I Never Had A Chance To Play

I Think I Copied My Style From Louis Armstrong. Because I Used To Like The Big Volume And The Big Sound That Bessie Smith Got When She Sang ... So I Liked The Feeling That Louis Got And I Wanted The Big Volume That Bessie Smith Got. But I Found That It Didn't Work With Me, Because I Didn't Have A Big Voice. So Anyway Between The Two Of Them I Sorta Got Billie Holiday.

I Hate Straight Singing. I Have To Change A Tune To My Own Way Of Doing It. That's All I Know.

I Try To Improvise Like Les Young, Louis Armstrong Or Someone Else I Admire. What Comes Out Is What I Feel.

I Never Hurt Nobody But Myself And That's Nobody's Business But My Own.

If You Copy, It Means You're Working Without Any Real Feeling. No Two People On Earth Are Alike, And It's Got To Be That Way In Music Or It Isn't Music.