Aretha Franklin

If a song’s about something I’ve experienced or that could’ve happened to me it’s good. But if it’s alien to me, I couldn’t lend anything to it. Because that’s what soul is all about.

I sing to the realists; people who accept it like it is.

I’ve never recorded anything I didn’t like.

Falling out of love is like losing weight. It’s a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.

Let’s start with the church. As you know, it’s my background, it’s a natural setting for me and it’s definitely my roots.

I’ve always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.

It doesn’t matter all that much. It’s just that when you’re playing, Stephane, you’ve got both Chaput and me backing you, but when I’m soloing I’ve only got one guitar behind me!

After the music is over it’s gone in the air. You can never capture it again.

I’m a musician at heart, I know I’m not really a singer. I couldn’t compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.

For most dates I was paid the sum of $1 per hr and they always tipped me at the end of the night.

We’re here to have a ball.

Not too slow, not too fast. Kind of half-fast.

The guitar is just a wonderful instrument. It’s everything: a bartender, a psychiatrist, a housewife. It’s everything, but it’s elusive.

One shouldn’t be in the habit of quoting oneself.

They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.

We go in there and we work on altering those ideas and in many cases go in different directions.

And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.

I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.

Musicians need to continue higher learning try to expand the pallet.

If you have something in your life worth celebrating, you can put it in a blues song.