Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by Michael McDonald - Page 2

I've never felt that I was doing anything more worthwhile musically than when I was with Steely Dan.

I played so many clubs growing up, and back in that period, in the '60s, we'd play, like, four, five sets a night.

Pat Simmons and I always had a great blend together. We did the background vocals on a Little Feat track called 'Red Streamliner,' and that was great fun. I always really loved the way it turned out.

Everything's challenging for me, singing-wise. I'm like an old truck with one gear left on it.

I grew up in the era where everybody wanted to sing like Mitch Ryder and James Brown. And I did, too. But I learned real quick that it hurts after a while.

My wife is, by and large, the best thing that ever happened to me.

I'm a big country fan. I remember, as a kid, when Ray Charles did the 'Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music' record. That's one of the reasons I became a country fan.

I just don't think many people would have crossed the street to hear me doing a hip hop-influenced album!

I think every ounce of pain in just living always ends up being the best thing that happened to me. It's always a growth period. I learn at the speed of pain.

Brian Owens is a young guy from Ferguson, Missouri, my hometown, who I don't think emulates me at all, but I really enjoy his particular style. He kind of makes me think of the older school of soul singers like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye.

When I was with the Doobies, the style of music was that we all went over the falls with chord progressions, trying to make things as complex and interconnected as possible.

I've always written short stories.

I tell my son, when your music becomes less relevant, your pathetic comic value might be of some use. So you've got to go with it, you know.

I think, as musicians, that's really all we want is to keep working. We want to have a reason to be, and we want to play for as many people in this span of life that we're allowed as we possibly can, and in as many places as we possibly can.

I could never be grateful enough to the Doobies for the opportunities the organization gave me over the years.

I've felt the noose tightening for me for years at the major labels, where you're allowed to do less and less of what you would do most naturally and expected to do something that was expected to be saleable.

I've always had a dream that I might write a Christmas song that might resonate with people during the holidays.

I do love the Nat King Cole stuff, the classic Christmas records. There's something about putting those records on and hearing his voice at Christmastime that brings back a lot of great memories of growing up.

I enjoy it immensely, but I'm not comfortable on stage as a person.

Probably some of the most miserable years of my life were grappling with some definition of what success was.

It's funny how, as we get older, what become our fondest memories are not necessarily the happiest times of our lives but the times of our lives that shaped us the most.

What I particularly liked about Nineties hip hop was it had a certain reverence for the groove that I hadn't been hearing in a while.

I like to celebrate the holiday season - not so much in a religious way, per se, but in a unifying way.

I'm not the kind of artist who can just gear myself to a particular radio format without looking like a fashion victim.

For me, one of the best things of having been a Doobie Brother is that the people involved always were great people.

I don't know that we ever overcome doubt. We just have to remember that it's more than likely a poodle in the bushes and not a grizzly bear.

I love Hank Williams songs, but I love hearing Ray Charles sing them much more.

I'm a very slow songwriter; it takes me sometimes years to write one song, if I ever finish.

I know that things change and markets change. Those are the realities of the business.

Warner Bros. was a great label to be affiliated with. It's the best label out there, and the fact that I was with them for 20 years was just an honor.

Whenever I sing blues from the '50s or the kind of blues that you might have heard Eric Clapton or Duane Allman emulate, I often feel the similarity of some of the ragtime stuff I sang early on. A lot of the phrasing and the harmonization is the same.

Most of my life is taken up with family. It takes me awhile to get a record together that I feel is worthy of putting out.

Working with Thundercat was really a thrill.

I think it takes longer for me to make a record than most artists.

I grew up with this idea that songwriters had a great job. My family was Irish Catholic, so if you became a priest or a songwriter, you were golden.

I think when you're not prepared for something, success can be as crippling a thing as failure to people. I think it touches whatever insecurities you have, that you may not be as in touch with you as you should be or whatever.

The Stax/Volt stuff is really what I grew up on.

I remember one of my favorite all-time records was by Edwin Starr: 'Stop Her on Sight.'

When I was younger, I was pretty cavalier about my voice - I don't know that I even thought about it that much, to be honest with you.