Robbie Robertson Quotes

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

- Robbie Robertson

Love, Think, Some, Year Later

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Some, Other, Very, Bands

You don't stumble upon your heritage. It's there, just waiting to be explored and shared.

- Robbie Robertson

Waiting, Stumble, Shared, Heritage

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Memory, Both Sides, Born, Good Memory

The road has taken a lot of the great ones: Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis.

- Robbie Robertson

Great, Hank, Jimi Hendrix, Great Ones

When I was 14 years old, I had the opportunity to meet Buddy Holly. I asked him how he got that big, powerful sound out of his guitar amp. He said, 'I blew a speaker and decided not to get it fixed.'

- Robbie Robertson

Big, Sound, Amp, Fixed

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Big, Sometimes, Kinds, Toddler

I am fascinated by the places that music comes from, like fife-and-drum blues from southern Mississippi or Cajun music out of Lafayette, Louisiana, shape-note singing, old harp singing from the mountains - I love that stuff. It's like the beginning of rock and roll: something comes down from the hills, and something comes up from the delta.

- Robbie Robertson

Love, Mountains, Southern, Hills

Do you know what a skin walker is? It's a thing in Indian mythology. There are certain people born with this gift, and they're able to actually get inside you and mess with your feelings and with your mind. And if a skin walker chooses to get a hold of you, there's not much you can do.

- Robbie Robertson

Gift, Skin, Mess, Chooses

My mother was a Mohawk, born and raised on a reservation, and when I was a kid, she would take me there to visit her relatives.

- Robbie Robertson

Kid, Born, Raised, Relatives

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

- Robbie Robertson

Kid, Holiday, Billie Holiday, Coolest

The direction is going the right way for respect for aboriginal people in North America, and all we can do is stand up and say, 'Please do it faster.'

- Robbie Robertson

Going, North America, North, Right Way

There's a bookstore in New York where you could buy scripts, and I got addicted to them because they were easy, quick reads... and the pictures were so vivid.

- Robbie Robertson

New, Addicted, Quick, Scripts

I admire those old road dogs, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan. That's their life.

- Robbie Robertson

Old, Willie, Willie Nelson, Nelson

We need to have a taste factor in our life. It isn't about what's popular; it's about what's really good.

- Robbie Robertson

Need, Taste, About, Factor

I've always been in love with that Delta-flavored music... the music that came from Mississippi and Memphis and, especially, New Orleans. When I was 14, I was in a wanna-be New Orleans band in Toronto.

- Robbie Robertson

Love, New, Always, New Orleans

It's a bit of a sore spot, the Thanksgiving in Indian country.

- Robbie Robertson

Country, Thanksgiving, Spot, Sore

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

- Robbie Robertson

Play, London, By The Time, Ontario

My thirst for knowledge and experience comes from the idea that once you learned something, it was time to learn something else. I missed out on a formal educational process, so I'm making up for that.

- Robbie Robertson

Out, Idea, Something Else, Making Up

I remember from my earliest years people speaking, you know, in a certain kind of rhythm and telling stories and sharing experiences in a way that was different in Indian country than it was other places. And I was really struck by this and obviously very affected by it, because it's always come out in my songs.

- Robbie Robertson

Country, Very, Telling, Struck

After the 'Last Waltz' concert, it just seemed very healthy to me to put making a record as far out of my mind as I possibly could.

- Robbie Robertson

Mind, Making, Very, Possibly

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?

- Robbie Robertson

Foundation, Want, Recording, Establish

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Music, Some, Lot, OK

I was a storyteller for The Band. It was never, 'Hey guys, here's a song about what happened to me.' I was always more comfortable writing fiction.

- Robbie Robertson

Song, Here, Always, Hey

Working on 'The Last Waltz' introduced me to Martin Scorsese, and I had been a movie bug since I was a young kid.

- Robbie Robertson

Been, Last, Scorsese, Waltz

For years after 'The Last Waltz,' I got all kinds of silly movie offers - or, maybe, not silly, but parts that are not my calling... lots of offers to play some wonderful boyfriend.

- Robbie Robertson

Play, Some, Offers, Waltz

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.'

- Robbie Robertson

Thought, Young, Pretty, Indian

Cowboys had guitars. And they sang country 'cause they lived in the country.

- Robbie Robertson

Country, Cause, Sang, Guitars

When I was younger, I thought I was too young to really be personal. I thought that what I was feeling and thinking might be half-baked.

- Robbie Robertson

Thought, Younger, Too, Half-Baked

Chuck Berry told me if it wasn't for Louis Jordan, he wouldn't have probably ever even got into music. That Louis Jordan changed everything and made him want to become a musician.

- Robbie Robertson

Made, Berry, Chuck Berry, Louis

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.'

- Robbie Robertson

Love, Nine, Having, None

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

- Robbie Robertson

Been, Bob, Influential, None

When I was playing with Bob Dylan in, like, 1966, I was, like, 20 years old.

- Robbie Robertson

Old, Like, Bob, None

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.'

- Robbie Robertson

Pink, Big, Album, None

My mother is extraordinary. She understood me and never tried to hold me back.

- Robbie Robertson

Mother, She, Extraordinary, Understood

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

- Robbie Robertson

Play, Fancy, Note, Twenty

Sixteen years on the road is long enough. Twenty years is unthinkable.

- Robbie Robertson

Road, Sixteen, Unthinkable, Twenty

The native music of North America, the original-roots music of this country, is also the underworld music of this country.

- Robbie Robertson

Music, Country, Native, Underworld

One of the greatest live recordings, I think, in the history of the world is Ray Charles in Atlanta... And they didn't even have a big mobile recording thing set up. The word on the street was they only had like two microphones, one for the band and one for him. Perfect recordings. I think it's mono.

- Robbie Robertson

Big, Perfect, I Think, Mono

When you look at that period when Warhol and the Velvets and the Stones were doing things, it was this intersection of art and music. And then it went away.

- Robbie Robertson

Doing, Warhol, Period, Intersection

I could never be a movie star and get up at 7:30 to be at someone else's studio.

- Robbie Robertson

Never, Movie, Studio, Movie Star

I wanted to develop a guitar style where phrases and lines get there just in the nick of time, like with Curtis Mayfield and Steve Cropper. Subtleties mean so much, and there is a stunning beauty in them.

- Robbie Robertson

Beauty, Like, Them, Lines

I think the world of Chuck Berry.

- Robbie Robertson

Think, I Think, Berry, Chuck

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

- Robbie Robertson

Interest, How, Record, Lifestyle

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Love, Next, Been, Hopefully

I play guitar quite a bit, because I'm always in search of something. I don't play to jam, but because I'm fishing. I'm looking for something, that I hope you can never find. If I do find it, I'm afraid I won't have a need to do this any more.

- Robbie Robertson

Hope, Play, Bit, Quite A Bit

The Band is probably the ultimate example of people taking all kinds of music, from gospel to blues to mountain music to folk music to on and on and on and on and putting them all in this big pot and mixing up a new gumbo.

- Robbie Robertson

New, Big, Putting, Taking

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Against, Pun, Became, Our Choice

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Myself, Lucky, Records, Dollar

I always like to keep one hand in the tepee and the other hand in the synagogue. Wouldn't it be great if there was a combination of the two? You could go to synagogue, and it would be really hot in there.

- Robbie Robertson

Always, Other, Like, Synagogue

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Lucky, Some, Been, Player

I haven't been to many music events where somebody was performing and it actually made me cry.

- Robbie Robertson

Performing, Been, Made, Events

One of the things I feel very strong about is the achievement of the Band really being a complete band.

- Robbie Robertson

Strong, Achievement, Very, Complete

I saw Ray Charles at Massey Hall.

- Robbie Robertson

Saw, Charles, Hall, Ray

Music isn't necessarily made to last, and there's always been disposable music.

- Robbie Robertson

Music, Always, Been, Disposable

I'd always thought Cage's 'Root of an Unfocus' would be great in a movie.

- Robbie Robertson

Thought, Cage, Always, Root

I thought of a lot of people from the same era when I was making a lot of records that had continued making a lot of records. A lot of it didn't seem terribly inspired.

- Robbie Robertson

Thought, Making, Records, Era

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Some, Pretty, Been, Interesting Things

People think I left The Band and spoiled this whole thing, and that's not what happened. Nobody broke up The Band. Nobody ever said, 'That's it, we're done.'

- Robbie Robertson

Think, Broke, Whole, Spoiled

Music should never be harmless.

- Robbie Robertson

Music, Never, Should, Harmless

In a lot of groups, you can change a musician, and it doesn't mean anything.

- Robbie Robertson

Change, Mean, Lot, Musician

I don't know - it's a bit of a mystery of how things come about when they do. I don't have a scientific explanation for it. Sometimes when you're writing a song, you don't know where you're going.

- Robbie Robertson

Song, Going, Scientific, Explanation

There is an extraordinary collaborative spirit when you are learning and growing.

- Robbie Robertson

Growing, Extraordinary, Collaborative

Think about the number of people who do film music, make records and have a Native American heritage - and I may be the only one on the list.

- Robbie Robertson

Think, May, Film Music, Heritage

Most of my younger Native American friends are not in any way looking for sympathy, and they're not looking to lay guilt on anybody. They have their dignity, and they do what they do.

- Robbie Robertson

Guilt, Younger, Lay, Native

I never really had a teenage experience. I went from childhood to maturity, and in some ways, it short-circuited me emotionally.

- Robbie Robertson

Childhood, Maturity, Some, Emotionally

Musical revolutions, I don't know how many I've been through.

- Robbie Robertson

Through, How, Been, Revolutions

It's extraordinary that revolutions taking place around the world were sparked by communication on the Internet.

- Robbie Robertson

World, Extraordinary, Were, Revolutions

I think, some countries, you have to be dead to have your picture on a stamp.

- Robbie Robertson

Think, Some, I Think, Picture

People go through periods when things are dark and cloudy, and they talk dark and cloudy.

- Robbie Robertson

Go, Cloudy, Through, Periods

I think that there's always great music being made. Always has been, always will be.

- Robbie Robertson

Think, Always, Been, Great Music

I'm not an activist.

- Robbie Robertson

Activist

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

- Robbie Robertson

Genius, Difficult, Your, Twenties

In Americana, the facts and the dreams seem to be all the same to me.

- Robbie Robertson

Me, Same, Americana, Facts

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

- Robbie Robertson

Unity, Young, Young People, Healthy

I like to work on records when I feel inspired, not because it's expected of me.

- Robbie Robertson

Work, Records, Like, Inspired

A lot of times when you're making a record, you put your head down and charge forward until you're done. You just hope that the ideas hold up, because you're kind of lost in your own storm.

- Robbie Robertson

Storm, Making, Charge, Lost

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.

- Robbie Robertson

Getting, Yearnings, Means, Bus

Boy, do I got some stories to tell.

- Robbie Robertson

Tell, Some, Stories, Boy

There's a thing that has happened in the U.S. where the spirit has been beaten so badly and so you feel no unity in the voice of the country.

- Robbie Robertson

Voice, Country, Badly, Beaten

Record making is an extraordinary experience.

- Robbie Robertson

Experience, Making, Record, Extraordinary

I'm always optimistic.

- Robbie Robertson

Always, Optimistic

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

- Robbie Robertson

Remember, People, Want, Remember When

A lot of people from my generation can't write songs anymore, or it's really hard and it's an unpleasant experience. I don't feel that way at all.

- Robbie Robertson

Generation, Feel, Anymore, Unpleasant

You never know what could be interesting tomorrow.

- Robbie Robertson

Interesting, Never, Could, Tomorrow

Everybody grows in their own way.

- Robbie Robertson

Own, Way, Everybody, Grows

To find a new star in the sky is pretty hard.

- Robbie Robertson

New, Star, Pretty, Sky

I really have to feel a sense of freedom in my storytelling.

- Robbie Robertson

Freedom, Feel, Sense, Storytelling

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