Isaac Hayes

Music opens up minds to dream great dreams about where you can go and what you can do.

The boppers flat their fifths. We consume ours.

Love songs last because they are about feelings that don’t change.

You know at an early age if you have a talent for music.

[On the word Jazz] There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s only a word. What’s in a name? Nothing! Cats say, Call me Muhammed so-and-so. But what’s the difference? A name doesn’t make the music. It’s just called that to differentiate it from other types of music. Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that’s it. No America, no jazz. I’ve seen people try to connect it to other countries, for instance to Africa, but it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with Africa.

A great thing about being a musician is you don’t stop until the day you die.

The fact that an artist is experiencing the joy of creation makes me feel like we’re in it together.

By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.

A band ought to have a sound all of its own. It ought to have a personality.

What we play is life.

I just fell in love with the integrity of the music and that was it.

She’s Dynamite’ was a 100 years ago, and I recorded that song because the company thought that it was a great song and it was hot. That was the beginning of rock n’ roll, and I guess they thought it would be a BB King version of rock n’ roll.

I don’t think anybody steals anything; all of us borrow.

Everybody did something. It was very entertaining. We had a lot of fun. Lot of fun. And there was no segregation, that I could see. I never saw any.

You never master the instrument. You always just strive to get better.