When you sing, always tell the truth.

I think I copied my style from Louis Armstrong. Because I used to like the big volume and the big sound that Bessie Smith got when she sang ... So I liked the feeling that Louis got and I wanted the big volume that Bessie Smith got. But I found that it didn't work with me, because I didn't have a big voice. So anyway between the two of them I sorta got Billie Holiday.

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.

New Orleans is the only city in the world you go in to buy a pair of nylon stockings they want to know your head size.

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

I can only sing songs my way. I don't know any other way.