“On a live performance: "If you feel like tapping your feet, tap your feet. If you feel like clapping your hands, clap your hands. And if you feel like taking off your shoes, take off your shoes. We are here to have a ball. So we want you to leave your worldly troubles outside and come in here and swing."”
Source At the Jazz Corner of the World, Blue Note, 1959.
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Art Blakey 2
American jazz drummer and bandleader 1919–1990Related quotes
Royal Variety Performance in London (4 November 1963) attended by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret. Of this incident Mark Hertsgaard reports in A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles (1995): "The remark provoked warm laughter and applause, and was greeted with profound relief by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who had feared Lennon would make good on his pre-performance threat to tell them to "rattle their fuckin' jewelry."
Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990)
Source: Oh, The Places You'll Go!
“Do you believe in fairies?... If you believe, clap your hands!”
Act IV
Peter Pan (1904)
As quoted in Aikido Shugyo (1991) by Gōzō Shioda, p. 79
John Lennon, in "Instant Karma!" (written 27 January 1970)
Lyrics
Livewire interview (2002)
Context: Strangely, some songs you really don't want to write. I didn't like writing "Heathen". There was something so ominous and final about it. It was early in the morning, the sun was rising and through the windows I could see two deer grazing down below in the field. In the distance a car was driving slowly past the reservoir and these words were just streaming out and there were tears running down my face. But I couldn't stop, they just flew out. It's an odd feeling, like something else is guiding you, although forcing your hand is more like it.
Remarks to the Congressional Black Caucus on the 2012 election (24 September 2011) http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/associated-press-transcription-obama-cbc-speech-racist-173438340.html
2011