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" I also met, early on Ella Fitzgerald. Her songbooks are some of the most amazing bodies of work. "

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" I started off as a kid singing with my dad. My dad was my best pal. But he had seven kids, and I was the only one who was kind of interested in what he was playing and singing at the piano. And he was not only my dad, but he was my best pal, and I was interested in doing whatever he wanted to. "

" As long as those things are on vinyl or tape or what have you, the record companies are going to release them someday. "

" My parents were over the moon when I had some success with Christmas songs because that was the time of the year that meant so much to them. They were able to see their loved ones, and it was great to hear their son's voice on the radio while they visited. "

" Christmas is never going to go away, and it's always going to be there. And there's always room for one more Christmas song, I think. "

" As a child, all I knew was that people kept asking me to sing, and because I liked to please, I would sing. It wasn't until my dad told me that my singing made him happy that I began to think my voice might be good. "

" First, I try to take everything away that doesn't matter to singing. It sounds simplistic, but it works. There is absolute focus on singing: producing sounds and emotions that I have always enjoyed. This is key. "

" You know the secret to dunking a ball? Big hands. You've got to be able to palm it, and I couldn't. "

" When I was 12 and started to take singing lessons from a woman, she told me that I would probably spend the rest of my life taking care of my voice. "

" I got an invitation to go to the Olympic trials. And in the same week, I got a telegram from a... big executive at Columbia Records. "

" Homosexuality is a way of life that I've grown accustomed to. "

" But I am very grateful for my success, and with success, of course, comes a whole lot of celebrity. "

" I'm still going strong. I have been very blessed and still am. I love singing. Obviously, at my age, I don't tour with as many dates throughout the year as I did in the past. But I do this to honor my father who was also a singer. I still miss him and his encouragement. "

" I think most people don't understand: I have nothing to do with that. I just open my mouth, and it comes out that way. "

" I've had relationships with people from all over the world, but there has never been enough time in a day for me to have anything other than just close relationships. I've never been one to give myself over to anybody. I don't know what is wrong with me, but it never happened. "

" I drank too much, only champagne. "

" When you do interviews, you have to talk about yourself - and I like to find out about other people. I am so familiar with everything that I do. I've said it over and over again. I think it is boring. "

" I've lost a few notes on the top. But I've gained a little insight about what makes people comfortable when they're listening or watching a performance of mine. It usually has to do with singing something that isn't vocally too strenuous. "

" It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it. "

" Mancini was a big part of my life. I sang a lot of his music, and he became a good buddy. "

" I've recorded in Portuguese, too. I didn't set out to just sing ballads or romantic songs. "

" The world changes. The world is completely different now from when I was growing up. Back then, you didn't say things like they say now, out loud, about race and things. But that's just progress. When are we going to find out that we're all the same - we're all absolutely, without a doubt, the same? "

" Some of the stuff, I absolutely don't remember recording it, it's been so long. But I do like to try to throw in something a little different for the audience once in a while. Because a lot of these people who come to see have come back many, many times. "

" I always felt like what I was doing wasn't selling toys; I was making a happy sound at Christmas. When people hear something so familiar, it brings them back to a special place, and that's been meaningful for me. "

" I've never been married, and I have no regrets about not starting my own family. I come from a large one, so there are so many people around all the time. I've been very happy, but I've never gotten married. That's about the size of it. I would have been a good father because I've been a father to my brothers' and sisters' children. "

" I would say three-quarters of what I do depends on the sincerity of it. You can croak, but if you croak good, they'll still listen. "

" When I was very young, it was all, 'Here's little Johnny,' and I got stuck with it, but I prefer John. There comes a time in a man's life when he shouldn't have a name ending in 'y'. "

" When I do an album I try to find a producer that's excited about something that they want me to sing, and I check with the record company to find out what they think they can sell - which is their No. 1 priority. "

" When I was a kid, I had to try a lot of pyrotechnics just so people would know who I was. "

" Most of our physical education teachers were just teachers, and they had to do the extra stuff on their own. I remember very vividly that they would hold a cane pole between two of the students down low, and we would all jump over it. And they would raise it and raise it and raise it. "

" I've found that if I limit my talking, just everyday talking, a couple of days before I have to sing, my voice is stronger. That really is about the only precaution that I take: I try to rest it as much as possible and keep the nutritional value of my food up. "