"What I've got to live up to, is being myself. If I do that, the rest will take care of itself."
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Quote collection
Ray Charles quotes (page 2 of 5)
82 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it."
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"I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great."
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"Music to me is just like breathing. I have to have it. It's part of me."
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"My mom taught me a lot. A lot about minding your own business and leaving other people's business alone. And let them think what they want."
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"Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal."
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"I really feel that if you're gonna be good, you gotta practice... Practice whatever the hell you do."
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"I'm not a jazz singer, blues singer or country singer. I'm a singer that can sing rhythm & blues, that can sing jazz, that can sing country. There's a big difference. In other words, I'm not a specialist."
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"Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming."
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"[On his heroin addiction:] I did it to myself. It wasn't society...it wasn't a pusher, it wasn't being blind or being black or being poor. It was all my doing."
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"Goodbye don't mean gone."
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"Crying's always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling, and feeling is being human."
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"I can't help what I sound like. What I sound like is what i am. You know? I cannot be anything other that what I am."
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"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."
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"Even though I'm not Jewish...Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting."
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"Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor."
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"I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style requires pure heart singing."
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"You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally. No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no forbidden fruit - just everyone getting and giving as much as he and she can."
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"Music is the chalk to the blackboard of life. Without it everything is a blank slate"
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"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."
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