I've been told that nobody sings the word 'hunger' as I do.

I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years.

I never sing a song the same way twice.

When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.

New Orleans is the only city in the world you go in to buy a pair of nylon stockings they want to know your head size.

I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know.

The only reason they're out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.

Lust may be in the heart, though it be not seen by others; as guests may be in the house, though they look not out at the windows.

I try to improvise like Les Young, Louis Armstrong or someone else I admire. What comes out is what I feel.

If I don't have friends, then I ain't nothing.

If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you're out of your mind. There are more kicks to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung.

The blues to me is like being very sad, very sick, going to church, being very happy ... it's sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it.

God bless the child that's got his own.

Love is like a faucet, it turns off and on.

There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up.

And when you're poor, you grow up fast.

Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen and I was three.

I can only sing songs my way. I don't know any other way.

If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all.