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Before I begin, let me say right here and now that I'm a country boy. And, man, I mean the real backwoods! That's at the start of the start of the thing, and that's at the heart of the thing.

Ray Charles

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Ray Charles
Age: 71 †
Born: 1932
Born: September 23
Died: 2004
Died: June 10
Composer
Jazz Musician
Music Arranger
Musician
Pianist
Recording Artist
Saxophonist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Soul Musician
Vocalist
Albany
Georgia
Ray Charles Robinson
Raymond Charles Robinson Peter
Thing
Begin
Men
Boys
Start
Country
Right
Real
Mean
Heart
Backwoods

More quotes by Ray Charles

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Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically.
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I can't help what I sound like. What I sound like is what i am. You know? I cannot be anything other that what I am.
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Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming.
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There's nothing written in the Bible, Old or New testament, that says, 'If you believe in Me, you ain't going to have no troubles.'
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The fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done.
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You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally. No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no forbidden fruit - just everyone getting and giving as much as he and she can.
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I don't sing a song unless I feel it. The song don't tug at my heart, I pass on it. I have to believe in what I'm doing.
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Art Tatum -- he was a genius. And Einstein, not me.
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Music is the chalk to the blackboard of life. Without it everything is a blank slate
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Many times during auditions, I was told that I couldn't carry a note with a bucket, and that I sure couldn't play the piano.
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I always stay out of the rehearsal room you know when they first come in. Then once they had chance to play a little bit, then I walk in. Because I've seen guys fall apart.
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There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment.
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I cant retire from music any more than I can retire from my liver. Youd have to remove the music from me surgically—like you were taking out my appendix.
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When I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it.
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There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.
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I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of
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Goodbye don't mean gone.
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The role of the designer is basically that of a good host, anticipating the needs of the guest.
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I never said I was a genius. I never said I was a cornerstone. I've never said I'm a legend in my own time. You never heard me say nothing like that.
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When I'm having a rehearsal and there are new guys who come in to try out for the job, I always let my conductor rehearse them. Because I don't want the guy to get bent out of shape, because I walk in.
Ray Charles