If it hadn’t been for record people like Ralph Peer, the Chess brothers, and Alan Lomax, then life would’ve been unbelievably dull, and I would’ve been sacking groceries somewhere and probably, at this point, running a little 7-Eleven down by the airport. Ry Cooder Read Quote
Santa Monica, where I have always lived, is not a town where you will find storefront Church of God in Christ churches. So, the whole idea of gospel quartet singing is something I never knew existed until I began to hear it on record. Ry Cooder Read Quote
You have to be able to improvise and respond to what’s going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work done. Ry Cooder Read Quote
The ’50s was the golden age of music all over the world for some crazy, ‘X-File’-like reason I can’t quite understand. Ry Cooder Read Quote
Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn’t enough. Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. Ry Cooder Read Quote
If you’re taught to hate and fear a people or a country, and it works, it’s because of your ignorance of that country. You have no contact with it, nor do you know what you’re hating and fearing. Ry Cooder Read Quote
I keep my mind on track, and I don’t get mad, and I don’t get frustrated. Well, I do… but creative work, it’s a way of controlling all that. Ry Cooder Read Quote
