That was where my dream began to take hold, of not havin' to pick cotton and potatoes, and not havin' to be uncomfortable, too hot or too cold. That in itself had driven me to try to find some better way of life.

If you want me in the Hall of Fame put me in because of some contributions that I have made to country music.

That was where my dream began to take hold, of not havin' to pick cotton and potatoes, and not havin' to be uncomfortable, too hot or too cold. That in itself had driven me to try to find some better way of life.

A guy said to me, 'You're so lucky. You have people like Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand and The Beatles doing your songs.' I figured out, though, the harder I work the luckier I get. The secret of anything is to surround yourself with good people if you want a good product.

The biggest fool to hit the big time and all I've got to do is act naturally.

You get up about 2-3 oclock in the morning and get through about 7 or 8 and 12 hours later you start all over. Thats the worst kind of work a person can do. You have to do these two shifts to get one day.

I'd like to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do the job, wrote a few songs and had a hell of a time.