I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day, every day, for about 40 years and it never occurred to me it'd kill me. If I'd have continued it might have killed me. My doctor said I should stick to wine.

The main thing is that Ataturk saw the desperate condition of the countries that had not had an industrial revolution. Ataturk saw where history was going. He really did in Turkey what we are all hoping somebody will do in [Islamic] countries where fundamentalists thrive, that they get somebody today that has the vision that Ataturk had in 1915.

The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops.

A singer's biographical film should have their music and their voice.

I did a little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the greatness of African-American music.

Everyone felt like they knew Ray Charles and in a way they did, because he was embodied by his music.

I've been in the studio when you go through a track and you run down a track and you know even before the singer starts singing, you know the track is swinging ... you know you have a multimillion-seller hit - and what you're working on suddenly has magic.