My Dad, The Old Professor, Used To

I Don't Think Of God As An Old White Man With No Belly Button, Nor Even An Old Black Woman With No Belly Button. But I Agree That God Is Something Eternal. Something Cannot Come Out Of Nothing. I Believe God Is Everything. And I Believe In Infinity.

My Mother Wanted Me To Learn How To Read Music. She'd Given Fiddles To My Two Older Brothers, But They'd Rebelled. I Came Along And My Father Said, "oh, Let Peter Enjoy Himself." What She Did Was Leave Musical Instruments All Around The House. Whistles, Marimbas, Squeeze Boxes, A Piano And Organ. By Age Six Or Seven, I Could Bang Out A Simple Tune On Almost Anything. I Developed A Good Ear, So I Didn't Learn To Read Music Until I Taught Myself At Age Eighteen, 'cause I Was Hearing So Many Good Songs I Couldn't Possibly Remember Them All.

The Easiest Way To Avoid Wrong Notes Is To Never Open Your Mouth And Sing. What A Mistake That Would Be.

The Key To The Future Of The World Is Finding The Optimistic Stories And Letting Them Be Known.

In The United States, Many People Said You Can't Have Folk Music In The United States Because You Don't Have Any Peasant Class. But The Funny Thing Was, There Were Literally Thousands, Tens Of Thousands, Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Who Loved Old Time Fiddling, Ballads, Banjo Tunes, Blues Played On The Guitar, Spirituals And Gospel Hymns. These Songs And Music Didn't Fit Into Any Neat Category Of Art Music Nor Popular Music Nor Jazz. So Gradually They Said Well Let's Call It Folk Music.