I’ve never thought the blues was a matter of copying other people. The blues singer should sing songs about his own life. And once the ball got rolling, I felt confident enough to do that as well as cover other people’s songs, and the tributes. You’ve got to think about representing your own life in the music, and for me that meant bringing in an element of jazz; I was brought up on jazz, it was my father’s work, it was in the house.

John Mayall

More quotes by John Mayall

I keep healthy and I’m always very active and always have been so. I don’t really see any signs of aging yet. Music keeps you young.

John Mayall

The way I look at it, they’re all part of my musical diary, and I can listen to any one of them and it will bring up memories of what was going on at that time.

John Mayall

Everybody I know in England was raised on Mose Allison.

John Mayall

Joe’s been my drummer for 14 years, and we’ve been buddies for six years.

John Mayall

You have to pack as much as you can in an hour or 70 minutes. This time around it was 15 songs, so it was a challenge to get them all the right length so you could get them all on.

John Mayall

I never really thought about becoming a professional musician.

John Mayall

More quotes about Music

There’s so much music out there and so many possibilities. I like anyone who plays any instrument.

Bill Frisell

There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them.

Louis Armstrong

Jazz translates the moment into a sense of inspiration for not only the musicians but for the listeners.

Herbie Hancock

With the birth of the first artist, came the inevitable afterbirth… the first critic

Orson Welles

Music’s a good thing, it calm the beast in the man.

Joseph Stalin

Anybody can write music of a sort. But touching the public heart is quite another thing.

John Philip Sousa

Bass players are always the intellectual kind, but nobody knows it.

Stanley Clarke

I think that those elements – light and sound – are beyond democratic. They’re into the creative part of life.

Ornette Coleman

It’s easy to play any musical instrument, just touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.

J. S. Bach

Art [Blakey] would take young people with a potential and help them develop a voice as a player and as a writer.

Benny Green

I try to teach by example and not force ideas on a young musician. We’re here to be part of a process of exchange.

Dizzy Gillespie

Play it f**kin’ loud!

Bob Dylan

Hipness is not a state of mind, it’s a fact of life.

Cannonball Adderley

The problem is that a lot of the blues stations are late on Saturday night, and like a lot of people, I ain’t no vampire!

B. B. King

I always try to teach by example and not force my ideas on a young musician. One of the reasons we’re here is to be a part of this process of exchange.

Dizzy Gillespie