fame is a bullshit trap

The only thing worth doing in moderation is fame because it's such a bullshit trap. If you're famous you have to play a lot of places all year. You live in a lot of hotels. You have no family. You have a lot of empty relationships with women which you can't fulfill because you're only one day in each place. Fame is really a trap unless it's done in moderation. With drinking or sex you can forget about moderation, but anyone who is creative is chained to fame. It's terrible.

I haven't deliberately avoided fame. It's just that I'm too odd for the white middle-class. But I'm happy. I get to create. There's nobody like me so they've got to keep me around. It's like the predicament of Roland Kirk. Nobody's going to cut Roland but 300,000 people aren't going to go to his concerts like they might go to a Stones concert. Roland's expressing too much for people to accept.

september 1972. interview with steve turner for mojo