Nat King Cole Quotes
Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free. For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death. Get me well so I can get on television and tell people to stop smoking. I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen. I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist. I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself. I make no claim to being a business genius. You can make so much money in this business that it loses its value. I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music. I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers. I was a guinea pig for some hoodlums who thought they could hurt me and frighten me and keep other Negro entertainers from the South. I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it. I'm an interpreter of stories. When I perform it's like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories. I'm in the music business for one purpose - to make money. I'm not playing for other musicians. We're trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We'll keep him happy. I'm proud of our court. It knocks back a lot of the propaganda the Communists put out about the way America treats her Negroes. If I could read it, I could play it. It's not the people in the South who create racial problems - it's the people who are governing. Music is emotional, and you may catch a musician in a very unemotional mood or you may not be in the same frame of mind as the musician. So a critic will often say a musician is slipping. Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work. People don't slip. Time catches up with them.
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