When I start playing I'm just a rollercoaster of sound. I don't know what's coming next, I never do, and I sit and sign and talk to the people afterwards.

You can't eat fish. It's 6,000 parts DDT per million all over the world, not counting radiation.

I grew a love for helpless, defenseless things. People would give me lions and jaguars. I had cheetahs, monkeys.

I always wanted a guitar. I always wanted to be a cowboy singer because I also listened to Hank Williams, and he would always sing these neat romantic songs.

Buddy Rich was one of the most incredible technicians in the world, on this planet, but the only people he could really impress, who knew what he was doing was another musician or another drummer.

There's a saying. If you want someone to love you forever, buy a dog, feed it and keep it around.

I used to be a mean maniac. Someone once threw a firecracker at a show and I jumped off the side of the stage and whacked 'em on the side of the head.

The kids called me King of the Surf Guitar. I surfed sunup to sundown.

My uncle gave me a trumpet, but I loved the Louis Armstrong sound and the Harry James sound and I played by ear and I played always soulful or very direct from the gut.

My philosophy is the thicker the wood the thicker the sound, the bigger the string the bigger the sound. My smallest string is a 14 gauge.

I don't play pyrotechnic scales. I play about frustration, patience, anger. Music is an extension of my soul.

Hey, you know that thing Dostoyevesky wrote on gambling? It's like that. When you're surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.

Everybody will die, but very few people want to be reminded of that fact.

Social obligation is much bigger than supporting worthy causes. It includes anything that impacts people and the quality of their lives .

Nothing of course was ever done to Bill for the killing of Tutt.

Either you participate in the community like an adult or you leave and do your own thing.

For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers.

Bad writers have influences. Good writers steal.

Awards are always a pleasant surprise. They are the candy-floss parts of our job - a lovely added extra to attract people's attention. The bottom line is that you want to sell tickets.

Siva, O Siva, carry my boat to the other shore!

Greatness knows itself.