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