I'm a compulsive musician, but it's also a bloody good way out of having to do anything else.

In those days, between the ages of 12 and 18 you meant nothing. You were the extra place at the side table if someone came to dinner. You were of no interest to anyone.

Blues and jazz pulled me away from what was left of my family.

I'm a compulsive musician, but it's also a bloody good way out of having to do anything else.

In 1940 I came across a record by Jimmy Yancey. I can't say how important that record is. From then on, all I wanted to do was play the blues.

I can't explain why one wants to pass a particular sort of pain onto other people, but you do.

Since the age of 12, all my musical thinking has been influenced by Afro-American music.