Brian Setzer Quotes

If you went to school in Nashville, you were aware of all those '60s rockabilly people.

I've loved music always, and my music fire was lit by Elvis Presley, really, and all that was happening back then.

It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music. When I heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' I thought, this is it.

When I heard Elvis and his 'Sun Sessions,' I went mad for it. I was about thirteen.

I was very keen on people like Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent.

I loved Carl Perkins, Jerry lee Lewis... not only were they personal friends.

I was raised on Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly and discovered the Stray Cats when I was 11 or 12 years old.

I love old school rock and roll.

I was an original Elvis fan. He was the voice of my generation. I was listening to him on the radio when he released his great Sun records with Scotty Moore on electric guitar and Bill Black on bass.

That rockabilly sound wasn't as simple as I thought it was.

I basically sat down for a month, with all the Sun stuff I could find and just picked out my favorites. I didn't think that they were indicative of '54 to '57, although I tried to stay within that period.

I just sort of grew up with music always in the background like a soundtrack. And it really hit me hard when The Beatles came along, like so many people. That got me started digging back further to Chuck Berry.

I started out just as Elvis was going into the army, Jerry Lee Lewis married his 14-year-old cousin, and Little Richard became a priest.

Elvis Presley's Sun stuff - there's an album out in England with just about all those sides on it - you know, the sound of that upright bass slapping away: that's what I like to listen to. That and Richard Pryor, that is.

My mama was a rocker way back in fifty-three, buys them old records that they sell on TV.

God bless the boys from Memphis, blue suede shoes, and Elvis.

The first record I bought myself could have been 'Oh Lonesome Me' by Don Gibson or 'Wake Up Little Susie' by the Everly Brothers.

Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, and a lot of American artists were my greatest influences.

Rock and roll and swing never quite mixed. Rock and roll came in and just blew everything out of the water. Big bands were dead.

Back then, I, most rockers loved Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis... you know in the '60s.

The first people I ever saw were probably Little Richard and Gene Vincent.

My dad influenced my musical taste. I grew up listening to Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones and a bunch of rock music from the '60s. Now, instead of watching TV, I'll play a record from start to finish.

My dream collaboration would be Elvis.

Elvis was a great singer. He really was.

We couldn't get enough of American rock 'n' roll. We'd hear it when we played American air bases in the U.K.