“Everything I wrote about wasn’t about me, but about the people listening.”

Music is music; you can’t change rock and say well this is punk rock and this is acid rock or rockabilly.

Hail, hail rock and roll / Deliver me from the days of old.

Don’t let the same dog bite you twice.

I have so many entities now as grow older you gain responsibilities, you know, real estate, and I like video, and you know I want to live a little you know, because time is passing, its not as long as it has been.

Prejudice doesn’t make me mad. It just – I guess ‘pisses me off’ is the word.

They’re drinkin’ home brew from a wooden cup. The folks were dancin’ there got all shook up.

If the people in the audience are talking, you’re being ignored. If the people are gazing at you, you’ve got something they want to hear.

A contract is an ask game, and if it asks for an hour, and I submit to an hour, then it’s an hour. When I look at a contract, I look at the obligation – where, when, how long, the compensation. If I agree to it, that’s the way it is. I have an obligation. They have an obligation.

Rock is my child and my grandfather.

You don’t just go to the studio and say, ‘I’m going to write a hit.’ It becomes a hit when people like your compositions.

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.

Maybellene, why can’t you be true?

The Big Band Era is my era. People say, ‘Where did you get your style from?’ I did the Big Band Era on guitar. That’s the best way I could explain it.

Looking hard for a drive in, searching for a corner cafe, where the hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day.

Music is an important part of our culture and record stores play a vital part in keeping the power of music alive.

All in all it was my intention to hold both the black and the white clientele by voicing the different kinds of songs in their customary tongues.

I ain’t never been the type of person out at the movies and holding hands and riding around listening to R. Kelly.

No. No. I don’t listen to anyone except my … inner child anyway. If someone had said to me, Amy, lose a stone which they wouldn’t – I don’t think I would have listened anyway.

Talk to someone about themselves and they’ll listen for hours.

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

Everybody in the world is seeking happiness – and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.

I often speak publicly, and when I do, I also get to listen to other presenters. The most memorable are the ones that hit an emotional chord with a tight story and a punch line. No fluff. Keep it creative and concise. Greatness exists in quality, not quantity.

If you want to be a good conversationalist, be a good listener. To be interesting, be interested.

Sit up straight, listen and participate.