I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.

I've always liked ladies all my life. I guess it started with my mom. So every time I saw a pretty lady, I thought, she's pretty.

My mother was a very beautiful lady, I thought. She was very good to me. I guess - she died when I was nine and a half, but if she had lived I probably wouldn't be trying to play guitar. She wanted me to be known, but as something else. Not a guitar player.

No one can take it away from you.

Playing guitar is like telling the truth.

If you want to be a good blues singer, people are going to be down on you, so dress like you're going to the bank to borrow money.

Janis Joplin sings the blues as hard as any black person.