Thomas Chatterton Williams Quotes

From the spiritual came the blues, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues. I heard all of that music growing up, and that has influenced how I approached classical music. I'm sure of it.

You literally cannot deny the fact that rock and roll was born because of blues, and blues is black man's music.

Rhythm and blues used to be called race music. ... This music was going on for years, but nobody paid any attention to it.

Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.

I think we as a band, as individuals, understand that all popular music stems from blues and jazz and even pop, but rock 'n' roll especially comes from blues.

I always liked jazz. And my people liked the old blues, race records and the doo-wop and all that.

Blues is a big part of rock and roll. The best rock and roll got its birth in the blues. You hear it in Little Richard and Chuck Berry.

If nothing else, we grew up loving the old blues artists and Ray Charles.

I love OneRepublic, The Script, All Time Low. I love pretty much every genre. I love the Rolling Stones and Elvis.

Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be 'black music.' There is a natural synergy between the three.

It was the early days of Rock 'n' Roll in this country. We were all struggling to learn music, it might be Country, Jazz, Classical, Blues or even Rock 'n' Roll.

White folks hear the blues come out, but they don't know how it got there.

My dad has always been a big Ray Charles fan, and I've grown up listening to all kinds of music.

As much as I am hip-hop, I'm soul. As much as I am soul, I'm a turntablist. As much as I'm a DJ, I love jazz and rock.

I was always drawn to the blues. Alberta Hunter at the Cookery was a life-changing experience. I only wanted to get enriched as a performer as I got older, to have an audience which got older, too, and would come to see me when I'm 80.

It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive character.

Ninety-nine percent of the music that was of any interest to me when I was growing up came out of the black community.

I always loved LeAnn Rimes and especially Clint Black for his soulfulness. As I've gotten older, my influences have broadened - John Mayer, Michael Buble, Stevie Wonder, Keith Urban, Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Beatles - all of these artists have somehow been a part of my development as a songwriter.

The kid at 9 or 10 who knows who Billie Holiday is... that's the coolest thing ever.

If there was no black man there would be no Rock'n'Roll. The beat, the rhythms of Africa are what created Rock'n'Roll and Jazz.

I am one of the biggest Laura Nyro fans. I still listen to that stuff incessantly. Laura Nyro does not belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Songwriter Hall of Fame? Absolutely.

A whole generation of young whites have involved themselves with traditional Negro music.

I grew up with a heavy diet of gospel, folk, and blues because those are kind of the cornerstones of traditional American music.

Half of the modern world goes back as far as Pearl Jam. The real historians go back to U2. But they need to go back further. They have to go back to the '50s and '60s, where things started. That's how you get to be your own personality, by studying the masters. Rock and roll was white kids trying to make black music and failing, gloriously!

I started with Sam Cooke when I was 6 or 7 years old.