For some reason, the concept of writing with swing chords was intimidating.

By ’65, I worked myself into hearing a little better and I was up to Jimmy Raney. I had a pretty good ear for it but I’ve never been able to play it.

I just spent 11 and a half months in a maximum-security jail, got shot five times, and was wrongly convicted of a crime I didn’t commit.

All I do is party.

And if there’s any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there’s any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara.

I preferred to study those subjects that were of interest to me.

I have had shoulder injuries in the past, but usually it’s from training.

I like to say I’m more conservative than Goldwater. He just wanted to turn the clock back to when there was no income tax.

Kill Rock Stars allowed me to put out a real genuine rock ‘n’ roll record.

Ain’t nobody making music to not be heard and the easiest way to be heard is to be on the radio, but you should never compromise who you are, your values or your morals.

I will never do a record without some sense of responsibility.

When I listen to music today, it is about 99 percent classical. I rarely even listen to folk music, the music of my own specialty, because folk music is to me more limited than classical...

There were people coming in here from New York, California, Chicago, all different places that had publishing companies, trying to buy my songs.

We were sitting on the bus one day and there were 5 of us hanging out. There was only one beer left in the cooler and we actually all took a little cup and split...

I don’t feel I made any sacrifices at all. I’m doing my best to juggle.

The first album was 99 percent hard core to show you I was the best rhymer in the world.

To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings – it’s all a miracle. I have adopted the technique of living life miracle to miracle.

It’s a tough thing to know that when you’re making your album, you’re going to end up collaborating with, say, Wal-Mart, on your artwork. That just sucks. And the pressure behind getting the numbers real...

We don’t have milk cows. People have so many stereotypes of people from where I come from-Oklahoma. We don’t ride around in covered wagons, either.

So writing was always like a reclusive thing, like I would go in my room, late at night, and I’d write and vent whatever was on my mind.

But I think that any young drummer starting out today should get himself a great teacher and learn all there is to know about the instrument that he wants to play.

I appreciate the additional additives and preservatives that help sell a project, but I’m sticking to what works best for me. I gotta sell the album live on stage and make people believe in the...

And I’ll tell you something, man, usually our sets are 45 minutes, maybe do an encore or two, maybe tops we’ll play for an hour.

My father instilled in me the attitude of prevailing. If there’s a challenge, go for it. If there’s a wall to break down, break it down.

Coming out of college with a degree in fine arts and painting isn’t worth much any more.

It’s something that – jazz is one of the few things that you can go and listen to, I don’t care where you’re from, what you are, what background you come from – there’s something...

Love is the reason you were born.

We can’t thank Dave enough. He could call me if my wife was about to have a baby and tell me he needed tonight for his show and I’d find some way to get her...

I’ve always been an avid reader. If I don’t have a book in the car, I’ll stop and pick one up just to have something to read. I don’t even remember learning to read.

I’ve saved every dime I’ve made in my life.

It’s a little gross to put yourself in every song. I mean, how interesting do people really think you are?

I learned how important it is to entertain people and give them a reason to come and watch you play.

Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.

I am perfectly willing for my music to exist with somebody else’s taste.

Bob Dylan is quite a songwriter, and a great singer and musician. I won’t bother with comparing myself to him, but I will say that I heard his records at a very young age and...

Having felt people’s love and support first hand through difficult moments in my life makes me feel it’s our responsibility to help one another.

We lived on a farm in the English countryside, where we wrote a lot of our music. You really were treated like an artist during those days-not like product, which is now the mode.

I had to do this very aggressive, big score in a very short time, and knowing that in the beginning, middle, and end would be this very, very famous theme, but I still had to...

And they kind of left to find a guitar player at the very end, so you know, I don’t really take it as any slight that I wasn’t able to play on the record. It’s...

I have no reason to sit home and write songs all day without going out and playing for the folks. And I have no reason to go play for the folks unless I’m writing new...

I don’t like to talk about things where you’re going to gt one side or the other unhappy. My music has no politics.

The country is making a big mistake not teaching kids to cook and raise a garden and build fires.

I really live a simple life and don’t need very much to feel good and happy. Don’t get me wrong; I believe you should get what you earn. Sometimes you have to fight for it.

I had met Arthur in the 60’s when I was with the Mothers and had become good friends. He had moved to Austin because his wife was from there.

I can’t take days off and play like I did last night. Maybe some people can, but I can’t.

I’m always thinking about the next record. I’ve got like 20 different themes and then I’ll scratch the themes. It’s a learning process.

I definitely feel a difference about my place in the industry. I feel like I have some longevity now.

After a couple of failed attempts, I came up with a weird tuning where I was dropping the G string down a step so that it became a seventh, and it got me to a...

This time, there were no drugs involved. The hours were completely normal daytime hours. I think we were able to appreciate the interplay, where before we had taken it for granted.

I just believe in my Indian, spiritual god and my music.