I accepted an offer to do a concert for the reopening of the Mall of Memphis.

One of the first groups we signed was the Fifth Dimension.

The first time I went to New York, I met Alan Freed.

I got to see all these incredible blues players, like Jimmy Reed.

I'd gone through periods where I didn't work live performances for probably seven or eight months at a time.

The web site and the Internet are a whole new ball game.

After that initial success, every chance we got we'd hire that remote recording truck and just record stuff at the Whisky because it was so inexpensive.

I was working at this club in downtown L.A. from four to eight at night, just Eddie Rubin, the drummer, and I.

I think my favorite album was probably Realization.

My first really good guitar was a Gibson J-45.

What I really remember is that people camped out everywhere, and the fact everybody expected it might turn into a big nightmare with all sorts of hassles because back in those days everybody was smoking pot and taking acid.

I loved playing and I was actually working two jobs.

Alan's publishing company was in the Brill Building, and of course, the Brill Building was where all the songwriters hung out because that's where all the publishers were.

About two months into the Whisky, I borrowed some money and rented a remote recording truck.

The first amp I had back in the '50s was a small Fender.

I learned some chords and I started watching anybody I could, once I really got into it.

Guys like Otis Blackwell and Bobby Darin, and all the guys who were writing songs for Elvis at the time, just hanging around, writing songs, talking about music.

I've got a Fender Concert amp from the '60s, the one Joe Osborn used. He played his bass through it.

Even Woodstock turned out to be a disaster. Everybody was stuck in the mud and people got sick.

Jack and I usually get together and sit around in the afternoons and start throwing ideas around.

But I always loved songs with great lyrics.

One thing will lead to another and somebody will come up with a riff or a line or something we build from.

In early '57, I bought a Fender Telecaster.

I think after 1970 or so, after I sold Soul City, I took off for awhile and didn't do too many gigs.

In 1965, Gibson made the red one I use now, and a black one, which was the first black 335 they ever made.

When I came back to California in the early '60s I was hanging out with Jimmy Bowen, Phil Spector, and I wanted to be a record producer and work with other artists.

I accepted an offer to do a concert for the reopening of the Mall of Memphis.

People who are in a fortunate position always attribute virtue to what makes them so happy.

I guess now that I think back, I used to play priest and be a funny priest. I don't know, I grew up in such a Catholic family that I kind of liked to test the boundaries a little bit and I think I had fun watching my mom laugh.

When you go through some controversy and you see your face on the news in a negative way for 48 hours... you doubt yourself. And your friends make the difference. They become a safety net that come in and say, 'That's not the case.' And the relationships that you've built... come to the fore.

When you're out there partying, horsing around, someone out there at the same time is working hard. Someone is getting smarter and someone is winning. Just remember that.

I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you.

There are going to be good days and bad days. Bottom line.

I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.

I personally prefer long-distance walking, but we are talking about pre-tournament preparation. During a tournament I make do with walking, mainly to concentrate before a game.

Language... has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone.

There's a preponderance of scientists and engineers among China's rulers. New President Xi Jinping was trained as a chemical engineer. His predecessor, Hu Jintao, earned a degree in hydraulic engineering. His predecessor, Jiang Zemin, held a degree in electrical engineering.

Going to parties usually makes me feel depressed, just because I have such social fear after meeting people.

Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you.

There is no mystery " that's the beauty of it. We are entirely explicable to each other, and yet we stay. What a miracle that is.

I am still making order out of chaos by reinvention.

Younger people have greatest fears. Why is that? Because they don't know the plot. They don't know their own individual plot... they don't know what's going to happen to them.

It's a really paradoxical thing. We want to think big, but start small. And then scale fast. People think about trying to build the next Facebook as trying to start where Facebook is today, as a major global presence.

Idol has pretty much taken me out of my recording and out of my choreography. I have managed to slip in some choreography jobs. And I've been writing songs for other artists.

I think the elements to shock the world is either the ability to wrestle and grind somebody out or the ability to knock someone out.

I didn't go in there and tell them I think you should move me, but I also understand the nature of this business.

When a company is facing a problem, it always takes a stance and takes a decision, but at the same time it wants to make sure of what it can learn from it, what enhancements it can make.

When it comes to politics, there's never a certain yes or no to any situation.

The main question in drama, the way I was taught, is always, 'What does the protagonist want?' That's what drama is. It comes down to that. It's not about theme, it's not about ideas, it's not about setting, but what the protagonist wants.