I wanted to be a comedian. And I did that so much in high school, I couldn't get a girlfriend.
I used to work at Kroger's. When the store opened, you were there. When I worked in an automobile plant, you punched in. So it showed if you were a minute late. If you have a paid job, you show up.
Rock 'n' roll accepted me and paid me, even though I loved the big bands... I went that way because I wanted a home of my own. I had a family. I had to raise them. Let's don't leave out the economics. No way.
My music is simple stuff. Anybody can sit down, look at a set of symbols and produce sounds the music represents.
Music is science. Everything is science. Because science is truth.
I just feel I got my inspiration, education and all from others that came before me. And I added my... I don't even know if I added anything. I played what they played, and it sounded different, I guess.
It amazes me when I hear people say, 'I want to go out and find out who I am.' I always knew who I was. I was going to be famous if it killed me.
Everything I wrote about wasn't about me, but about the people listening.
In the Fifties, there were certain places we couldn't ride on the bus, and now there is a possibility of a black man being in the White House. You have to feel good about it.
I'm thankful for performing as long as I am allowed.
If you're going to be mad, at least let the people know what you're mad about.
The Rolling Stones... The Rolling Stones have a reflection to my music; I wouldn't deny it. I think that's honest.
I directed my music to the teen-agers. I was 30 years old when I did 'Maybellene.' My school days had long been over when I did 'School Day,' but I was thinking of them.
What the heck is a king? I'm a cog in the wheel.
It's not me to toot my horn. The minute you toot your horn, it seems like society will try and disconnect your battery. And if you do not toot your horn, they'll try their darnedest to give you a horn to toot, or say that you should have a horn.
I don't want the bottom, so I have to sacrifice the top.
People said I was king, but I was never king, and I say I'm the prime minister.
I love poetry. I love rhyming. Do you know, there are poets who don't rhyme? Shakespeare did not rhyme most of the time, and that's why I do not like him.
Remember that my view, the only true view I can see with, is through the black eyes that I have.
People don't want to see 17 pieces in neckties. They wanna see some jeans, some gettin' down, and some wigglin'.
