine as well as portraits in American Songwriter. He has photographed many notable personalities, including Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Leiber & Stoller, Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
, Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, Larry Flynt
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....
, David Crosby, Van Dyke Parks, Taylor Swift, Alice Cooper, Stephen Colbert, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Billy Beck
Billy Beck
Billy Beck was an American character actor.-Career:Beck has appeared in small roles since the 50's in such films as Irma la Douce , The Patsy , The Fortune Cookie , Nickelodeon , House , and the 1988 remake The Blob as the first victim of the title creature.-External links:...
, Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, Michelle Phillips
Michelle Phillips
Michelle Phillips is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She gained fame as a member of the 1960s group The Mamas & the Papas, and is the last surviving original member of the group.-Early life:...
, Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill is a performer and a former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award...
, Claudia Rose, Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
, John Doe
John Doe (disambiguation)
John Doe or Jane Doe is a name used for an anonymous person.John Doe may also refer to:* John Doe , an Italian comic book* John Doe , American singer, songwriter, actor, and poet...
, Christina Linhardt, Peter Case
Peter Case
Peter Case is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has had a wide-ranging career ranging from new wave music to folk rock to solo acoustic performance.-Early career:...
and others. He is presently at work on a book of portraits entitled Angeleno.
Personal life
His father Burt Zollo is also a writer, the author of three books (The Dollars & Sense of Public Relations, [McGraw Hill]; Prisoners, A Novel, [Chicago Academy Press] and State & Wacker, A Novel [iUniverse] and many essays and articles for magazines. A colleague of Hugh Hefner at Esquire magazine, he contributed to the first issues of Playboy under the pseudonym "Bob Norman," including the famous inaugural Marilyn Monroe issue.Presently he lives in Hollywood with his wife Leslie and his son, Joshua Diller Zollo.
External links
- Paul Zollo on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
- zollo on myspace
- online magazine bluerailroad.com