Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Doo-wop was full of blues for me.
I used to think God only liked organ music.
Trains had the greatest bass sound in the world.
I show rock and rollers how to grow old gracefully.
By the age of 15, I knew over 40 Hank Williams songs.
I couldn't sing like Mick Jagger, not that I wanted to.
If I could sing and play like Lightnin' Hopkins, I would.
If you're performing for the right reasons, it's glorious.
I heard Robert Johnson way before I heard about Eric Clapton.
1967 was the bleakest, darkest, most emotional period of my life.
The day I heard Hank Williams for the first time, my life changed.
I want to rock till I drop. I love rock and roll music. It keeps you young.
When you have too many beers, you become like a control freak on everything.
Sometimes I think I know everything, but I also underestimate what God really is.
I got a little advice for everybody: marry the girl who's going to get you to heaven.
Life is full of awe and grace and truth, mystery and wonder. I live in that atmosphere.
I know they call it the British Invasion, but musically, I call it the British Infusion.
My definition of the blues is the naked cry of the human heart longing to be in union with God.
I don't believe in being a victim. I think with information and motivation, you can do anything.
I just love to do the songs, and that's what I'm still about - taking people on a trip. A good trip.
I moved my family down to Miami to stay with my father-in-law, Jack, for a while. Best move I ever made.
I thought you had to be humble to become a saint, but a priest told me it takes all kinds to make it to heaven.
I've got these die-hard fans on Facebook, and you'd swear they haven't heard anything I've done since 1962, 1963.
In New York, if you go into an Italian-American neighbourhood, the code of the streets is respect and reputation.
For me, God's country is sirens and subways and all kinds of ethnic groups trying to cross the street all at once.
There were a lot of bad relationships that got very convoluted up at Columbia with me, what they expected from me.
I couldn't wait to get out of school in junior high to get with Willie Green to pick up some of the riffs he knew.
It was a lot of fun in the back of that bus with Ritchie Valens, Buddy and The Big Bopper sharing each other's songs.
Songs, to me, have always been kind of like a diary, you know - and, say, when I did 'Teenager In Love,' maybe I was 16.
When I didn't do 'Runaround Sue' on the 'Ed Sullivan Show,' for example, I didn't listen to my inner voice. I should have.
It's hard to explain music when it goes in your gut and makes left and right and turns and moves you and resonates with you.
I have a great band from Jersey and New York. I say that because they got great attitude, and we have a great time on stage.
The point here is that I enjoyed singing. I enjoyed the rhythm of it. I grew up listening to Louis Prima, who was also rhythmic.
Trying to explain what community is to someone who's never experienced it is like trying to explain what an artichoke tastes like.
I was playing with Chuck Berry, who sounded like an English teacher. Did you ever listen to his records? He pronounces every word.
You constantly have to take inventory, not get on someone else's agenda. You want to write something that's poignant and moves people.
I feel really relevant and creative, and I don't think I would've made an album if I didn't feel relevant. I wouldn't have said a word.
Music is an expression. It's almost like a diary in my life, you know. You express your perceptions and your view on life - your world view.
Early on, I tried to sing, but sustaining a note was something I wasn't comfortable with. So I tried to get off of the note as soon as I could.
Be authentic, true to yourself, genuine. Question what you really love along the way. There are so many voices out there. And you can lose yourself.
People didn't know I played guitar on all the hit records I had. I've never been in an acoustic guitar magazine and I'd put myself up against anybody.
If you make excuses, you're going to believe in a lie. And I don't believe in that lie that you can't make it, that somebody is trying to hold you back.
A lot of my friends, they think I grew up to rock and roll, but I didn't. I grew up to Hank Williams, Jimmy Reid, Howlin' Wolf, listening to a race record, blues.
We all fled from religion. Living la vida loca, whatever. The '60s, you know. But it always stayed in my heart. As I got older, I started coming back to religion.
I have a full life off the road. I was never in it just for the money or the career. That's why I'm comfortable with myself. I know who I am out of the spotlight.
I tell you, gospel music is very uplifting. It's great. It's just a lot of fun to write, and it's wonderful for the heart, soul, mind, and spirit. It's just great.
A lot of people have many misconceptions about religion. I know what I'm talking about for myself. My mind is very ordered, so to speak. I need to put things in order.
I never knew I was a songwriter. I didn't even know I was a singer. My parents just got me a guitar 'cause my uncle told them to get me one, and I started fooling with it.
I was guaranteed a hundred thousand dollars a year for five years, which was big money in the early 60's. You think, acquiring that should cool you out, but for me it wasn't true.
I don't sing white; I don't sing black - I sing Bronx. When I sing 'Ruby Baby,' I'm rolling like Jimmy Reed. I wanted to communicate like Hank Williams and groove like Jimmy Reed.