B. B. King

The minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.

Albert King wasn’t my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in Blues!

Nobody loves me but my mother – And she could be jivin’, too.

As for my band, well, my mentors were Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Jimmie Lunceford, and no one had a band more smartly dressed than Duke.

When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.

I’m trying to get people to see that we are our brother’s keeper. Red, white, black, brown or yellow, rich or poor, we all have the blues.

The saxophone is an imperfect instrument, especially the tenor and soprano, as far as intonation goes. The challenge is to sing on an imperfect instrument that is outside of your body.

When I write songs that touch on social relevance, all you have to do is pick up a newspaper.

A wise man practices slowly; but a wiser man practices even slower.

Words are the children of reason and therefore can’t translate the feeling of Jazz because they’re not part of it.

Jazz musician is a combination entertainer, poet, singer, educator, student, artist, seducer and all-round good fellow.

A Jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges.

If I could read it, I could play it.

When there was vinyl, I just loved opening a record and smelling that wonderful smell.

Nothing is so well-prepared as a great spontaneous performance.

I’d take my guitar and play on the streets. A gospel song would get me a pat on the head. But a blues would get me a dime. So you see why I stuck with the blues.

You only get better by playing.

I never heard of a Jazz musician who retired. You love what you do, so what are you going to do… play for the walls?

It is evidently known, beyond contradiction, that New Orleans is the cradle of Jazz and I, myself, happened to be the creator in the year 1902.

Every day when I sit down to play, I learn something new.

A name doesn’t make the music. It’s just called that to differentiate it from other types of music.