Give me a wave I can ride upon, come and show your strength to me.

I took the song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face from a folk singer called Bonnie Dobson. I knew her and she had a record with that track on it.

My parents got my sister and I to go to church and have piano lessons. We were keen and they could see that.

To wear the crown of peace, you must wear the crown of thorns.

I was in Britain that year [1963] and some music publishing people in Denmark Street in London suggested me to the BBC. So I found myself in front of a British television show, which was a nice surprise.

I remember when I first rocked in it was a great big dance hall and Tommy Young was blowing trombone and Louis [Armstrong] was singing a tune and it was just Satchmo and you could hear it resounding through the dance hall and people were dancing. It was a highlight.

Sometimes a broken dream will make you sad or make you mean. Sometimes things ain't bad as they seem.