Quotes by Robbie Robertson

About Robbie Robertson:

Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his work as lead guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. As a songwriter, Robertson is credited for such songs as "The Weight", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Up On Cripple Creek", "Broken Arrow" and "Somewhere Down the Crazy River". He has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

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

Robbie Robertson

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

Robbie Robertson

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

Robbie Robertson

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

Time is not kind to everything.

Robbie Robertson

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

Robbie Robertson

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

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

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 o...

Robbie Robertson

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 s...

Robbie Robertson

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

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

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

Robbie Robertson

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

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

Robbie Robertson

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

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

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

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

Robbie Robertson

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

Robbie Robertson

Author Bio

  • NameRobbie Robertson
  • DescriptionCanadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • BornJuly 5, 1944
  • CountryCanada
  • ProfessionGuitarist; Singer-songwriter; Singer
  • AwardsOfficer Of The Order Of Canada; Governor General’s Performing Arts Award