That's the thing about musicians: The priority is to create something new that's never been before. And you put your life on the line every time that you play.
You can't be at your full creative power if you are sedated.
James Cotton is a real blues guy, and he played with Muddy Waters, and it surprised me that they would want me to make a record with them, that he called me to do this record. I'd never done anything like that before. But I love blues, so I was very happy.
I used to listen to a lot of Bach on the radio, and when the basses started to sing, it made everything complete - it made it all make sense.
My family influenced me very deeply because my dad came from a musical background, from the hillbilly music part of it, and all that music came over from Scotland and Ireland and England in to the Appalachian Mountains and Ozark Mountains, where I was raised.
I always felt that I was born in the wrong era. I wanted to be friends with John Garfield, for instance.
One of the things polio does is it takes away your energy. They don't know very much about it. They should be a lot more aware of what polio is.
The bass, no matter what kind of music you're playing, it just enhances the sound and makes everything sound more beautiful and full. When the bass stops, the bottom kind of drops out of everything.
We're here to bring beauty to the world and make a difference in this planet. That's what art forms are about.
My parents were on the Grand Ole Opry. They traveled all over the country singing hillbilly music. That's what they called it back then. They were friends with Roy Acuff and the Delmore Brothers and the Carter Family. And all of my brothers and sisters who were older than me started on the show, after they were big enough to hold a guitar and sing.
