I used to sing like Nat King Cole. I mean he was the guy when I was comin' up, and you know, man, people used to say of me, "Damn, he sure do sound like Nat King Cole." But there was a day, and luckily for me it was early, when I woke up and asked myself, "Well, when are the ask me to sing because I sound like me?" So my advice is, never do anything that you don't like.

If you can play the blues, you can do anything.

There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.

I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style requires pure heart singing.

The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it.

Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming.

Just because you can't see anything , doesn't mean you should shut your eyes.