I've always thought it was easier for girls to sing harmonies because their voices can go to that higher plane so much more easy than a male voice.
— Levon Helm
I don't hear record companies coming up with any good ideas or suggestions. Historically, if it ain't their idea, it ain't no good, so you got that to contend with.
We live in an age of miracles.
When I was younger, I used to drive up to a bunch of turkeys, roll down the window and say something. They'd all gobble back at once.
With horns and a full rhythm section, the drums always looked like the best seat in the house.
We're all dealt with the same hand here, so to speak. I feel like I've had it a lot better than most people. I've had the opportunity to travel and play music all my life.
The way to do it is to put as much life into the song as I can. You can either get it to breathe or you can't.
The crowd is just as important as the group. It takes everything to make it work.
Most of our stuff was trial and error. You live with a tape recorder, you turn it on, you play the song and you listen to it.
If you give it good concentration, good energy, good heart and good performance, the song will play you.
I've had all the lessons I could get. I've learned from everybody I've ever met.
I never subscribe to the stay-at-home policy. I'm not sick of the road or sick of eating in good restaurants around the country. I like to travel.
I like to get within handshaking distance of the crowd. If it happens, they know it, we know it, and that's all we came here for.
Forever Young, by Dylan, is one of my favorite songs.
Don't we all want what's best for each other?
By the time The Band did The Last Waltz, the chemistry had changed, and it wasn't a thrill anymore to live that studio kind of life.
My parents wanted me to be smart and be a scholar, and the best I could do was graduate high school.
I had throat cancer, and I had to have radiation treatments, and I couldn't sing for a long time; and this was in '97. I had 28 radiation treatments. I didn't die, thank God.
You got to pick one - pay your medical bills or pay the mortgage. Most people can't do both, and I'm no different.
I don't think I'm a millionaire, but I'm comfortable.
When the second record came out, they started calling it The Band. I voted to call it The Crackers. I'm no fool.
We all love musical architecture; there's no doubt about that.
The rock star stuff never came up for us. The Band was never attacked by groupies before, during or after any show that we ever played.
The Band never really played big concert tours. We never sold millions and millions of albums.
Lord, when the song wants to pick up and go a little faster towards the end, it's hard for me to resist.
If you feel like you're getting into a rut with a song, a night off usually fixes it.
I was in high school, trying to get out of high school. The only thing slowing me up was grades.
I love horns, and the bigger the band, the better it sounds to my ear.
I don't fool with a lot of things that I can't have fun with. There's not much reward in that.
Drums usually seem to tune themselves.
Dad and mom would have preferred that I be a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist, or a great humanitarian.
Anytime I switch to another instrument, I immediately turn it into another kind of drum so that I can understand it better.
It's different playing in a studio than it is playing live, of course.
If it doesn't come from your heart, music just doesn't work.
Songs don't wear out. Good songs are good now. If they were a comfort during those hard times in the past, they'll be a comfort in today's age.
You can either make it come around or you can't. By the time we would be ready to record a song, we would know for sure that it was the best way we could do it.
Well, somebody's got to sing. They won't hire you unless you sing.
There were no rules, other than that the song should sound good and be fun to play.
The Jungle Bush Beaters didn't last too long as a group, but we had a pretty good time while we did.
My dad and I played music. He teaches me a song or two every time I'm home.
If you pour some music on whatever's wrong, it'll sure help out.
If things are going slow, I'm itchy.
I played some Yamaha drums that I like a lot. And I like the Yamaha people a lot too. They've been really nice to me and The Band.
I like walking on the edge.
Good times don't last long sometimes.
Drums just always sounded like the most fun part of that good music for me.
Conway Twitty was always our local hero while I was growing up. He had a series of good bands. I wanted to sit in, if Conway would let me. And he did a couple of times.
A friend of mine took me to Memphis advised me that I should get in the musicians' union. He gave me a set of drums and said, Stay on the job, son.
