I realized some of the pitfalls of being well-known; it was nice if you were successful, but it made it just that much harder to take when you failed.

I knew nothing of the life of a real musician, of course, but somehow I seemed to see myself standing in front of great crowds of people, playing my accordion.

If I live to be 90, and I'm planning to, I'll always love performing for a live audience.

By 1969, when I celebrated 45 years in the music business, I also had 45 people in our musical family.

I like clean ladies and nice ladies.

Music was my joy, my home, the one place I felt happy and secure.

I realized some of the pitfalls of being well-known; it was nice if you were successful, but it made it just that much harder to take when you failed.