Top 22 Quotes by Mel Torme

Right now, my career is in three directions: as a performer, as an arranger, as an author - and I don't give any one of them true precedent, or true top marks, as opposed to the other two.

As regards my feelings about drummers - there's Buddy Rich, and then there's everybody else.

So I'm sorry, I'm going to continue to talk to the people, because I do believe that if they get to know you and what you are as a human being, they can more appreciate what you are as a performer.

But, in fairness to them, too, the popular song per se is really a pretty shallow medium to perform in.

Because obviously the whole purpose of putting records out is purely and simply to make money.

I hadn't been a recording artist all that long when albums came on the scene, and I was one of the first singers to point the way to how varied an album's contents could be.

My initial career, really, as a baby, was as a singer.

I want to sing for the broadest possible audience.

Buddy Rich is one of a kind; he's a genius, and that's all there is to it.

I didn't really have an act per se - a theatrical performance, as opposed to just: here I am, folks, and you're all supposed to be dead quiet while I sing eight or nine songs, then get off the stage.