I Never Felt Like I Had A

My Daddy Was A Carpenter That Worked With The Jones Boys, Who Are The Most Notorious In America. The Black Gangsters, You Know, They Were No Joke. And He Was Their Master Carpenter. He Used To Build Their Homes, And All I Saw When I Was 11 Years Old Were Dead Bodies And Tommy Guns And Stogies, And Backrooms, You Know, Drexel Wine And Liquor, With The Big Piles Of Money Underneath.

Empty The Cup Every Time And It Comes Back At Twice As Full. I Developed That Attitude When I Was Very, Very Young, When I Decided I Didn't Want To Be A Gangster Anymore. Whether It's Just Shining Shoes, I Said Okay, I'm Going To Do This Better Than Anybody Else Did It In My Life.

I Found This Out Over The Years, That Racism Is A Thinly Veiled Disguise Over Economics And Money. It Really Is.

I've Met Every Freak In The Business.

A Lot Of The Guys Were Like That - Oscar Pettiford - They Just Took Me Under Their Wing, And That's Why I Automatically Help Young People. I Just Love It, Because They Did That For Me.