He wrote the R&B standard, “Some Kind of Wonderful,” and is still today singing, writing songs, and playing guitar. He earned a GRAMMY nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year, and, he received no fewer than five BMI lifetime achievement awards, was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, is about to be inducted into the Rochester (New York) Music Hall of Fame, and received three Canadian Lifetime Achievement Awards. He has played with, written for, and performed alongside the likes of Nina Simone, James Brown, The Temptations, Wilson Pickett, Grand Funk Railroad, Huey Lewis & the News, Buddy Guy, Joss Stone, and more. In late January he released a 12-song album.
“I'm all about love and treating everyone with respect… If I had just one wish, this is what it would be. I'd wish the whole world could live in peace and harmony. There'd be no more wars, there'd be no more hate. I'd make this world a better place. I'd make this world great.”
“Anytime I do recording, I do it in Toronto because I love the vibes in the studio and collaboration.”
“It is a business, and you need to know all the ins and outs regarding registering your music.”
“You must copyright your music. Make sure that it's copywritten. Make sure that you are signed with, for example, BMI as a songwriter or either ASCAP. And the next thing what you need to do is have a publishing company, start your own publishing company.”
“Because I have a new release, I will be doing some European shows. That's mostly the areas that I perform. It's mostly in Europe. I do Italy, France, Germany, Austria… I have quite a few fans in Europe.”
“I taught myself at age 13 to play the guitar and I started writing songs at that age. I entered a contest when I was 14 at my school and I won… And from that point on, I, as they say, I had the bug. And that's all I wanted to do. I didn't want to do anything else. And so, I set my mind on pursuing a career in music.”
“All the songs that I was listening to on the radio, I could play ‘em. I would pick up the guitar and it was as easy as talking for me. And I started writing my own songs.”
“I have never taken any kind of lesson in my life. I have a God-given talent for writing, for teaching myself how to play the guitar, and for singing.”
“If I had lost because I cheated, or if I wasn't good enough, I could have accepted that. But I lost because of something I couldn't change, which was the color of my skin.”
“I've never done any co-writing. No, everything that I've written, I've arranged, it's all me… if I come up with an idea about a song, I don't need anyone to collaborate with me on that song. Because I know exactly how I want it to go.”
“There was never any doubt in my mind that I was not going to achieve my goals.”
“As long as you believe in yourself and you believe in God, there is nothing and no one that can stop you from achieving your goals. Absolutely no one.”
“If I Had Just One Wish”
“Wake Up Call”