The Important Thing Is To Feel Your

Drunken Talk Isn’t Meant To Be Printed In The Paper.

I Never Considered Myself Part Of Rock 'n' Roll. My Stuff Was More Adult. It Was More Difficult For Teenagers To Relate To; My Stuff Was Filled With More Despair Than Anything You'd Associate With Rock 'n' Roll. Since I Couldn't See People Dancing, I Didn't Write Jitterbugs Or Twists. I Wrote Rhythms That Moved Me. My Style Requires Pure Heart Singing.

Art Tatum -- He Was A Genius. And Einstein, Not Me.

I Was Born With Music Inside Me. Music Was One Of My Parts. Like My Ribs, My Kidneys, My Liver, My Heart. Like My Blood. It Was A Force Already Within Me When I Arrived On The Scene. It Was A Necessity For Me-like Food Or Water.

I'm A Firm Believer In God Himself, But That's As Far As I Can Go. I'm Not Any Denomination. I'm Not Catholic Or Presbyterian Or Baptist Or Methodist Or Jewish Or Muslim. I'm None Of Those Things. And I'm Sure That's Just Fine With God.