Otis Blackwell Quotes

People are quite shocked when you remind them that Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra never wrote a song that they recorded in their lives, as far as I know.

When I was 17-years-old, I was in the music business.

I wrote songs with the guys from Air Supply for their record... So I was just writing songs.

Some artists will tell you that's all they want to do is write their own music, and that's great, but George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, they didn't write everything they recorded, and they've had major, major careers. I think it's all about the best song.

I didn't want to be a solo Westlife - covers and ballads - and the reason I signed with Capitol Records was because they wanted me to write songs myself. It was pretty scary, but they put me in a studio in Nashville with some new songwriters, and the results were pretty good.

I like to sing. I write music. Country songs. You have to if you're in Nashville. It's part of the lease. You sign a lease that says, I will write country songs and pay my rent on time.

It is never easy for anyone to have success in music.

I'm pretty much living my dream job, but one day I would love to dedicate more time to writing and performing my own music.

I was signed to a record label at the same time as my friend Elliot Murphy, who makes great records to this day.

I think, back in the day, when I was first starting to make music, all I wanted to do was to get a record deal.

I had pretty much raised my kids and my first wife and I were divorced, so I began, in earnest, to start my musical career again. Going for the big record deal and all of that.

I started writing music when I was around twelve. My current record company saw a video of me performing at my school's talent show.

I'll always write music. Whether I release a record, whether I let the public hear it or not, I'm always writing music.

Whenever I have time, I try to get in the studio and write, whether it's for me or other artists or my catalog of music. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of the music industry.

I'm hoping to become a recording artist and make albums and go on tour.

I attended a post-college program in L.A. for Music Business and Production. Took several courses involving Music Production, Arrangement, and Songwriting.

I did all the musicals in my high school; I was in a pop group signed to Cash Money Records in college. Music has always been a really big part of my life.

Yeah, man I am going to be writing a book soon. The reality of being in a rock band in the music business'.

Things began to pick up for me record-wise when in 1971 I wrote 'She's a Lady' for Tom Jones.

The kids of today have taken over the music business - most of them very young. Simply because they write and jot down a few notes, they have the idea that they can write songs.

Capitol Records were very keen for me to write and see how I got on; I think that is what defined my sound. The first session I had was with two young up-and-coming writers, Nick Atkinson and Tom Wilding, and I went into a session a bit nervous because I hadn't written that many songs before.

My producer, Michael Knox, he's kind of my eyes and ears on Music Row. While I'm out on the road, he's looking for songs, and then he and I will get together and go over songs.

I've never forgotten a single record I cut or a song I wrote.

I've been a solo artist for a year now, and I think I should start thinking about the future now. Every spare time I get, I want to be in the studio and work on music for 2015. It's a lot of work.

They told me that they are starting a classic label, and wanted me to be the first artist. So I signed, and am producing myself, and writing my own music, but I'm their first artist on their classic label. And I have creative control.