Mixed Bag

Mixed Bag
Studio album by Richie Havens
Released	August 16, 1967
Recorded	Early 1967
Genre	folk, jazz, singer-songwriter
Length	37:54
Label	Verve
Producer	John Court
Richie Havens chronology
Mixed Bag (1967) Something Else Again (1968)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Music Hound	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Great Rock Discography	(8/10)[4]
Virgin	[5]

Mixed Bag is the 1967 debut album by Richie Havens. Although it was Havens' first album release, Douglas Records later issued two unauthorized albums of material that had been recorded prior to the Mixed Bag recording sessions—Electric Havens (1968) and Richie Havens' Record (1969). Mixed Bag was released after Havens signed on with manager Albert Grossman and was released on Verve Forecast, a new folk music imprint of Verve Records.^[6]

Mixed Bag is frequently cited as the singer's best work,^[1] and was his first album to appear on Billboard's charts (appearing on both the jazz and pop charts). The recording was the first to introduce a wider audience to Havens's rich baritone vocals and the full-sound of Havens's distinct guitar style (thumb-chorded and played in open E tuning).^[1]

Track listing

1. "High Flyin' Bird" (Billy Edd Wheeler) – 3:35
2. "I Can't Make It Anymore" (Gordon Lightfoot) – 2:48
3. "Morning, Morning" (Tuli Kupferberg) – 2:17
4. "Adam" (Havens) – 3:34
5. "Follow" (Jerry Merrick) – 6:22
6. "Three Day Eternity" (Havens) – 2:15
7. "Sandy" (Jean Pierre Cousineau) – 3:12
8. "Handsome Johnny" (Lou Gossett, Havens) – 3:53
9. "San Francisco Bay Blues" (Jesse Fuller) – 2:30
10. "Just Like a Woman" (Bob Dylan) – 4:46
11. "Eleanor Rigby" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 2:42

Credits

• Richie Havens - guitar, sitar, vocals
• Harvey Brooks - bass
• Paul Harris - organ, piano, keyboards
• Bill Lavorgna - drums
• Howard Collins - guitar
• Joe Price - tabla on "Adam"
• Paul "Dino" Williams - acoustic guitar on "Follow"
• Cover photo - Barry Feinstein
• Director of engineering - Val Valentin
• Produced by Groscourt Productions, Inc.
• Production Supervisor — Jerry Schoenbaum
• Arranged By Bruce Langhorne for "I Can't Make It Anymore"
• Arranged By Felix Pappalardi for "Morning, Morning"
• Mastered for Compact Disc by Dennis M. Drake at PolyGram Studios

Charts

Releases

The album was initially released on vinyl in 1967 on Verve Forecast, a newly formed folk section at the Verve division of MGM Records.^[1] It was re-released as a CD in 1993 on Polygram. In 2004, Mixed Bag was combined with two other Havens albums on a double CD titled, Flyin' Bird: The Verve Forecast Years, a limited edition release of 3000 individually numbered copies.^[7][8]

Trivia

• Electric Havens and Mixed Bag were two of the records reported among the personal collection of Haven's one-time Greenwich Village buddy, Jimi Hendrix.^[9]
• In 1974 Havens released Mixed Bag II

Notes and sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Jim Newsome, "Mixed Bag: Review", Allmusic"
2. ↑ Music Hound, USA, 1998-99 (according to acclaimedmusic.net)
3. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide, USA, 1992 (according to acclaimedmusic.net)
4. ↑ Martin C. Strong The Great Rock Discography, 7th edition, UK (according to acclaimedmusic.net)
5. ↑ Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, UK, 2002 (according to acclaimedmusic.net)
6. ↑ Ellen Geisel, "Richie Havens: Seeker of Change", Dirty Linen, 65, August-September 1968, p. 44-47
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 This is the double CD release, High Flyin' Bird: The Verve Forecast Years (Universal/Hip-O Select) which combines Mixed Bag with Something Else Again and Richard P. Havens, 1983. The release was limited to 3000 individually numbered copies (link at Hip-oselect.com).
8. ↑ Brian Mathieson, Richie Havens Recordings(link)
9. ↑ James Rotondi, "Listening Experience: Jimi Hendrix' Personal Record Collection", Guitar Player, 30:4, April 1996, p. 37-42