It's one of the greatest festivals in the world. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest is the best all-around... It's an honor to be closing it.
We used to play football on the levee, with no shirts on in the summer - August in New Orleans - and my skin would turn red. They'd call me Redskin, Red Apache, then it turned around to Apache Red.
The music of the Clovers and Spaniels and the rest was like candy to me. I couldn't get enough; my teachers probably thought I had attention deficit disorder.
I am very honored and excited to have 'Devotion' released as the first DVD Audio disc... surround sound is amazing... The music comes alive and is so vibrant - it's unlike anything you've ever heard before!
When I was living in the projects, I had a mop stick for my horse. I wanted to be Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, so I would ride my mop through the projects.
A lot of my solo albums were produced by different people who had their idea of what songs I should do, and they had me doing a lot of ballads.
My drummer, bass player, and guitar player sing backgrounds. They play and sing. I can sing all the harmonies, but I can't do it alone.
I'm waiting for them to come up with a 'Star Trek' thing so they can beam me from my house to the gigs and back.
I've had problems with my throat over the years, playing with loud bands for years, and I've had bruised vocal chords and nodules.
I was very surprised when I heard that I had been chosen to receive the James Cardinal Gibbons Award.
You've just got to sing, do some kind of singing every day. Early mornings and cold weather can mess with that. I drink special teas with cayenne pepper, but I think you're psyching yourself out, really.
I always loved Sam Cooke, because he seemed very versatile. He sang gospel, soul, blues, pop music.
My favorite prayer is Footprints in the Sand. You know that prayer? I know the times that he carried me, you know? I kind of wore him out.
The gospel music and doo-wop is what has informed me personally.
I'll be singing with The Blind Boys of Alabama, which is a great joy to me. I've done some work with them before, and they truly are amazing.
My brother Art was a doo-wopper. He had a group that sat out on a park bench in New Orleans and sang harmonies at night, and they'd go around and win all the talent shows and get all the girls, you know.
My brothers and I would sit out on the park bench and harmonize.
You never know how much time you got.
In New Orleans, music is part of the culture. You're raised with it, from the cradle to the grave, and all in-between.
So I went in front of the judge, and I had my St. Jude prayer book in my pocket and my St. Jude medal. And I'm standing there and that judge said I was found guilty, so he sentenced me to what the law prescribed: one to 14 years.
