I'm playin' the music I like.

I start out with words, with the idea, the line. Then after I get a line or two, I try to find what melodic line those lines would be suited to. As soon as I find the form I can finish the song in my head.

I don't care what anyone does, as long as they go through the copyright office.

Everybody cryin' mercy / When they don't know the meaning of the word.

I was taking chemical engineering. But I went into the army after that. When I came out of the army, I was a different person. I met a lot of good jazz players in the army.

All the classic jazz players all sang and a lot of 'em sang blues.

If it's worth remembering, I'll remember it. If something keeps coming back, if I keep thinking of that phrase, if I see manifestations of it at different times and different places, then I feel it's worth making a song out of.