All Episodes

October 3, 2024 9 mins
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Paul, You're on with Quinn and Cantira.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Paul, good morning, Welcome to the show. Paul solo. Everybody.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
How are you, Paul, I'm great.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Thanks. How you doing?

Speaker 3 (00:07):
We're good? This is great. We have you on on
prior to the birthday of Tom Petty. On the death date. Unfortunately,
your book, A Conversation with Tom Petty has been released
has released an expanded edition. Tell us my partner Quinn said,
you sat down with Tom every Saturday. Is that how
that work? Like a year?

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah, that's right. You know, we were working on the
book back in two thousand and five. Originally the idea
was to talk about the music, mostly because I'm a
songwriter and I'd interviewed him about songwriting last and he
was such a great songwriter, but people talk to him
at about other things and he felps he didn't get
is often the credit for the greatness of the songwriter.

(00:47):
So that was the idea of the book back to them.
But then as he was talking about all his songs,
you know, all his life was intertwined with the song
so talking about the songs was also about his life,
So our focus changed a little bit. So it has
his shit Street going up in Gainesville and talks about
his life a lot and starting the band, coming to
Hollywood and uh and what he went through after that

(01:08):
being a major rock star. Even it was tough. He
went through some tough stuff. But it's really kind of remarkable.
He never put out bad music. He was he was
always writning great songs. He was always engaged, and he
really loved his fans and most most of.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
At what point did you say, Okay, we've been doing
this now and you know, for the fourth Saturday, we
should probably keep doing it, Like like, how long did
you plan to be interviewing him?

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, it wasn't exactly that. I mean I had interviewed
him several times pros working on the book, and usually
you know, the first time I ever interviewed him, it
was great. And then I didn't do this. I realized
I forgot some questions, and I asked her, I go back,
I go again, and I don't know if they say yes,
And his managers said, yeah, times, we can go right now,

(01:56):
you know. So I talked twice to him that first
time and we had just such a great But this
was this was in two thousand and five. Idea was
to do a book of conversations. So we met just
over a year, but it was very plans that we
would do that. It wasn't you know. He he agreed
to do the book, and he liked the idea. There

(02:17):
hadn't been any books about him at the time. There's
probably been three books on Madonna already.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
But where would you Where would you talk to Tom Patty? Like,
what would the location? Time of day?

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Bed we'd meet every day. It would be Saturday onas
at noon because he didn't get up much before noon.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Here.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
It always sept blocking all hours and at his home
in Malibu, actually at two homes, but usually the big one,
and we'd sit in his He was making the album
Highway Companion at the time in his home in his
home studio, and we sit in the studio, which wasn't
really big. It was kind of cozy, and he had
conga drums for tables. You know. We'd drink a coffee

(02:57):
usually or or a coke out of those little bottles,
and he was working on the album and he play
it for me, and like a lot of these guys,
they're kind of deaf because they've been playing so loud.
He would play the music for me so loud. I
remember it was actually almost too loud for me, but
I didn't complain. But it was so exciting too. And
the new songs he was writing.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
And this is just you, just you too in just
you two in the studio like you. That's incredible. What
a memory for you.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
To have that.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh yeah, I feel very very lucky. You know, I'm
a musician. I set out to be a journalist, but
I kind of it came that to afford being a songwriter.
And it's kind of amazing when you get to not
only meet meet my heroes, but talk to him about songwriting.
Like he looks like a normal guy. How did he
do that? He wrote an amazing amount of amazing songs.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
So Paul more than we didn't know about author Paul Soolo.
The book is Conversation with Tom Petty. It's been around
since two thousand and five. There's an expanded edition, like
I don't, I don't know if you want to get
into it if, but I mean didn't didn't his death
wasn't that? Were we questioning? How like did you notice drugs?
Did you notice a change as he got near the end, Well, well.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
He was he was doing his last tour, the fortieth
anniversary tour. It was the longest tour ever, and he
his he was in pain because his hip was in bad. Say,
many people told me they could see him limping on stage.
I saw so I didn't notice, but my son was
with me said he could tell. But off off off stage.
There's some film with him limping, and I guess he
was in great pain. So what happens was a week

(04:32):
after the last show at the Hollywood Bowl. My understanding
is that his hip broke, and so he took a
lot of medication, but not just pain really, because he
took a lot of different things. I don't think he
wanted to call nine one one. He don want to
everyone know Tom Petty's going to the hospital. And he
got through the tour, so I think evidently he was thinking,

(04:53):
you know, I'll be all right, I'll get through this.
But he my understanding was the combination of all those
drugs because his death.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
If I'm Tom Petty and I break my hip, I
don't want to show up at the hospital. I don't
want people knowing that.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
I feel like the hospital will come to you.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, when the hospitalill come to be fix it in private?
That yeah, right.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
I feel you he's going to talk about himself that
way because he was working out and I'd asked him,
why do you work out so much? And he goes, well,
no one wants a fat Tom Petty.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, he knew his role. So I got to
ask you about this event coming up at the in California,
at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood on Tom's birthday ten nineteen.
What have you put together, Paul, Well.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Just to be exact, the conference the eve of his birthday.
His birthday is the twentieth nineteen. I'm having a lot
of that's okay, it's a whole weekend of celebration. But
on the nineteenth at the Hotel Cafe, we're singing his songs.
I'm going to be playing with a lot of great
musicians in la I mean tremendous people. Nick Vincent on drums,
who's played with everyone, and Marvin Etzioni who was in

(05:56):
Loan Justice, who they did the Some Ways to Be Wicked,
which Tom wrote for them. It could have been a
bigger hit than it was. It's a great sound. So
he's going to do that and a lot of great people.
So that's a night of his music. And I do
that because it's great to pay tribute. But it's so
much fun s to pay tribute. It's been on his birthday.
Actually had that book Soup, which is a great bookstore

(06:16):
right on the Sunsets Strip in Hollywood. At three pm.
We're doing a books I'm doing a book signing and
talking about Tom.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Great.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
It's fun.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Just a just a quick question on a different artist
that I'm reading about you here. Does Paul Simon call
you personally to write liner notes for him? Or is
that someone calling you? You know, how does that work?

Speaker 1 (06:38):
You know, he hasn't called me recently. You know, before
he was married to Edie Brutel, he would call me
to talk. But as soon as Edie came into his life,
he did call me as much the liner notes. That
was very lucky that again he liked me because, like Tom,
I know the songs. I'm a I'm a songwriter, so
not only do I know the worst, but I learned
how to play hi because I want to know, like

(06:59):
how do you do that? And songwriters love that because
so much of their genius is there, you know, from
the E minors to the E flat, but they don't
get to talk about that so, but Simon, like like Peddy,
is a genius of that stuff and he loved talking
about it. So we talked a lot. And then for
his first box set, I was one of the line

(07:21):
of notes writers and that was great because I got
to go to New York and talk to Paul and
I just love to talk to one if you want
one song, the whole world knows. To me, that's about
as creator as the kids. And these guys have written many,
you know, and as we know, when they're gone, the
songs are just they're not they're not diministering anyways. The

(07:41):
songs are even more powerful in so many words.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
Well as people who play the classic rock, which is
forty fifty years old, we know that they maintain their power. Paul,
real quick, because I know you're doing a bunch of interviews.
You're a songwriter, give me some of who's some of
the best songwriters in your opinion?

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Tom Petty, Yeah, Simon, those two are actually my favorites.
But but Bob Dylan was certainly maybe the instigator. I mean,
I think without Dylan it wouldn't have been the same.
Certainly the Beatles, but there's so many Tom Waits. You
know Randy Newman, Ricky Lee Jones.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Uh collection about Christopherson. Was Christopherson a great songwriter?

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Oh? Yeah, one of me and Bobby McGhee. Yeah, I
mean he was great. He wrote, like Tom, some amazing
songs people haven't heard, like Hell Comes that Rainbow. They're
like miracle songs. Because when you get a song that good,
it just seems right. But to get it that good,
it's amazing. Me and Bobby McGee, I mean, that's a
that's a classic.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
What do you what do you? What do you make
of guys like the jelly roll, you know, and I
have a.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Lot of jelly roll, you know, infos And I can't
really judge.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yeah, I'm just I'm just tired of him. Hey, the
book conversation, Tom Petty, It's Paul Zolo. Good luck with
the expanded edition. Thanks for the time, man.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
Take care it'. Quinn Cantara picks one of six
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

1. 24/7 News: The Latest
2. The Joe Rogan Experience

2. The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

3. Dateline NBC

3. Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2024 iHeartMedia, Inc.