Song Quotes by Ahmet Ertegun

I don't use the computer. But my secretary does. I want to take some computer courses because I'm interested in some of the access…

— Ahmet Ertegun

Flashy people aren't everything, you know. Even when they have frizzled hair.

— Ahmet Ertegun

I came close to signing Elvis Presley. I offered $25,000 for his contract and they asked for $45,000 and I just didn't have the other $20,000.

— Ahmet Ertegun

The Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame will provide a center where the lives and the artistry of the greatest jazz musicians will be celebrated,…

— Ahmet Ertegun

Rock n' roll really belongs to all America. It really doesn't belong to one city.

— Ahmet Ertegun

There are still many great surviving talents: Stevie Winwood. Another great talent is Stevie Wonder. Another one is Eric Clapton. Another one is Phil…

— Ahmet Ertegun

I became a jazz fan quite early and never went off the path thereafter.

— Ahmet Ertegun

It is a great life, this life of music.

— Ahmet Ertegun

My father believed very strongly in Ataturk. Ataturk was a very powerful man and a man of great vision.

— Ahmet Ertegun

If anybody asks me where I'm from, my first inclination is to say, 'Washington,' because that's where I grew up meaningfully.

— Ahmet Ertegun

There's been so much bad blood between the Kurds and the Turks.

— Ahmet Ertegun

I love Ray Charles. He can still teach everybody a lot about how to make great music. Not necessarily how to make hits, but…

— Ahmet Ertegun

As I grew up, I began to discover a little bit about the situation of black people in America and experienced an immediate empathy…

— Ahmet Ertegun

When I first heard Ray Charles, he was a flop artist on a small label in California. He hadn't sold any records. And I…

— Ahmet Ertegun

I did a little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the greatness of African-American music.

— Ahmet Ertegun