Richie Havens
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Richie Havens (born January 21 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is an African American folk singer and guitarist. Havens is best known for his performance at the Woodstock Festival, his soulful covers of pop and folk songs and his intense rhythm guitar style.
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. 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. John Lennon said about Richie Havens during an [interview for Rolling Stone] in 1971: "He plays a pretty funky guitar." Richie Havens has maintained his status as a folk icon, as he continues a busy schedule touring the globe with fiery performances.
He also featured a song of Groove Armada called Hands of time, that was used in the film Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.
His autobiography, They Can't Hide Us Anymore, was published in 2000.
He also composed the music by campaign from NBC, "Just Watch us Now!".
Discography
- A Richie Havens Record (1965)
- Electric Havens (1966)
- Mixed Bag (February 1967)
- Something Else Again (February 1968)
- Richie 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)
- Live at the Cellar Door (1990)
- Now (1991)
- Sings Beatles and Dylan (May 1992)
- Cuts to the Chase (June 1994)
- Wishing Well (April 2002)
- Grace of the Sun (2004)
Guest appearances
- Please Don't Touch by Steve Hackett (1978)
- OVO by Peter Gabriel (2000) (soundtrack to the Millennium Dome Show)
External link
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