Quotes from Levon Helm

If you feel like you're getting into a rut with a song, a night off usually fixes it.

When the second record came out, they started calling it The Band. I voted to call it The Crackers. I'm no fool.

I like walking on the edge.

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.

Dad and mom would have preferred that I be a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist, or a great humanitarian.

Music is the language of heaven.

The power of music just kinda kills all those ills; it cures everything and you've got more energy just from the music. And, I've never seen it fail. It's good for ya; real good for ya.

If you give it good concentration, good energy, good heart and good performance, the song will play you.

Drums just always sounded like the most fun part of that good music for me.

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.

If you pour some music on whatever's wrong, it'll sure help out.

Anytime I switch to another instrument, I immediately turn it into another kind of drum so that I can understand it better.

Those bad times are important. They give you a chance to practice, listen, take stock, have a life, get your feet back on the ground, and maybe you'll live to tell the story.

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.

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.

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.

Forever Young, by Dylan, is one of my favorite songs.

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.

I was in high school, trying to get out of high school. The only thing slowing me up was grades.

My parents wanted me to be smart and be a scholar, and the best I could do was graduate high school.

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 Jungle Bush Beaters didn't last too long as a group, but we had a pretty good time while we did.

I don't fool with a lot of things that I can't have fun with. There's not much reward in that.

Good times don't last long sometimes.