I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing. And things snowballed.

A lot of the music, and especially rap, I don't understand.

Being able to sing all these years has helped me handle life's tragedies.

Each song, you're telling a story and acting.

I can tell it all in song: pathos, gladness, love, joy, unhappiness.

My music was called plastic, antiseptic, placid.

On the radio I listen to the easy-listening stations, the jazz stations.

What I like about singing is that, for me, it's a substitute for the psychiatrist's couch.

Your voice dries up if you don't use it.

I always thought that Elvis could have been a great actor, and that he was put in a lot of unimportant movies when he could have done a lot of great ones.

I think that one of Elvis' charms was that he could sing almost any kind of music. I am sure that in his heart, which I don't know what was there, but just from his singing I could feel that he was very partial to gospel music.

I'm sure there are a lot of things I should have done differently. But I don't think I've stepped on anyone along the way. If I have, I didn't mean to.

A discerning eye needs only a hint, and understatement leaves the imagination free to build its own elaborations.

Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart.