My mom moved up between Leland and Greenville when I was just a little tot.

Most times we would make more money in the tip boxes – they called it – than we were getting paid.

And I tell my audience, you know, give the real stars a round of applause. Because without them I’m nobody. So I learned so much from people like that.

I was never into the Bluegrass, Bill Monroe and stuff like that.

And one of my favorites was Eddy Arnold of course. He just had that smooth, soulful voice.

We could play them through the week, and then the weekend we could play the black joints. I learned to be very versatile and learned to love it. So it stays with me even up to now.

My mom moved up between Leland and Greenville when I was just a little tot.

I’m from the Mississippi delta originally.

I did learn that it was the greatest thing in the world to respect yourself. Respect other people.

I was born in a little place called Inverness, MS.

So I got a chance to meet a whole bunch of those old real, real rough but gentle men. They lived hard, but they lived good – in one sense, you know. But you had a lot of fun. Didn’t make much money, but you had a lot of fun.