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" If you're taught to hate and fear a people or a country, and it works, it's because of your ignorance of that country. You have no contact with it, nor do you know what you're hating and fearing. "

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" 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. "

Ry Cooder

Years

First

Guitar

" The story of American pop music is the story of failure. The blues, country music, it's not the story of success. People don't win; they lose. "

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

" I'm used to music as a tool, taking the various elements and then making something completely new out of them. And writing film music is the perfect opportunity to do that, because you can look at the film and then just let your imagination soar. "

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

" I've listened to blues my whole life. I know it, I play it, I understand it. "

" The blues is so expressive - nostalgic but not sentimental, mournful but not pathetic, so humble and close to the earth. It's a nuance-filled thing. "

Ry Cooder

Blues

Earth

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

" 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 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. "

" People respond to any good you can do in music. "

" 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 always have felt that most people don't have the first idea about what musicians, in the traditional sense - I don't mean in the modern media fake way, but traditionally - what they went through, what their lives were like. "

" When the real world intrudes on your musical fantasies, I get put out. "

" I used to sneak gospel tunes into my old records, just as kind of a personal thing. "

" I'm not interested in making folkloric records, but I like to push the traditional format around so that familiar patterns get knocked on the head. "

" It's crazy to make records nobody buys. It's just a waste of time. "

" Critics don't sell records, unfortunately. No one reads what they write anyway. "

" 'Geronimo' was a huge amount of work. That involved 80-piece orchestras and Indians and Tuvans and all kinds of crazy people on that thing. That's a real circus, that score. "

" I just feel that music is a great life because it's very rewarding. It's a gratification. You do this for yourself, and you also do this for other people. "

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

" A microphone has a certain range. It's not as good as your ears, but it will capture an enclosed space, the harmonic content in a room. Nice old tube mikes do that pretty well. And that's a good sound. "

" 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. "

" All I know is, I play the guitar, beat it out, and sing a song that has some damn resonance that we feel as musicians. We send it out and people get it, and that's a good thing. "

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

Ry Cooder

Great

Who

" I've been wanting an ice cream truck forever. "

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

Ry Cooder

Being

Entertainer

" Country hillbilly music I love. Always have. "

" With country, it's hard to penetrate the thick layers of commercialism that have been applied like shellac coatings over the real thing. "

Ry Cooder

Over

Hard

" The biggest inspiration I had was to take norteno soul music and fuse it with Mexican music. It was my great big idea to do that. "