When I Hear That Whistle Blowing, I

After About Three Lessons [my] Voice Teacher Said, "don't Take Voice Lessons. Do It Your Way. You're A Song Stylist. Always Do It Your Way."

Gospel Music Was The Thing That Inspired Me As A Child Growing Up On A Cotton Farm, Where Work Was Drudgery And It Was So Hard That When I Was In The Field I Sang All The Time. Usually Gospel Songs Because They Lifted Me Up Above That Black Dirt.

When I Get An Idea For A Song It Would Gel In My Mind For Weeks Or Months, And Then One Day Just Like That, Ill Write It.

Death And Hell Are Never Full, And Neither Are Men's Eyes.

My Father Was A Man Of Love. He Always Loved Me To Death. He Worked Hard In The Fields, But My Father Never Hit Me. Never. I Don't Ever Remember A Really Cross, Unkind Word From My Father.