“I was alive, and Buddy and those boys were dead, and I didn’t know how, but somehow I’d caused it.”

Country music isn’t a guitar, it isn’t a banjo, it isn’t a melody, it isn’t a lyric. It’s a feeling.

When I look at you girl, I see a true work of art. So many beautiful things coming in one little heart.

When you’re down in Texas, Bob Wills is still the king.

The men who could not fight, in a war that didn’t seem right. You let them come home, America.

Is your head up your ass so far that you can’t pull it out?

The rock and roll spirit. I learned a lot of that because I worked with Buddy Holly. I played bass with him, and he taught me a lot about that.

I love Johnny Cash, and I respect Johnny Cash. He’s the biggest. He’s like an Elvis in this business, but no, he’s never been the rebel.

Mainly what I learned from Buddy… was an attitude. He loved music, and he taught me that it shouldn’t have any barriers to it.

I’ve always felt that blues, rock ‘n’ roll and country are just about a beat apart.

Cuz I was never pretty anyway and never cared anything about that.

It was all devastating. I’d never dealt with losing anyone close to me, and I didn’t know where to put it in my life.

His looking at it from over there and it not being a part of his history made it so he could be objective.

Heroes put to the test, keeping a promise, doing their best.

The Hank Williams Syndrome: Come to Nashville, write some good songs, cut some hit records, make money, take all the drugs you can and drink all you can, become a wild man and all of a sudden die.

So I’m not very popular here with those inside the system, as you might guess. I never wanted to be.

The villains have turned into heroes. The heroes have turned into heals.

You need a wisecracking buddy standing next to you? That’s the role for me. You got the guys who are knock-down, drag-out handsome. That’s what people want to see. Let that guy be the hero. But there’s always a role for the Everyman.

But Buddy was an upper. He was happy. He loved music, and he was really happy. I don’t know…

The rock and roll spirit. I learned a lot of that because I worked with Buddy Holly. I played bass with him, and he taught me a lot about that.

Mainly what I learned from Buddy… was an attitude. He loved music, and he taught me that it shouldn’t have any barriers to it.

I was very young then. Buddy taught me so much in such a short time.

I have come up at the end of a dive, and the boat was not where I left it. I had to take care of a buddy who did panic. But I was confident the boat would come back.

Like if I go to a movie for example, and I watch a movie, and I wasn’t a fan of it. I don’t mind turning to my family or some buddies