Rick Nielsen Quotes

I didn't want to be one of the Beach Boys or one of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. I mean, we appreciated that music. But I didn't want to grow a beard to look like Roy Wood just because I liked him.

The Beatles never sounded intimidated by their idols. They never interpreted old rock; they simply played it as well and as joyfully as they knew how. On 'Rock 'n' Roll,' John Lennon does nothing but interpret old rock.

In the physical universe, there are objects that include suns, planets, all life, and all matter in all dimensions. And then there is the space where all these things exist. That space is the vital element. For virtually every kid since 1968 who picked up a guitar to find his voice on the instrument, Jimmy Page has been the space that enables all our notes to be played.

When children start to speak they find their own voice by imitating the sounds around them. It would follow that bands do the same. Bands will find their own voice at some point.

You might lose your spontaneity and, instead of composing first-rate Gershwin, end up with second rate Ravel.

You know, somebody mentioned that I was sort of a jazz-pop singer. And I'm thrilled that somebody would find that, at last, in my presentation, because it's such a part of where I live.

They have all different names for music. I think the music I'm going to change the style with is going to be really, really big-years and years after I'm gone.

Some people think I'm a rock 'n' roll musician and some think I'm a jazz musician but, for me, there is no difference.

I think that of my 21 symphonies, each has its own place.

It's funny, because music is one of those things it is natural to go into. You hear it so much growing up, it kind of permeates you and eventually you spew out some music of your own.

I have a very difficult time describing my music.

My voice is a combination of how I grew up and what I was listening to growing up. I like a lot of different kinds of music and am always being inspired in different ways by different artists for different reasons.

Definitely I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell, and I think she is a wonderful writer, so she is probably part of me.

I love the pioneers like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but when I write music, it comes out in my own way.

Music was very influential on me as a kid.

I didn't want to go out and change anything. I just wanted to make the music that was part of my background, which was rock and blues and hip-hop.

I have a very difficult time describing my music. Because I run into people in the hardware store and they go, 'Oh, you're a musician. So what kind of music do you play?' And I go, 'Uh, I've been doin' this for many years - I don't know what to call it.'

When I started workin' with Muddy. That convinced me that I could get away with doin' the blues.

I've patterned myself after my musical heroes.

I have been influenced by music. I grew up listening to blues, jazz and all.

Our music did not sound like the Beatles in any way, shape or form. I could never find it in myself to use those Beatles tricks in Styx records because they were sacred to me. But what they did always influenced my thinking.

A lot of music that's my favorite doesn't sound like the music I write.

You have to understand, that's all I've ever wanted: for London to have a credible musical voice. I will honestly, honestly die happy knowing that I saw it happen.

I can't really describe my sound.

In fact, the influence of Schoenberg may be overwhelming on his followers, but the significance of his art is to be identified with influences of a more subtle kind - not the system, but the aesthetic, of his art. I am quite conscious of the fact that my Chansons madécasses are in no way Schoenbergian, but I do not know whether I ever should have been able to write them had Schoenberg never written.