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Willie Nelson, Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard and Keith Whitley - guys like that were huge influences.

I had the great opportunity to work with some of the greatest artists - the Beach Boys, the Temptations, the Four Tops. Otis Redding. Wilson Pickett. Stevie Wonder. So many great singers. And don't forget Clarence Carter!

Where I came from in the country, there was no place to hear pop music like Little Richard and people like that. Later, I heard James Brown, Otis Redding, The Drifters, The Four Aces, The Ink Spots.

My parents' record collection was the music I was hearing as long as I can remember, and I would play Otis Redding over and over again.

I was influenced a lot by those around me - there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields.

Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, and a lot of American artists were my greatest influences.

In my vocal, I think you can hear something of my earlier times when I'd sing in subway halls for the echo and perform doo-wop on street corners. But I had a lot of influences, too - singers like Sam Cooke, Brook Benton and Roy Hamilton.

As a songwriter, oddly enough, my influences were people like Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Buddy Holly. Some psychedelic stuff, too.