The most famous rumor for me is that I had throat cancer. I never had throat cancer... I don't know why that started... The way I sing, probably.
I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.
That's a good way to live, go against the wind.
The two hours onstage is great. But I can only play a show and then take a night off. I have to sing for two hours, and then I've gotta rest it for a night. So it's the other 46 hours that are just boring as heck.
Be original. That's my best advice. You're going to find that there's something that you do well, and try to do it with as much originality as you can, and don't skimp on the words. Work on the words.
I never say never, because I don't want to be one of those guys.
Elvis came along when I was 10. My father gave me a bass ukulele. I taught myself how to play from a book to play some chords, so I was laying down 'Hound Dog' and things like that when I was 10 years old in 1955. That's the way I was. My ear was glued to the radio. I knew right then what I wanted to do.
I did this thing with Trisha Yearwood, a song called 'The Price.' I had been sitting on it for a while, because I figured, you know, this really needs a good singer.
My management tells me, Don't be optimistic, because it's the young people's world now. They want to hear what they want to hear, and you're a classic rocker. I don't know if you're gonna get the play.
You can't get a good crew and a good sound system, and a good light system if you do a small tour. If you want the best, those guys want a commitment of about 4 to 6 months. And I'd want the best people and the best stuff.
I always loved music. You know, my parents said I started singing when I was 4, in the car.
If I want to work, I can. If I want to play golf, or ride my motorcycle, I can. But the rest of it is family. Sometimes you're not really needed by your family, but you're there. And my kids like to know I'm there.
Great sex is wonderful while it's happening, but who remembers great sex they had in 1983?
Every now and then you'll nail one that's really, really special. And that's what you live for.
I really enjoy being with the people I play with. I enjoy their company. I love the crew, the band - we just move through the country like an army. I always feel very grateful to be up there. There aren't any bad nights anymore unless I'm singing bad, but then the band will carry me. And if they're playing bad, I will carry them..
For a long time, I thought when you do a box set, you're giving up; you're saying, 'OK, I don't have anything left.' But now I've listened to some of the old stuff I haven't heard in 20 to 40 years with fresh ears. It's like, 'Oh yeah, I can see where people might want to to hear some of this stuff that didn't make it onto the records.'
I had the opportunity to be around my kids a lot. I guess I could have kept working, but I had them when I was 47. You only get to see all this stuff once. I just chose to work at home and watch them.
I'm just trying to keep things simple, and just be a little more offhand and not get so deep into things. Enjoy what you got right now, because who knows what's going to happen tomorrow.
We've got to practice three weeks, get the kinks out, then we've got to practice three weeks with the crew, and then go out for four months. It's just a huge chunk of time out of life.
I write probably 80 percent of my stuff over the winter.
