Performing is an experience, for me, that is as humbling as it is energizing.

A woman went so far as to hire private detectives to contact me to help bring her out of what she called a hypnotic trance.

Singing as a full-time job was not something I had given a lot of thought to and I had no clear notion of the money to be made in it.

I might have become a minor celebrity but royalty checks were a long way off.

In 20 years I had sold more records for RCA than any artist except Elvis Presley.

I'm not James Brown. I'm not Sam Cooke. I'm Charley Pride. I'm just me and that's what you got.

I always wanted to grow up fast. I longed for more than the Mississippi Delta could give.