1922 Source: Geraldine Taylor. Behind the Ranges: The Life-changing Story of J.O. Fraser. Singapore: OMF International (IHQ) Ltd., 1998, 269.
“I write the songs first and in most cases teach myself the technique second.”
As quoted in BAM Magazine (6 April 1990).
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Joe Satriani 31
American guitar player 1956Related quotes
“I write music with my mouth — first lyrics, then song, then rhythm.”
On his creative process in “An Interview with Tato Laviera, the King of Nuyorican Poetical Migrations” https://www.latinorebels.com/2012/07/11/an-interview-with-tato-laviera-the-king-of-nuyorican-poetical-migrations/ in Latino Rebels (2012 Jul 11)

“I begin with writing the first
sentence—and trusting to Almighty
God for the second.”
Source: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies (2001 ed): Art. Rosalind Russell p. 383

“Most wretched men
Are cradled into poetry by wrong;
They learn in suffering what they teach in song.”
Source: Julian and Maddalo http://www.bartleby.com/139/shel115.html (1819), l. 543

QRO Magazine interview (2007)
Context: The first thing I did when I picked up any instrument, when I was five years old, was write a song. It's kind of funny; I thought about it, statements that it's a "solo effort" — it's kind of like, "Oh, well I've been doing this since I was five." I was kind of doing this before I did anything else.

“I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.”
Liza Minelli, as quoted in I Remember It Well (1975) by Vincente Minelli with Hector Arce, p. 395 https://books.google.com/books?id=D6jDtmiJCpkC&q=minelli+%22second-rate%22+%22first-rate+version%22&dq=minelli+%22second-rate%22+%22first-rate+version%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCoQ6AEwBGoVChMI0on3sqjdxgIVxHg-Ch1NhwVD; reprinted in "Judy and Liza, Part 3" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7188%2C5401411 by Vincente Minelli, in The Sydney Herald (August 15, 1975), p. 8
Context: I couldn't sing Mama's special songs. I couldn't do them as well. I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.

“I write plays because dialogue is the most respectable way of contradicting myself.”
"Tom Stoppard," profile by Kenneth Tynan, The New Yorker (1977-12-19).
Interviews and profiles

“I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet.”
Interview http://www.expectingrain.com/dok/int/shelton1978.07.29.html with Robert Shelton, Melody Maker (29 July 1978)