Top 33 Taj Mahal Quotes

I was always taught that Latin, Caribbean people were cousins to me, as well as blues was a cousin to me, as well as Africans were direct relatives to me. It was all a part of my language.

I’m doing exactly what I should be doing, every day on the road.

I haven’t worn one for a long time, but I look pretty good in a suit.

I don’t care if it’s somebody else’s song. Most of the time, you’ll find that I’ll put my own stamp on it. But I started writing more because, you know, it’s easy to regurgitate what somebody else is doing, but it’s exciting to be able to come up with your own writing.

I’ve only been on MTV once as one of their ‘Closet Classics,’ with some bootleg footage of a 1970 tour I did in Holland. They didn’t know what to make of my music, but they finally invented a name for it – world beat music.

I’m always cracking up when I hear what people think I should be doing.

Ziggy Marley is the third generation of Marleys I know. I knew his grandmother and his dad – I did a children’s album with his grandmother. They’re like family.

My parents grew up during the Harlem renaissance.

The blues is played everywhere. There’s no place I’ve been where they don’t have blues or aren’t interested in blues.

My grandmother had many children. She lost most. So when we came along, we were really special. I was the first grandchild that could see her spirit moving to a new generation.

As a kid, I always felt connected to Africa; it was something I was very proud of.

I was always looking for evidence of these common musical roots, but I was too young to know that what I was doing was called ethnomusicology.

If the Rolling Stones are playing a concert across town, that’s not my audience anyways. But I do find that there’s a lot of people coming back around to see me again.

The one thing I’ve always demanded of the records I’ve made is that they be danceable.

I don’t need the credits for playing the blues and paying the dues. I’ve already done it. There are some other things to do here – movies and scores and voice-overs.

I’ve got tons more stuff to do.

I’m old enough to chew my peas and corn without choking.

I love playing in Germany. I love playing anywhere where people are going to enjoy the music. Germany is especially nice to play.

Particularly with the blues, it’s not just about bad times. It’s about the healing spirit.

All the music that I play today, I actually heard either at home or in my neighborhood when I was growing up in the ’40s and ’50s.

I wanted to keep pushing the musical ideas I had about jazz, music from Africa and the Caribbean.

My grandparents on my father’s side came to this country from the Caribbean with a strong connection to Africa and no shame about it.

I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music.

Very old music is, like, 11th century in my mind. That’s very old.

It’s very interesting, the dynamics of popularity. When you do something all the time, you don’t worry about whether it’s trendy or not.

My perspective is cultural and world-based. It’s always been a global perspective.

I didn’t want to fall into the trap of complacency.

What you have to understand is that blues… it’s in a line from the oldest forms of African music. If you’re playing it like it’s an echo of the past, it would be a lot less exciting, but this music lives today.

I came up not understanding that a lot of people didn’t start to hear music until they went to college or were turned on by an older brother or sister.

I’m perceived as someone who goes out and searches for new music, but it was all present in my household.

I see myself as a composer who plays music and likes to play with other people, and not just as a solo artist.

I would have never gotten to college if it hadn’t been for getting up at 4 A.M. and milking them Holsteins.

My music is really fun music, with some pan-African and pan-American influences.