I got my first guitar at age of 7 and never laid it down. Momma taught me G, C, and D. I was off to the races son!

Pray for intestinal fortitude, work hard, and keep the faith. Oh, and pray for good luck, you're gonna need it.

I am very grateful to God everyday that my eyes flutter open and I can jump out of that bed!

I used to get on a stove wood pile at 5-6 years old and I would have a piece of stove wood and kindling bark as a pick, and I was a star.

I used to watch people like Richard Burton and Mel Gibson and think, 'I could never do that.'

I went around the corner to motion pictures.

Music is the most powerful thing on this earth, and it's hard to be angry when you are listening to music.

Smokey and The Bandit was just a lark. All we did was run up and down those Georgia roads wrecking cars and having the time of our life.

When I was a kid of six or seven, I used to get up on the stove woodpile for a stage and I'd put on the wildest show.

When people ask me what my motivation is, I have a simple answer: money.

You can have music and it will stand alone by itself, but you can't have a movie without it.

I have spent over 60 years bent over a guitar and to know that I wrote 70 compositions that masters have recorded, that makes me feel so good and full, and proud and thankful to the good Lord.