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" I wanted to be a car pinstriper, but there was nobody to teach me how to do it. So I said, 'Music's good too. I'll do that maybe, since I can't work out how to do this pinstriping.' "

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" When I made the first album, I was 24, and at that age, you have nothing to say. I just played the music I loved and tried to do it justice. "

Ry Cooder

Music

Age

You

" I always thought East L.A. music was so dreamy and languid and kinda greasy. "

" If it hadn't been for record people like Ralph Peer, the Chess brothers, and Alan Lomax, then life would've been unbelievably dull, and I would've been sacking groceries somewhere and probably, at this point, running a little 7-Eleven down by the airport. "

" I had a lot of luck in meeting great musicians who were kind enough to show me things. "

Ry Cooder

Great

Who

" I think all the music I do, which ties together, as far as I'm concerned, is fun and entertaining. "

" I can't help what people write or think. If somebody thinks I'm a serious archivist, they're wrong. That's been a problem. It's a shame people take that attitude, because it affects how they listen to the music. It's a big mistake to treat any pop music that way. "

" R&B and all that stuff was always very spare and spontaneous. Nobody made those records under solid gold situations. It was just in and out, and you didn't labor over the thing. I like music like that. "

" I got a reputation for being 'eclectic' or some damn thing like that, but to me, the different kinds of music I play are all the same stuff - good time music - and it is the only stuff I can do. "

" The '50s was the golden age of music all over the world for some crazy, 'X-File'-like reason I can't quite understand. "

" When I was little, 4 or 5 years old, the first guitar I had was given to me by a blacklisted violinist - a lefty, commie guy, pinko man. "

" It's tremendously expensive to make a record on the basis of writing checks. "

" Musicians understand each other through means other that speaking. "

" People who aren't as interested in recorded music as they used to be will say, 'Oh, 'Buena Vista?' Loved it.' And I'll say, 'Well, how about any of my other recent records. I've been doing some pretty good ones. You like those?' And they go, 'Huh?' "

" American global economic imperialism is a fact. It's a known fact. It's a simple fact. "

" If every song is in the past tense, that's a drag, so you have to predict the future. "

" The Delmore Brothers is hit music - very, very popular - and it still retains that rural flavor and simplicity. I always think of it as family music, really, because families sang it. "

" I always think you should push your envelope every chance you get. "

" I've tended to look at my albums as research and development. I was just trying to get someplace new on each one. "

" I love listening to gospel records. "

" I don't like being watched, and I don't like being an entertainer. "

Ry Cooder

Being

Entertainer

" I like the idea that something happens to everybody who comes to L.A. - whether they are Mexican, Irish, black, or hillbillies. You come here, and you leave all your traditions behind. And since there's no traditions here, you just make one up. "

Ry Cooder

Mexican

Leave

" How many BMWs do you need? How many Rolex watches you gonna wear in your lifetime, for crying out loud? What is it about that kind of desire? I don't understand it. "

" Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn't enough. Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. "

" The ocean is very comfortable. I could never live inland. "

" People who love the applause should have it, but I don't care for it. "

" To me, the essence of the music is the most important thing. "

Ry Cooder

The Most Important

Music

" I didn't come from a very rigid background, where there's a clan or a tribe or a religion. "

" The Woody Guthrie 'Dust Bowl' tunes were really fascinating. "

" Having my son on drums has made a huge difference. I can't stress this strongly enough, in terms of the groove space and style that Joachim gave me to instinctively play what I felt in a more free way, rather than feeling constricted. That's true on record and on stage. "

Ry Cooder

Son

Free

" I'm sort of an osmotic fellow. "

Ry Cooder

Sort

Fellow