Levon Helm

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

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

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

“You got to pick one - pay your medical bills or pay the mortgage. Most people can't do both, and I'm no different.”

“Good times don't last long sometimes.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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 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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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