When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.

You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave.

I don't think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.

I try to improvise like Les Young, Louis Armstrong or someone else I admire. What comes out is what I feel.

A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted.

If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you're out of your mind. There are more kicks to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung.

You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.