Levon Helm Quotes

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.
Levon Helm

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.
Levon Helm

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.
Levon Helm

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

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

Drums usually seem to tune themselves.
Levon Helm

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

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

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.
Levon Helm

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

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.
Levon Helm

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.
Levon Helm

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

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

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

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

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.
Levon Helm

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

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

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

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

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.
Levon Helm

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.
Levon Helm

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

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.
Levon Helm

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

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.
Levon Helm