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.

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

The only reason they're out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.

I don't think I'm singing. I feel like I'm playing a horn...What comes out is what I feel.

And when you're poor, you grow up fast.

I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close order drill, or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.

God bless the child that's got his own.