Richie Havens

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Richie Havens
1969 Woodstock Festival
Background information
Born January 21, 1941
Origin Brooklyn
Genre(s) Folk rock
Occupation(s) Singer-guitarist
Instrument(s) Guitar
Years active 1965—present
Label(s) Verve
Website Richie Havens Official Website

Richie Havens (born January 21, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is an African American folk singer and guitarist. Havens is perhaps best known for his intense rhythmic guitar style, soulful covers of pop and folk songs and his opening performance at the Woodstock Festival; all the more remarkable for the absence of most of his upper teeth. Havens uses open D tuning on the guitar. By fretting all strings it produces a major chord on any position on the neck of the guitar.[1]

Contents

[edit] Career

Havens first rose to fame in the Greenwich Village folk music scene that also fostered Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. In 1967 Havens became one of several Village-based artists signed to Verve Records and released several albums to mostly local notice. In 1969, Havens opened the Woodstock Festival although he was initially scheduled to appear fifth on the bill. His performance received continuous ovations and kept playing encores until he ran out of songs. Finally, he decided to improvise a version of "Motherless Child" to which he added a verse with the word "Freedom" repeated over and over; the song was featured in the Woodstock film and became an international hit. Havens followed up this success with the 1971 release of Alarm Clock, which featured a popular rendition of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun". For a brief period in the mid-seventies, Havens performed with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, as "Peter, Paul & Richie." Havens continued to tour and release albums through the 1970s to the present. He later played at the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

Havens rarely writes his own songs, but often applies his distinctive style to the works of others, notably Bob Dylan and The Beatles. He has also appeared on solo albums by former Genesis members Steve Hackett and Peter Gabriel.

Havens is noted for his guitar skill; some of his recordings feature a drum sound which is actually his foot tapping on the floor. His guitar playing makes extensive use of open tunings and an unconventional thumb-fretting style[1]. John Lennon said about Richie Havens during an interview for Rolling Stone in 1971: "He plays a pretty funky guitar." Havens has maintained his status as a folk icon, as he continues a busy schedule touring the globe with fiery performances.

He also featured in a song by Groove Armada called Hands of Time, that was used in the film Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx; the same song also used in the film Domino, starring Keira Knightley.

In 2000, Havens published They Can't Hide Us Anymore, a biography co-written with Steve Davidowitz. He also composed the music by campaign from NBC, "Just Watch us Now!".

He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.

[edit] Discography

  • A Richie Havens Record (1965)
  • Electric Havens (1966)
  • Mixed Bag (February 1967)
  • Something Else Again (February 1968)
  • Richard P. Havens, 1983 (May 1969)
  • Stonehenge (January 1970)
  • Alarm Clock (January 1971)
  • The Great Blind Degree (January 1972)
  • Portfolio (July 1973)
  • Mixed Bag II (January 1975)
  • The End of the Beginning (November 1976)
  • Mirage (October 1977)
  • Connections (March 1980)
  • Common Ground (June 1983)
  • Simple Things (September 1987)
  • Sings Beatles and Dylan (1987)
  • Live at the Cellar Door (1990)
  • Now (1991)
  • Cuts to the Chase (June 1994)
  • Time (1999)
  • Wishing Well (April 2002)
  • Grace of the Sun (2004)

[edit] Guest appearances

[edit] References

  1. ^ Richie's Music--Tab--video. Richie Havens personal site.

[edit] External links

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