Quotes from Robbie Robertson

Some bands today have the experience of really working together and honing their craft. And other bands are very much like, 'I just got a guitar for Christmas, let's start a band.' And you can hear the difference.

My mother told me when I was a toddler and in the crib that they would have music playing, and the thing when I lit up was boogie-woogie or something out of the Louie Jordan period of sometimes big bands, and then all kinds of things.

By the time I was 13, I was the only one in London, Ontario, who knew how to play rock n' roll.

The kid at 9 or 10 who knows who Billie Holiday is... that's the coolest thing ever.

You never know what could be interesting tomorrow.

I love the idea of having a kid who says, 'Yeah, of course I knew about Billie Holiday and Johnny Cash when I was nine years old.'

I don't want to be one of those people saying, 'Remember when things were better?'

That whole lifestyle - make a record, do a tour: I know how to do that. It doesn't interest me.

I come from a family who prided themselves, both sides, on memory. And I was told growing up, constantly, that I was born with a really good memory.

Bob Dylan is as influential as any artist that there has been.

I asked Bob Dylan to paint the album cover for 'Music from Big Pink.' He said, 'Yeah, let me see what I can come up with.'

I do not have yearnings to get back on a bus. If it means getting on a bus, I don't want to do it.

I love traditional music. But in any culture around the world, there is the historic and cultural music and everything that's been passed down and passed down, and hopefully you take that, and then you take it, you know, the next distance, and then somebody else takes it the next distance.

I feel so lucky to have been in a group where it was a real band. This wasn't a singer and guitar player and some other guys.

At a young age I thought, 'Wow, that fiddle thing, that's pretty cool. That mandolin is great. These drums, I like these drums... ' They were Indian drums. And I was saying, 'But that guitar. That guitar. Girls are going to like that guitar.'

Some music is supposed to be disposable; that's OK. A lot of music is fun for today, but it isn't supposed to be timeless; it's supposed to be trendy.

The Band was rebelling against the rebellion. The rebellion went to a place where it became too obvious, too trendy, like you were just following the pack. So it was our choice to get off the bandwagon - no pun intended - and do things that were in our background and what was the most honest thing to do.

Some people love some music, and they hear it a year later and they think, 'What was I thinking?'

I've been really fortunate that I've been at a lot of critical crossroads in my musical journey. When I look back, there are some pretty interesting things to look at.

There's something so healthy about young people speaking up in unity.

It's easy to be a genius in your twenties. In your forties, it's difficult.

If I can play one note and make you cry, then that's better than those fancy dancers playing twenty notes.

I'm really lucky because I found myself in a position where I can do whatever I want to do. I can make records, produce records, make movies, or I can do nothing. I'm not a slave to the dollar.

Once you establish a foundation of knowing what the greatest recording artists of all time were Wouldn't you want your kids to know this stuff?