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

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

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

" I'm sort of an osmotic fellow. "

" It's good to see more young people playing instruments. "

" Who does this, at age 71, try to put a tour together from scratch? I have to say it's scary at times. But I like a challenge 'cause it keeps you on your toes. "

" I hate films. Films make me sick now, and if something makes me sick, I always back off. "

" Promoters don't book you 'cause they like you; they do it 'cause there's good business to be done. "

" 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. "

" Santa Monica, where I have always lived, is not a town where you will find storefront Church of God in Christ churches. So, the whole idea of gospel quartet singing is something I never knew existed until I began to hear it on record. "

" Politics runs on power and money and on ignorance. "

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

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Uncle Dave Macon was a great balladeer and banjo player from the early part of the 19th century... He would take a social problem or something that he was looking at and make up a clever little song about it, you know, in a language everyone understood, a man of the people. "

" Sure, immigrants will do work that no-one else will do. There was even a movie about it - 'A Day Without Mexicans.' "

" I keep my mind on track, and I don't get mad, and I don't get frustrated. Well, I do... but creative work, it's a way of controlling all that. "

" I'm a man of peace. "

" 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. "

" If something grooves and you like the sound, then that's all you need. "

" Music is all starting to sound alike in the modern era. Afro-pop sounds exactly like L.A. pop - there's no difference, no ambience, no real resonance. "

" Being the front guy is a hard job. "

" I'm a great lover of ballads. "

" You go through these phases. That's how life is. Over the long term, you just can't do one thing. I saw that back in the Sixties when I was getting started. "

Getting Started

" 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?' "

" Nat King Cole - I listen to him a lot. "

" Film work is a job I like to do because I really love to solve problems. "

" 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. "

" You can play as good as you want, but you have to sing from a place of living. "

" 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. "