Miriam Makeba Quotes

Growing up my mother played Sarah Vaughan and Nat Cole in the house regularly.

One thing that did get me into a lot of different types of music was when I was very young, the local record store went out of business and they were selling off all the vinyl. I remember going in - I was probably 16 or 17 and I'd just gotten a record player as a present. It was like hitting the jackpot: all these records for $3 apiece.

I have a fondness for jazz, particularly for jazz singers, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald all the way through the Sinatra era.

I also met, early on Ella Fitzgerald. Her songbooks are some of the most amazing bodies of work.

There are singers that I have enjoyed, from Nina Simone and Ray Charles onward. But the music that made music the number one thing for me as a youth was jazz.

My father gave me one of those small, box-sized travel players when I was a kid and just a handful of records that he had. 'Zeppelin IV' was one. 'The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl,' which is just about the worst record ever - you can't hear anything, just screaming in the background. I think there was maybe, like, an Animals record.

You know, we were outdoorsy types, my folks, and one of the first tapes I got, a friend gave me a cassette tape of Ella Fitzgerald singing with the Count Basie orchestra. And it was the first time, really, that someone's voice had really spoken to me, and it was just so pure.

I've got all of the old school vinyls from the '70s - even further back, like the jazz music in the '40s, '50s, '60s. Then I've got all the '80s stuff underground, hip-hop when hip-hop really first started. The '90s stuff. All of the good stuff, because I'm really into music, and it helps me create new songs now.

My first vinyl was a Kiss record and a Walt Disney record. I liked the energy of rock and roll.

My mom's an art teacher, so I always had music in the house. She always had records, and I was mesmerized by the mechanics of how a turntable works.

My father had a couple of Mitch Miller records and a Spike Jones record, and that was it. My older brother had two or three Elvis Presley singles, and that was about it. The rest of it I did on my own.

We all listened to a lot of recorded music, especially American jazz, modern jazz, and that's where our studies were and our inspiration came from.

I respected Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. Those were my heroes, and they were 10 years older than I was.

I was three or four, and my mother would have a Bing Crosby record playing through the house. It was my introduction to jazz, harmonies, melodies, musicianship, and emotion.

I had this old wind-up phonograph when I was a kid, and I'd listen to records. And the radio.

There was always music in my house when I was a kid. On Saturday mornings, my mother would clean house to 45s blaring out the songs of Neil Diamond, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin.

I was living in New York. Sometimes, our gang of musicians would go to Louis Armstrong's home and play records. It was a lesson, like going to school at night. Ella Fitzgerald was an inspiration, too, a unique artist. When you had an opportunity to be with people like them, you cherished it.

My father had one of the biggest vinyl collections I've ever seen.

My family is still in Los Angeles. We listened to all sorts of music: Mexican music, oldies, soul, disco and rock & roll. I was surrounded by music.

I grew up with vinyl records and remember the pleasure and the kind of buzz that I got from buying a beautiful vinyl record with the sleeve and the lyrics - all that kind of tactile experience that you could get from an old vinyl record.

My first record I ever got was 'Full Moon Fever.' My dad gave me a copy when I was maybe nine years old or something. And I listened to the heck out of that record. I loved that record.

My dad was a club musician. He was always playing guitar and playing loads of soul records and '60s rock n' roll. Whenever he used to cook, he used to play Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, The Kinks, and the Spencer Davis Group - a lot of really earthy things.

When I was 5 years old, I got my first record. It was 'Flatt & Scruggs' Greatest Hits.' The second was 'The Fabulous Johnny Cash.'

I am very fortunate - I grew up with music.

I'm an audiophile and have been collecting records for as long as I can remember.