I Really Feel That If You're Gonna

I Think That Most Great Artists Who Are Extremely Known, As I Am, Would Intimidate A Lot Of People. I Don't Want To Do That To People, But I Know I Do.

Rhythm And Blues Used To Be Called Race Music. ... This Music Was Going On For Years, But Nobody Paid Any Attention To It.

When I Started To Sing Like Myself - As Opposed To Imitating Nat Cole, Which I Had Done For A While - When I Started Singing Like Ray Charles, It Had This Spiritual And Churchy, This Religious Or Gospel Sound. It Had This Holiness And Preachy Tone To It. It Was Very Controversial. I Got A Lot Of Criticism For It.

The Words To Country Songs Are Very Earthy Like The Blues. They're Not As Dressed Up And The People Are Very Honest And Say, 'look, I Miss You Darlin', So I Went Out And Got Drunk In This Bar.' That's The Way You Say It. Where In Tin Pan Alley They Would Say, 'oh I Missed You Darling, So I Went To This Restaurant And I Sat Down And Had A Dinner For One.' That's Cleaned Up Now, You See? But Country And Blues Tells It Like It Is.

I'd Like To Think That When I Sing A Song, I Can Let You Know All About The Heartbreak, Struggle, Lies And Kicks In The Ass I've Gotten Over The Years For Being Black And Everything Else, Without Actually Saying A Word About It.