Richie Havens was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of
folk,
soul, and rhythm and
blues. He is best known for his intense and rhythmic guitar style (often in open tunings) and soulful covers of
pop and
folk songs.
His opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival catapulted him into stardom and was a major turning point in his career. Many of the artists scheduled to perform after him were delayed in traffic and so he just carried on playing, holding the crowd for nearly three hours. He was called back for several encores and, having run out of tunes, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual "Motherless Child" that became one of his best known songs "Freedom".
He released a steady stream of albums during the 80s and 90s, and in 2000 Havens joined the
electronic music duo Groove Armada for the retro 1970s-style song, "Hands of Time". The song was featured on the
soundtrack of the film Collateral; and was also used in the films Domino, A Lot Like Love, and Tell No One. He performed a rousing rendition of “Going Back To My
Roots” with the band at Glastonbury in 2002.
Richard P. Havens, 1983 is a 1969 double album featuring a combination of studio recordings and live material recorded in concert in July, 1968. Notable songs include "Handsome Johnny" and the singles "Stop Pushing and Pulling Me" and "Indian Rope Man". The album was critically and commercially well-received, reaching number 80 on the Billboard
Pop Albums chart.
Tracks:-------
01. "Stop Pulling and Pushing Me" – 1:48
02. "For Haven's Sake" – 7:01
03. "
Strawberry Fields Forever" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:37
04. "What More Can I Say John?" – 4:38
05. "I Pity the Poor Immigrant" (Bob Dylan) – 3:09
06. "Lady Madonna" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 1:57
07. "Priests" (Leonard Cohen) – 5:15
08. "Indian Rope Man" (Havens, Joe Price, Mark Roth) – 3:02
09. "Cautiously" (Maurey Haydn) – 4:00
10. "Just Above My Hobby Horse's Head" (Havens, Mark Roth) – 2:58
11. "She's Leaving Home" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:05
12. "Putting out the Vibration, and Hoping It Comes Home" (Havens, Mark Roth) – 2:53
13. "The Parable of Ramon" (live) (Havens, Mark Roth) – 7:56
14. "With a Little Help from My Friends" (live) (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 5:19
15. "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" (live) (Donovan Leitch) – 4:55
16. "Run, Shaker Life"/"Do You Feel Good?" (live) (arranged & adapted by Havens/Havens) – 4:04/4:52
Personnel:---------
Richie Havens – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sitar, vocals, tamboura, handclapping, ondioline
Warren Bernhardt – keyboards, clavinet
Brad Campbell, Jim Fairs, Arnie Moore, Carol Hunter – bass
Bob Chase – percussion
Diane Comins – harmonica, harp
Charles Howall – vocals
Teddy Irwin, Bruce Langhorne – guitar
Ken Lauber – keyboards
Weldon Myrick – steel guitar
John Ord – organ, piano, celeste, keyboards
Skip Prokop, Daniel Ben Zebulon, Donald McDonald – drums
Charlie Smalls – keyboard, piano
Jeremy Steig – flute
Stephen Stills – bass
Collin Walcott – sitar, tabla
Paul "Dino" Williams – guitar
All thanks to original releaser