"Robbie was right in that there were some good reasons for overdubbing the whole thing. Richard wasn't singing well, Rick's bass was out of tune, and Robbie wanted to improve his guitar solos. Also, the horns were recorded completely out of balance and had to be redone in New York with arrangements Henry Glove and I put together."

"I'm pretty sure that Levon [Helm] is the only honest, live element in The Last Waltz, with the exception of Muddy Water's vocal. Everything else was overdubbed and redone. Levon was basically gone, because he was disgusted with certain of the business practices. Robbie asked him to do his part over again, but Levon had nothing to do with it."

"People ask me about The Last Waltz all the time. Rick Danko dying at fifty-six is what I think about The Last Waltz. It was the biggest fuckin' rip-off that ever happened to The Band—without a doubt."

"We always seemed to get a whole lot more done when we didn't have a lot of company around. We were more productive. And as soon as company came, of course, we'd start having fun. You know what happens when you have too much fun."

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

"There is the view that jazz is evil because it comes from evil people, but the greatest priests on 52nd Street and on the streets of New York were the musicians. They were doing the greatest healing work. They knew how to punch through music which would cure and make people feel good."

"I just want to break even."

"We started out with The Crackers. Tried to call ourselves The Honkies. Everybody sort of backed off. It was too straight. So we decided call ourselves The Band."

"The music took us to some strange places ... physically, spiritually, psychotically. It just wasn't always on stage."

"[Talking about getting a job playing with Ronnie Hawkins] He called me up, and I said, "Sure I'd like a job. What does it mean? What do I do?" And he said, "Well, son, you won't make much money, but you'll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra.""

"Winterland was the first place The Band played as The Band. Some friends showed up and helped us take it home."

"The Band had been together for 16 years together on the road. We played eight years in bars, dives and dancehalls, eight years in concerts, stadiums and arenas. We did our last concert. We called it The Last Waltz."

"[To the audience as he's coming out for an encore after a lengthy night of playing] You're still there, huh?"

"Garth Hudson — Himself"

"Levon Helm — Himself"

"Richard Manuel — Himself"

"Rick Danko — Himself"

"Robbie Robertson — Himself"

"It started as a concert. It became a celebration. Now it's a legend."

"Eric Clapton: [After his guitar strap comes loose during a solo] Hold on!"

"Boethius: It's my belief that history is a wheel. "Inconstancy is my very essence" -says the wheel- "Rise up on my spokes if you like, but don't complain when you are cast back down into the depths. Good times pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it is also our hope. The worst of times, like the best, are always passing away"."

"John the Postman: [singing "Louie, Louie" drunkenly] Pogo like a bastard!"

"The Real Howard Devoto: [On his alleged affair with Tony Wilson's wife Lindsay] I definitely don't remember this happening."

"God: Tony, you did a good job. Basically you are right: Shaun is the greatest poet since Yeats."

"God: It's a pity you didn't sign the Smiths, but you were right about Mick Hucknall. His music's rubbish, and he's a ginger."

"Bez: Can I offer anybody like the best drug experience they ever had?"

"[To the members of the Happy Mondays] I'm still waiting, and it's very fucking boring! I'm gonna stick Bez's maracas up his fucking jacksie!"

"[On learning how much came out of the music budget to build the Haçienda] Well, goodbye. I mean, we obviously have nothing in common. I'm a genius, you're fucking wankers, you'll never see me again. You don't deserve to see me again."

"[To Stephen Morris, on his drumming] Stop that fucking horrible racket, please. (...) Nothing wrong with the drumming as such. It's just people have been playing like that for the past 20,000 years and quite frankly, it's boring me arse off, y'know? Let's try something simpler. Faster, but slower."