BLUES QUOTES
Compiled by Bill Hillman
Rock & roll seemed to just come to us, on the radio and in the record
stores. It became our music. . . But then we uncovered another,
deeper level, the history behind rock and R&B, the music behind
our music. All roads led to the source, which was the blues. ~ Martin Scorsese
Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If
a guy's playing blues like we play, he's in high school. When he starts
playing jazz it's like going on to college, to a school of higher learning.
~ B. B. King
Jazz came to America three hundred years
ago in chains. ~ Paul Whiteman
The Blues is the roots, everything else
is the fruits. ~ Willie Dixon
Sounds like the blues are composed of feeling,
finesse, and fear. ~ Billy Gibbons / ZZ Top
As far as I'm concerned, blues and jazz
are the great American contributions to music. ~ Edgar Winter
The history of a people is found in its
songs. ~ George Jellinek
Ain't but one kind of blues and that consists
of a male and female that's in love. ~ Son House
The blues -- it's kind of like a religion,
really. ~ Peter Green
Music is my religion ~ Jimi Hendrix
Elvis deserves a lot of credit for bringing
the blues to middle America, not the Vegas stuff. The early stuff, The
Sun records, and the first few RCA records. He was wonderful, he had the
power, the drive, and he was so dedicated to his music. ~ Peter Tork
Without Elvis, none of us could have made
it. ~ Buddy Holly
When I first heard Elvis' voice, I knew
that I wasn't going to work for anybody ... hearing him for the first time
was like busting out of jail. ~ Bob Dylan
Scotty Moore plays one of the first really
amazing riffs in rock history on Heartbreak Hotel with Elvis Presley ...
it was dangerous, it scared everybody's parents, which was part of the
attraction then - as it still is now... it totally blindsided me and made
me want to get a guitar and do that ... ~ Roger McGuinn / Byrds
So much of what we do now started in 1954
at Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee ... those guys were inventing that
stuff (Rock & Roll) ... you can really tell on some tracks ... they
were actually afraid at times of what they were playing. But Rock &
Roll definitely didn't come before that time; it started right there. ~
Brian Setzer - Stray Cats / Brian Setzer Orchestra
Ask anyone. If it hadn't been for Elvis,
I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started
it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me. ~ Elton John
Music should be something that makes you
gotta move, inside or outside. ~ Elvis Presley
The blues -- there's no black and white
-- it's the truth. ~ Van Morrison
The Beatles and The Stones were basically
inspired by American Rhythm and Blues. ~ Mick Taylor
There are happy blues, sad blues, lonesome
blues, red-hot blues, mad blues, and loving blues. Blues is a testimony
to the fullness of life. ~ Corey Harris
What Muddy Waters did for us is what we
should do for others. It's the old thing, what you want written on your
tombstone as a musician; HE PASSED IT ON. ~ Keith Richards
If it ain't about what's real, what's happenin'
right now, it ain't the blues. ~ Chris Thomas King
It's no doubt that there's a connection
(between the blues and hip-hop). Hip-hop is definitely a child of the blues.
And I think you gotta know the roots to really grow. It's like knowing
your parents, it's like knowing your culture, so you could be proud of
that culture and take it to the world. ~ Common
I feel like the blues is actually some
kind of documentary of the past and the present -- and something to give
people inspiration for the future. ~ Willie Dixon
Blues has been borrowed from and stolen
from, and altered and changed over the years in many ways, but when you
hear that real thing, it stands out. Everyone can tell what blues is and
isn't. Blues is something that will not go away, no matter how little airplay
it gets or how little acknowledgment it gets. It's the fundamental roots
of American music. ~ John Hammond
If it wasn't for the British musicians,
a lot of us black musicians in America would still be catchin' the hell
that we caught long before. So thanks to them, thanks to all you guys.
You opened doors that I don't think would have been opened in my lifetime.
When white America started paying attention to the blues -- it started
opening a lot of doors that had been closed to us. ~ B.B. King
Rock'n'roll is nothing but Boogie Woogie
with stuff on top of it. And if you're black, they name it rhythm'n'blues,
and if you're white, they name it rock'n'roll. So, I don't give a... You
know. ~ Ike Turner
You can't rehearse a blues, darlin'. ~
Joe Williams
The old jazz singers or old blues singers,
you always just saw them kind of sitting down and singing. They weren't
worried as much about their voice sounding perfect. They would make the
song kind of fit their voice. ~ Lucinda Williams
I'm using Fender Twin Reverbs and Fender
Blues Devilles on stage. ~ Ike Turner
Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.
~ Jimi Hendrix
I still think the best metal bands have
a blues feel. The first Black Sabbath album is kind of a bludgeoning of
blues. Deep Purple also started out as a blues band. ~ Greg Ginn
In those days, I didn't know how guys like
Clapton and Beck were getting that searing blues lead sound, so I developed
my style to be rhythmic and chord-based, with simple lead lines that you
could almost hum. ~ John Fogerty
Blues is a natural fact, is something that
a fellow lives. If you don't live it you don't have it. Young people have
forgotten to cry the blues. Now they talk and get lawyers and things. ~
Big Bill Broonzy
The blues is the foundation, and it's got
to carry the top. The other part of the scene, the rock 'n' roll and the
jazz, are the walls of the blues. ~ Luther Allison
A lot of blues guitarists play with only
three fingers, and they can't figure out certain runs that require the
use of their little fingers. Classical training is good for that. ~ Ritchie
Blackmore
Approach your guitar intelligently, and
if there are limits, don't deny them. Work within your restrictions. Somethings
you can do better than others, some things you can't do as well. So accentuate
the positive. ~ Chet Atkins
Protect your hands! Some fans demonstrate
their enthusiam with bone-crushing hand shakes. My former teacher Julian
Bream often bows Japanese style with his hands behind his back. Smart man
!... ~ Liona Boyd
Beethoven can write music, thank God, but
he can do nothing else on earth. ~ Ludwig Van Beethoven
I too once belived in the heavier gauge
string as a superior tone source. However, thanks to the graciousness of
B.B. King I learned that a lighter-gauge string offers superior playing
comfort ... try it, you may like it ... ~ Billy F. Gibbons - Z.Z.
Top
The result was the same as tuning down
the strings by a semitone and using a capo at the first fret. With less
tension in the strings, the sound was more mellow and softer; it also allowed
me to cover a larger span of the fingerboard. I used this for quite a few
years, but eventually I went back to the standard fingerboard. ~ Tal Farlow
- Jazz Guitar
I always like the studio best, once I got
the hang of it and the control. I like it because it's complete control.
~ John Lennon / Beatles
Everyone has their own sound, and if you're
heard enough, folks will come to recognize it. Style however, is a different
thing. Try to express your own ideas. It's much more difficult to do, but
the rewards are there if you're good enough to pull it off ... ~ Chet Atkins
You watch Jimi Hendrix literally reinvent
the instrument. He was playing from somewhere else. He was really a kind
of hybrid, and I can't even begin to imagine where he came from. ~
Steve Vai
You could play probably a span of 50 years
of me playing St. Louis Blues, and most of the time it will be different
every time. ~ Dave Brubeck
Once I was checking to hotel and a couple
saw my ring with Blues on it. They said, 'You play blues. That music is
so sad.' I gave them tickets to the show, and they came up afterwards and
said, 'You didn't play one sad song.' ~ Buddy Guy
See, that's nothing but blues, that's all
I'm singing about. It's today's blues. ~ Jimi Hendrix
The musicians that didn't know music could
play the best blues. I know that I don't want no musicians who know all
about music playin' for me. ~ Alberta Hunter
My idea of heaven is a place where the
Tyne meets the Delta, where folk music meets the blues. ~ Mark Knopfler
Anybody singing the blues is in a deep
pit yelling for help. ~ Mahalia Jackson
Skiffle was blues featuring a washboard
and acoustic instruments. It encompassed blues, with elements of folk,
jazz, and, at times, American country-and-western music. ~ Van Morrison
I think a guy who's had just the right
amount of booze can sing the blues a hell of a lot better than a guy who
is stone sober. ~ Charlie Rich
We had a missionary zeal about blues music,
and I felt, particularly, that Mickie Most was attempting to homogenize,
sweeten, and make it accessible for the mass market. Which is understandable
if you're the producer, but aggravating if you're the artist. ~ Alan Price
That's what Tina Turner did, too - sang
blues up-tempo - and they called it rock 'n' roll. ~ Little Richard
The consolidation of the music business
has made it difficult to encourage styles like the blues, all of which
deserve to be celebrated as part of our most treasured national resources.
~ Bonnie Raitt
I'm certain that it was an incredible gift
for me to not only be friends with some of the greatest blues people who've
ever lived, but to learn how they played, how they sang, how they lived
their lives, ran their marriages, and talked to their kids. ~ Bonnie Raitt
As a guitar player, you can gravitate to
the blues because you can play it easily. It's not a style that's difficult
to pick up. It's purely emotive and dead easy to get a start with. ~ Boz
Scaggs
My take on rap is driven by straightforward
American southern rock and blues. ~ Kid Rock
Simple music is the hardest music to play
and blues is simple music. ~ Albert Collins
If you hit a wrong note, then make it right
by what you play afterwards. ~ Joe Pass / Jazz Guitar
I've always wanted the sound of Muddy Waters'
early records - only louder. ~ Eric Clapton
Just as a blues player can play 20 blues
songs in a row but find a way to make each one different, ... I always
want to find different ways to do something. Joe Satriani
Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make
you happy. ~ Homer Simpson
White folks hear the blues come out, but
they don't know how it got there. ~ Ma Rainey
I've always felt that blues, rock 'n' roll
and country are just about a beat apart. ~Waylon Jennings
It occurred to me by intuition, and music
was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the result
of musical perception. (When asked about his theory of relativity) ~ Albert
Einstein
I don't know anything about music, In my
line you don't have to. ~ Elvis Presley
. . .a good player can make any guitar
sound good ~ Michael Bloomfield
2,400,000 Americans play the accordion
- hopefully not at the same time. ~ unknown
You can't over-hype Sam Phillips ... think
of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins,
Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King: if you were associated with just one of those
names, you'd be immortal. ~ Andy McLenon
Give me a riff that makes a kid want to
go out and buy a guitar and learn to play ... ~ Ozzy Osbourne
Elvis Presleys' first album had more energy
and more enthusiam than any other album at the time - when it was released
it just blew everything else out. It changed the whole landscape of music.
~ Brian Setzer - Stray Cats
When Lonnie Mack came out with the guitar
instrumental "Memphis" I thought, Oh God, finally somebody we guitar players
can relate to ! ~ Dicky Betts / Allman Bros. Band
The blues appealed to me, but so did rock.
The early rockabilly guitarists like Cliff Gallup and Scotty Moore were
just as important to me as the blues guitarists... ~ Jimmy Page /
Yardbirds / Led Zepplin
You think back to Tele players, and James
Burton was the one who started it all. He inspired Roy Nichols (guitar
for Merle Haggard & the Strangers), Don Rich (guitar for Buck Owens
& the Buckaroos), and guys like that to push the envelope and expand
on that sound... I really identify with that kind of thinking ... those
guys to me are the reason why any of us do this... ~ Brad Paisley
All of the great sounds that James Burton
and Jimmy Bryant were getting, came out of Telecasters" - Albert Lee
Charlie Christian's contributions to the
electric guitar are as big as Thomas Edisons' contributions to the world...
~ Barney Kessel
My policy is not how fast you play, it's
not how much you play but it's what you play and where you play it ...
play for the commercial side of the music ... the word I still use today
is called "simplicity" .. it is so important that you use simplicity in
your playing and in your music ... ~ James Burton / Lead Guitar Elvis Presley,
Ricky Nelson, EmmyLou Harris, John Denver
In 1938 I went out to Tulsa, Oklahoma to
see Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys perform. After the set, a bunch of
musicians were sitting around talking, and I remember seeing this young
black fellow standing around. He came over and asked if I had an extra
pick. I gave him one, and then he asked for my autograph. I asked him if
he played. He said 'yes' and began to pick. I'll never forget what I said
- 'My God, you're good !' that was the first time I met Charlie Christian.
... as a guitarist Charlie was simply the best around ... he had a way
of getting on one note and driving it right into the ground. I figured
if you're going to be great, you've got to play a lot of notes, right?
not Charlie - he'd hit one note and he'd own it ... ~ Les Paul
I've come up with the theory that the music
is within. We don't bring it in; it's already there. We have to figure
out how to get it out. ~ Howard Roberts - Jazz Guitar
I don't like to go into the studio with
all the songs worked out and planned before hand ... you've got to give
the band something to use its imagination on as well. That can make a very
ordinary song come alive into something totally different ... the X-factor
- so important in rock and roll - which is the feel.. ~ Keith Richards
/ Rolling Stones
The music you make is shaped by what you
play it on ... if you feel that you're not getting enough out of a song,
change the instrument - go from an acoustic to an electric or vice versa,
or try an open tuning ... do something to shake it up... ~ Mark Knopfler
/ Dire Straits
Sam Phillips always encouraged me to do
it my way, to use what ever other influences I wanted, but never to copy
... that was a great rare gift he gave me: believe in myself, right from
the start of my recording career... if there hadn't been a Sam Phillips,
I might still be working in a cotton field ~ Johnny Cash
Lenny Breau played more great stuff at
one time than anybody on the planet... with feeling and tone. He was the
best that ever lived, bar none. ~ Danny Gatton
Hell is a half-filled auditorium. ~ Robert
Frost
I've outdone anyone you can name -- Mozart,
Beethoven, Bach, Strauss. Irving Berlin, he wrote 1,001 tunes. I wrote
5,500. ~ James Brown
A good composer does not imitate; he steals.
~ Igor Stravinsky
Music makes me high on stage, and that's
the truth. It's like being almost addicted to music. - Jimi Hendrix
There are two means of refuge from the
miseries of life: music and cats. ~ Albert Schweitzer
Music is the shorthand of emotion. ~ Leo
Tolstoy
The pause is as important as the note.
~ Truman Fisher
Silence is the fabric upon which the notes
are woven. ~ Lawrence Duncan
By far the most astonishing guitar player
ever has got to be Django Reinhardt ... Django was quite superhuman, There's
nothing normal about him as a person or a player ... and you can't forget
Gene Vincent's guitarist Cliff Gallup ... he was my guiding light through
my teenage years ... if you want to take a broader view, I think country
guitarist Albert Lee is a gas ... there's also Paul Burlison, who played
with Johnny Burnette ... people don't think of Les Paul as a rocker, but
as far as I'm concerned he laid down the building blocks of rock and roll
.. from a jazz perspective there's Charlie Christian, Thumbs Carlyle, Grant
Green - they're all fabulous players... you can't forget Buddy Guy, I once
saw him throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord ...
Eddie Van Halen brought tapping to the forefront and I still think he was
one of the tastiest players doing it ... George Harrisons got great intonation
... Eric Clapton is certainly the ambassador ... he's the guy everybody
makes reference to, He's the household name for electric guitar, blues
and rock and roll ... Erics got so much to offer, in addition to playing
so well, he gives the world songs they can identify with ... ~ Jeff Beck
He not busy being born is busy dying. ~
Bob Dylan
For so long we plowed different furrows
... the greats ... be it of country, rhythm & blues, rock 'n' roll
... you know what they were doing? They were messing with your heart and
soul. That's what it was. Nothing has the strength, the power of music.
~ Sam Phillips
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