More songwriters on songwriting

*Starred Review* Twenty-five years ago, singer-songwriter Zollo released a collection of interviews with fellow singer-songwriters. This long-awaited second volume features new interviews with some of the best in the business from many musical genres, including Loretta Lynn, Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, Bryan Ferry, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, John Prine, Joan Armatrading, James Taylor, and Richard Thompson. Each interview is preceded by a brief portrait of the artist, and Zollo knows how to tease out the most insightful comments from his subjects. When he observes, for example, that Lynn has nothing left to prove, she replies, True, I don't have a thing to prove, but if I write, I'm gonna prove something. Don't do anything that you can't do best. Elton John's cowriter, Bernie Taupin, says that he doesn't have a clue about what some of his songs mean (e.g., Take Me to the Pilot). Ferry confesses that writing lyrics is, for him, a nightmare. Prine lets the characters that he creates write the songs. When Armatrading started writing, her songs were exclusively about herself. No sunny songs for Thompson, who admits, I could be lying on a beach in the Caribbean, but what I write is still grim and Dickensian. A must for songwriters everywhere.--Sawyers, June Copyright 2016 Booklist