Conversations With Tom Petty

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 21: Tom Petty—long seen as 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—has signed a publishing contract with Omnibus Press. The imprint will release 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, including: “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. He was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and his work with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, as well as his solo albums and those with the Traveling Wilburys, have been critically acclaimed the world over and have earned numerous Platinum status awards from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as Grammys and other major awards.

According to Andrea Rotondo, acquisitions editor for Omnibus, “The aptly titled, Conversations With Tom Petty, is being written by Paul Zollo. Tom and Paul are in the middle of a series of in-depth discussions about Tom’s career, with special focus on his songwriting. The conversations will be reprinted with little or no editorial comment and will therefore represent a unique perspective on Tom’s entire career. Omnibus plans to release the book in time for the 2005 holiday season and the band’s 30th anniversary in 2006. Fans will revel in rare photographs and a first-hand account of Tom’s unprecedented career.”

“For Paul Zollo’s part in this project, he brings the unique combination of a songwriter and journalist,” said Rotondo. “He’s interviewed the world’s most-gifted songwriters and is senior editor of American Songwriter magazine. Most importantly, Paul is a long-time admirer of Petty’s work. The result of Paul’s insight will be an important historic dissertation on one of rock’s leading figures.” Zollo’s most recent book is Songwriters on Songwriting, which includes a series of interviews with over 60 songsmiths including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Carole King, Frank Zappa, and Neil Young.

Conversations With Tom Petty will be published in November 2005.