If You Can Play The Blues, You

[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.

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.

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.

Many Times During Auditions, I Was Told That I Couldn't Carry A Note With A Bucket, And That I Sure Couldn't Play The Piano.

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.