 By the time I did that third solo album, I'd finally learned how to do it, but I'd also learned that I liked being in a band. |
| I'd better be on the road, or I'll be going nuts. I'm not the kind of guy who sits around with a pipe and slippers watching soap operas. |
| When I became 16 I started thinking seriously about singing. |
| I was born in Alabama and my first live music experiences were in church. Every Sunday we watched regional gospel groups on television singing their hearts out. |
| I wrote songs all my life, where anyone wanted to hear them or not. |
| If I have an idea, I write it down, although I usually carry a little dictation machine with me because I'm too lazy to write. |
| Around '75 when the recession hit, club owners started going to disco because it was cheaper for them to just buy a sound system than it was to hire a band. |
| There were some older guitarists on my side of town, and I got to know many of them. |
| When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected. |
| It was more fun trying to figure out I Want To Hold Your Hand than to take lessons. By this time I knew basic chords. |
| It is all about being open and paying attention to the music in your head. I think most people have original music playing in their heads from time to time. |
| Timing is everything. |
| I have always been a sucker for the big, upbeat chorus. |
| You can have fun, but you also have to put on your thinking cap every day. |
| On acoustic guitar I tend to stay in the key of D for some reason. On electric guitar I keep basic: C, G, D, and A. The key of D minor is also real good for me. |
| I've always stuck with Gibsons. I've had Guilds and Fenders, too, but I always wind up going back to Gibsons. |
| I don't like looking back. |
| When a song gets its legs and begins to come to me, this is the euphoric hook that keeps me wanting to continue. |
| When I was about 3, my grandfather used to give me and my sister a nickel to sit out on the front porch with him and sing songs. |
| Les Pauls work out real well for me because I'll beat the hell out of them and they'll still work. The only trouble with them is finding good ones. |
