When have you ever heard of a cantor or any artist turning anyone down when he is strongly urged to perform?
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I did it, I was a starving musician in London in a basement flat, but a simple tune with the right singer or the right situation can become very well liked and accepted. I'm only too pleased to say it happened with that one.
I always considered myself a performer. It's what God gave me. It doesn't matter if one person hears it or a million.
There's a lot of good musicians who are unheard of. Get it down before they pass away.
Everybody, even me, sometimes had to compromise on something, doing things we know to be wrong, and this happens doing whatever job in the world. But a singer must have the courage of saying no.
An artist must be a reactionary. He has to stand out against the tenor of the age and not go flopping along.
As a musician, I have always refrained from criticizing another artist.
I never get tired of performing to people who want to hear me. Hell, that's my handshake to the world. I'm doing just what I've wanted to do since that day I was 15 and heard Lenny Breau play the guitar.
For too long, musicians have been the greatest enemy of music. Their lack of desire to proselytize is a kind of betrayal.
It was he who impressed, time and again, the necessity of singing as nature intended, and - I remember - he constantly warned, don't let the public know that you work. So I went slowly. I never forced the voice.
I think a performer should do his work and then shut up.