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" 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. "

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" 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. "

Ry Cooder

Mistake

Music

Attitude

" 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. "

" 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

" On any given day, if I play the guitar, I can put myself somewhere. I always thought, 'This is the way you go.' It's like a magic carpet, see? "

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

" It all started back in '69 when I worked with Jack Nitzche on 'Performance.' That was my first experience of doing soundtracks, and I've enjoyed doing them ever since. "

" Country hillbilly music I love. Always have. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

" Everyone thought my first album would be instrumental, but I didn't want to do it - it took me eight months to make. "

Ry Cooder

First

Everyone

" Travelling is hard. I'm no traveller. I hate flying, and I hate hotels. "

" 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. "

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

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

" Music is a treasure hunt. You dig and dig, and sometimes you find something. "

" I don't understand the public, but I do believe the public is oversold and underrated every day. Give the people something interesting, something to chew on, I say. "

" I toured around for years, but the road was always a drag for me. I never made a dime. In fact, I lost a lot of money - it was horrible. "

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

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

" 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.' "

" 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. "

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

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

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

Ry Cooder

Business

You

" I always loved country gospel from back when I was a teenager in high school and started listening to bluegrass quite a lot. "

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

" I love listening to gospel records. "

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

" I went on tour with Ricky Skaggs and his wife, Sharon White, and the White Family in 2015. It was fantastic. They're all the greatest singers of that country stuff, traditional country up into bluegrass. "