Ray Charles quotes

I am not a country singer. I'm not a jazz singer. I am not a blues singer. What I am is I am a singer that can sing country music. I can sing the blues. I can sing a love song, but I'm not a specialist like you would say B.B. King is a blues singer.

A lot of people thought that it was too religious and I was bastardizing the church, and, ah, man, we got all kinds of criticism for that.

She knew I was going to lose my eyesight. And so since she knew I was going to lose my sight, she started showing me how to get around and how to do things without seeing.

I can tell you I never understood how somebody can be against me and yet let me cook their food for them, feed them, you know. Don't make sense, does it?

See, so when I went into the South and did these — they knew that the songs I was doing was me. I was not trying to be nobody but me.

Your mom always told you to be yourself, and you've got to be yourself if you're going to make it in this business.

I really tried to patent myself after Nat Cole in the early beginnings of my career.

She really is responsible for me being what I am today, because she instilled in me that it was vital that I be independent.

Truthfully, because I love it. I've always loved it as a kid.

I start with the lyrics. What are the lyrics saying to me? What kind of story are they telling me?

I went to all the BYPU meetings and the Sunday school and the Sunday morning service and the evening service and the revival meetings.

Later on, after some other people started doing it, then they started calling it soul music.

I love this place. It's the only home I've truly had for most of my professional career and I thank the City of Los Angeles for their efforts to make the studios a special part of Los Angeles history.