The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.

You've got to change with the public's taste.

I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.

I'm not playing for other musicians. We're trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We'll keep him happy.

Music is emotional, and you may catch a musician in a very unemotional mood or you may not be in the same frame of mind as the musician. So a critic will often say a musician is slipping.

People don't slip. Time catches up with them.

It's not the people in the South who create racial problems - it's the people who are governing.