My Music Had Roots Which I'd Dug

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.

I Used To Sing Like Nat King Cole. I Mean He Was The Guy When I Was Comin' Up, And You Know, Man, People Used To Say Of Me, "damn, He Sure Do Sound Like Nat King Cole." But There Was A Day, And Luckily For Me It Was Early, When I Woke Up And Asked Myself, "well, When Are The Ask Me To Sing Because I Sound Like Me?" So My Advice Is, Never Do Anything That You Don't Like.

Just Because You Can't See Anything , Doesn't Mean You Should Shut Your Eyes.

I Just Want To Make My Mark, Leave Something Musically Good Behind.

Sometimes My Dreams Are So Deep That I Dream That I'm Dreaming.