Art is the last thing I'm worried about when I'm writing a song. As far as I'm concerned, art is just short for 'Arthur.'

If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music.

What interested me about Chuck Berry was the way he could step out of the rhythm part with such ease, throwing in a nice, simple riff, and then drop straight into the feel of it again. We used to play a lot more rhythm stuff. We'd do away with the differences between lead and rhythm guitar. You can't go into a shop and ask for a "lead guitar". You're a guitar player, and you play a guitar.

I mean, give me a guitar, give me a piano, give me a broom and string, I wouldn't get bored anywhere.

I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had problems with the police.

Everybody starts by imitating their heroes. For me it was Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.

This is the rock 'n' roll life, and you had to invent it as you went along. There was no textbook to say how you operate this machinery.