Robbie Robertson > Quotes

“By now I was in the zone. I grabbed an acoustic guitar, tuned it to an open D, and sang for the guys my first draft of “Acadian Driftwood.” The song was inspired by a documentary I had seen in Montreal a while back called L’Acadie, l’Acadie, where for the first time I understood that the name “Cajun” was a southern country slurring of the word “Acadian.” The documentary told a very powerful story about the eighteenth-century expulsion by the British of the Acadians: French settlers in eastern Canada. Thousands of homeless Acadians moved to the area around Lafayette, Louisiana. When I finished playing the song through, Levon patted me on the back and said, “Now that’s some songwritin’ right there, son.” I was proud that he felt so strongly about it. “We’ve got to find the sound of Acadian-Canadian-Cajun gumbo on this one,” I told the guys. “We have to pass the vocal around like a story in an opera. There has to be the slightly out-of-tune quality of a French accordion and fiddle, the depth of a washtub bass—all blending around these open tuning chords on my guitar like a primitive symphony.” When we were recording the song, it felt as authentic as anything we’d ever done.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Garth was a reservoir of brilliant music, and I wanted to dive in deeply to learn and understand enough of it to appreciate its rewards.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Bad habits, we were collecting them like coins, and we knew how that worked: the more you get, the more you want.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“We didn’t know many white cats on a dedicated blues journey like John Hammond Jr., and we certainly”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“We recorded a pretty mean version of Otis Rush’s “So Many Roads,” and John later decided to make that the album title too.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Let’s keep this on the Q.T.,” I”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“This talk of exploding spleens scared the hell out of me. I went back to the apartment and told Dominique what the doctor had said and that he had advised me not to participate in the natural childbirth. She thought it all sounded preposterous. “If anybody’s going to explode, it’s me if I don’t have this baby soon.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Richie Havens did a version of it, though, and it turned out to be a stunner.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Bob recorded it later as “Visions of Johanna,” and it turned out brilliant. There was one song idea, or”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Albert said he wanted to invent a delicious sandwich glue so nothing would ever slip out.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“When we cut Richard’s song “In a Station,” Garth displayed his magic touch. I really enjoyed Richard sharing a piece of his heart in that tune. It sounded dreamy and distant, slightly psychedelic, I suppose. For some reason it reminded me of Alain Resnais’s film Last Year at Marienbad, with its misty images and sense of loss.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“On Sunday nights we would play in Port Dover on Lake Erie, at Pop Ivy’s Summer Gardens.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“We ended up having a hell of a good time making our own record, which we decided to call Moondog Matinee after Alan Freed’s old radio show. For the cover Bob Cato wanted me to meet with an artist who did paintings and photography for Sports Illustrated. He thought Edward Kasper could capture this vision of the Band revisiting a place in our past. I gave him some of our backstory, and he took it and ran.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“The last straw came when our friend John Hammond showed up and sat in with us. We played Billy Boy Arnold’s “I Wish You Would” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Spoonful,” which were both shuffles you could dance to—but they weren’t Twists. One of the owners flipped out and pulled Levon aside. “What is this shit you’re playing?” “We’re playing good music, sir.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“He compared the album to some of the best live records ever: Mingus at Monterey, Ray Charles in Person, Duke Ellington’s Seattle Concert, Miles at the Blackhawk, and more.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“In the middle of November, we were booked for two nights at the beautiful Massey Hall in Toronto, built in 1894.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“I played John a song I was writing in a new guitar tuning I’d found by accident. I called the song “Unfaithful Servant.” John thought”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Joni finished her song “Free Man in Paris,” and it turned out to be a beauty. When David heard it, he was a bit embarrassed, but there was no denying it was a true statement and a great record. — Soon as I got back to Woodstock, we went right into the studio.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“But it's hard to be judgmental about anybody when you're no angel yourself, so you live and let live without recognizing danger up ahead.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Tears of Rage” started the record, and as it played Bob looked at me like he barely recognized me. At the end of the song, he yelled out, “That was incredible, Richard!”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Levon would be into singing Clarence “Frogman” Henry’s “Ain’t Got No Home,” an offbeat choice in its humor and playfulness. He laughed. “Hell, I’ll give it a whirl.” He crushed it, as did Rick singing Lee Dorsey’s “Holy Cow.” For”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“John asked if we could give my song “Chest Fever” a go. He had changed the arrangement in the verses from how I had written it, with the vocal coming in at a completely different place.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“I wrote a tune reflecting on fatherhood called “All La Glory” (a slight français tinge in there for my wife and daughter) and thought it might be inspired to see if Levon could handle the vocal in his present state of mind. Levon’s performance on it was extremely touching. The sound of his voice and his superb phrasing—pure talent. Next Levon and Libby announced that they were expecting a little one.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“I wrote “The Shape I’m In” for Richard to sing, “Stage Fright” for Rick, and “The W. S. Walcott Medicine Show” for Levon—all”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“No one was a match for Ronnie Hawkins. Garth’s parents gave their blessing, and he became a Hawk. Ronnie paid Garth his customary salary, but the clincher was that the rest of us had to pay Garth ten dollars a week for music lessons. We were thrilled that Garth was finally in the group, but in quiet moments we wondered: Did we just get scammed?”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“In the studio we jumped right in with “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” and John prompted me to wail hard. Mike Bloomfield didn’t yet have as much experience under his belt as I did and decided to play some piano, but he was tremendously obliging and enthusiastic.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“In the summer of 1965 we had booked a gig at Tony Mart’s big dance club in Somers Point, New Jersey. Tony’s was”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“The news was somewhere between an incredible accomplishment and a huge disaster.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“But maybe there was nothing anyone could say about an album called Stage Fright. I was just trying to do the best we could under these dark, drugged-out circumstances. It is what it is. One thing I knew: some of my favorite songs that I’d ever written were contained on this album, so I could live with that.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir

“Bob seemed particularly proud of “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.” I think it might’ve been the longest song I’d ever heard, and it reminded me of his wife, Sara, though not completely. I loved the fictional, unobvious, personal yet impersonal side of Bob’s writing. As the tour rolled on, Sandy played reasonably well, but his persona still wasn’t clicking for Bob.”
― Robbie Robertson, Testimony: A Memoir