I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist.
— Nat King Cole
The whites come to applaud a Negro performer just like the colored do. When you've got the respect of white and colored, you can ease a lot of things.
The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.
Primarily I'm a meat man, although once in a while I toy with a few vegetables.
Music is emotional, and you may catch a musician in a very unemotional mood or you may not be in the same frame of mind as the musician. So a critic will often say a musician is slipping.
I'm proud of our court. It knocks back a lot of the propaganda the Communists put out about the way America treats her Negroes.
I'm an interpreter of stories. When I perform it's like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.
I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.
I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.
Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free.
You've got to change with the public's taste.
The Supreme Court is having a hard time integrating schools. What chance do I have to integrate audiences?
The only sport I'm not interested in is horse racing. That's because I don't know the horses personally.
People don't slip. Time catches up with them.
It's not the people in the South who create racial problems - it's the people who are governing.
I'm not playing for other musicians. We're trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We'll keep him happy.
I was a guinea pig for some hoodlums who thought they could hurt me and frighten me and keep other Negro entertainers from the South.
I make no claim to being a business genius. You can make so much money in this business that it loses its value.
Get me well so I can get on television and tell people to stop smoking.
I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.
There's just one thing I can't figure out. My income tax!
The sheriff is at the cash register, and if I don't get a hit soon, I don't know what I'll do.
The only prejudice I've found anywhere in TV is in some advertising agencies, and there isn't so much prejudice as just fear.
Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.
If I could read it, I could play it.
I'm in the music business for one purpose - to make money.
I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.
I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself.
For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death.
