You can play as good as you want, but you have to sing from a place of living. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I just feel that music is a great life because it's very rewarding. It's a gratification. You do this for yourself, and… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I've listened to blues my whole life. I know it, I play it, I understand it. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
If it hadn't been for record people like Ralph Peer, the Chess brothers, and Alan Lomax, then life would've been unbelievably dull,… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
You go through these phases. That's how life is. Over the long term, you just can't do one thing. I saw that… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I didn't want tunes that preach heaven: you know, life on Earth is bad and heaven is the only hope we have.… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I got a reputation for being 'eclectic' or some damn thing like that, but to me, the different kinds of music I play are… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
The '50s was the golden age of music all over the world for some crazy, 'X-File'-like reason I can't quite understand. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I had a lot of luck in meeting great musicians who were kind enough to show me things. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
You can play as good as you want, but you have to sing from a place of living. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I give up on pop music. As far as a commercial entity, as far as pop music goes, I quit; I absolutely throw in… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
The story of American pop music is the story of failure. The blues, country music, it's not the story of success. People don't win;… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
If you're white working with non-white people, you will be branded as a colonialist by some people, regardless of your efforts or intentions. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
On any given day, if I play the guitar, I can put myself somewhere. I always thought, 'This is the way you go.' It's… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
Music is a treasure hunt. You dig and dig, and sometimes you find something. — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
I always have felt that most people don't have the first idea about what musicians, in the traditional sense - I don't mean in… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
Music is all starting to sound alike in the modern era. Afro-pop sounds exactly like L.A. pop - there's no difference, no ambience, no… — Ry Cooder Copy Share Image
