My parents were on the Grand Ole Opry. They traveled all over the country singing hillbilly music. That’s what they called it back then. They were friends with Roy Acuff and the Delmore Brothers and the Carter Family. And all of my brothers and sisters who were older than me started on the show, after they were big enough to hold a guitar and sing. Charlie Haden Read Quote
One of the things my mom used to do – I don’t know why she chose me, but she chose me out of her six children to take to the African-American church that was in the town that we lived in Springfield, Missouri. And we would go to the church, and we would sit in the back row, and we would listen to all of the spirituals in the hymns. Charlie Haden Read Quote
I want to take people away from the ugliness and sadness around us every day and bring beautiful, deep music to as many people as I can. Charlie Haden Read Quote
There’s like a special group of people that come from different parts of the planet to study with me. It’s nice. I just gave a workshop in Boston at the New England Conservatory, which was really nice. Charlie Haden Read Quote
As long as there are musicians who have a passion for spontaneity, for creating something that’s never been before, the art form of jazz will flourish. Charlie Haden Read Quote
When I was four, we moved to a farm outside Springfield, Missouri. We had a radio show from that farmhouse. My dad always wanted a farm. We used to go out and milk the cows every morning and then do a radio show with a remote control from our living room. We’d start by singing ‘Keep On The Sunny Side.’ Charlie Haden Read Quote
One of the things polio does is it takes away your energy. They don’t know very much about it. They should be a lot more aware of what polio is. Charlie Haden Read Quote
James Cotton is a real blues guy, and he played with Muddy Waters, and it surprised me that they would want me to make a record with them, that he called me to do this record. I’d never done anything like that before. But I love blues, so I was very happy. Charlie Haden Read Quote
I never heard anything so brilliant in my life as I did that first time I heard Ornette. He played like some revolutionary angel. Soon, we were rehearsing in his place, music scattered everywhere, and he was telling me to play outside the chord changes, which was exactly what I had been wanting to do. Now I had permission. Charlie Haden Read Quote
