Levon Helm quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Levon Helm

Levon Helm Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Levon Helm on Wise Famous Quotes.

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.

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've had all the lessons I could get. I've learned from everybody I've ever met.

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.

Don't we all want what's best for each other?

Drums usually seem to tune themselves.

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.

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

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

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

Good times don't last long sometimes.

We live in an age of miracles.

It's different playing in a studio than it is playing live, of course.

With horns and a full rhythm section, the drums always looked like the best seat in the house.

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

I love horns, and the bigger the band, the better it sounds to my ear.

Well, somebody's got to sing. They won't hire you unless you sing.

If things are going slow, I'm itchy.

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

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

We all love musical architecture; there's no doubt about that.

If it doesn't come from your heart, music just doesn't work.

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

I don't think I'm a millionaire, but I'm comfortable.

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.

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

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.

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

After I was old enough to work, they'd have to make three pies: one for each family and one for Lavon. And I'd guard mine.

I'm not in it for my health. I'm a musician and I wanna live the way I do.

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.

Maybe the greatness we heard in [Richard Manuel]'s voice, that catch in it, came from all that pain. To this day, we don't really know.

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

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.

There were no rules, other than that the song should sound good and be fun to play.

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.

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.

As rowdy as the place was, I've seen rowdier times playing fraternity parties in Oklahoma.

Lord, when the song wants to pick up and go a little faster towards the end, it's hard for me to resist.

My dad and I played music. He teaches me a song or two every time I'm home.

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.

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

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

The crowd is just as important as the group. It takes everything to make it work.

The Band never really played big concert tours. We never sold millions and millions of albums.