Richie Havens

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Richie Havens 1972 in Hamburg

Richard Pierce "Richie" Havens (born January 21, 1941 in Brooklyn , New York City , † April 22, 2013 in Jersey City , New Jersey ) was an American folk singer and guitarist .

biography

Richie Havens was born as the oldest of nine children in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a district of Brooklyn, into a family of artists. His father was a pianist . Starting at the age of fourteen, Richie Havens sang in various gospel formations, including the McCrea Gospel Singers , which strongly influenced his later style as a musician. In addition to his enthusiasm for music, Havens also showed a talent as a painter, which he used as a portrait artist in the streets of Greenwich Village for a few years to earn a living.

Ascent

Richie Havens at the opening of the Woodstock Festival in 1969

There in Greenwich Village, Richie Havens was a regular part of the folk scene, which also produced other famous singers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan . As a black man he was an exception in the white-dominated folk field.

He had released his first two albums for the British music label Douglas. He suddenly gained fame through his appearance at the Woodstock Festival . At 5:07 p.m. he opened the festival. All the while he received applause; he played encores until he ran out of songs. He then decided to improvise a version of the spiritual Motherless Child ( English , analogously for 'child without mother'), to which he added a stanza in which he repeated the word Freedom (English for 'freedom') . This song became an international hit. However, the representation in the film Woodstock that Havens played a total of three hours is incorrect. In fact, he played eleven songs in 45 minutes.

Furthermore Havens became known by interpreting songs by other artists, especially from Bob Dylan and The Beatles , for example, Here Comes the Sun . Although he wrote a lot of songs himself, he mostly celebrated his greatest successes with these interpretations, including the 1980 cover version of the Lamont Dozier song Going Back to my Roots .

Further work

Richie Havens in an appearance in 2006

In 1972 Richie Havens founded his own record label called Stormy Forest , on which some of his albums appeared. In 1978 he sang two pieces on Steve Hackett's record Please Don't Touch! .

From the end of the 1970s, the new publications became more irregular. During this time he began to pay more attention to his other artistic talents. Among other things, he was considered a recognized actor, writer, painter and sculptor. He experienced another prominent point in his career in 1993, when he appeared at the inauguration of US President Bill Clinton . He was also in a guest role on an episode of the American sitcom A Terrible Kind Family ; He also played three tracks for the soundtracks of the successful PC game series Tex Murphy : Pandora Directive and Tex Murphy: Overseer ( Tex's Lament , Trying to try , Slow Down ).

In the mid-1970s, Richie Havens helped start the Northwinds Undersea Institute , a museum dedicated to oceanography. He also demonstrated his commitment to environmental protection by founding the environmental protection organization Natural Guard in 1990. This has set itself the goal of motivating young people to commit to environmental protection.

In 2007 Havens played a role in the biopic " I'm Not There ". He plays a cover of Bob Dylan's " Tombstone Blues " with Marcus Carl Franklin and Tyrone Benskin . The version can also be heard on the soundtrack for the film.

Havens died of a heart attack at the age of 72.

style

His guitar playing with an open D-tuning was characteristic . He mostly played chords with his thumb. He used the guitar like a percussion instrument .

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Electric Havens
  US 192 11/30/1968 (3 weeks)
Mixed bag
  US 182 07/06/1968 (4 weeks)
Something Else Again
  US 184 02/24/1968 (7 weeks)
Richard P. Havens, 1983
  US 80 01/11/1969 (11 weeks)
Stonehenge
  US 155 01/10/1970 (14 weeks)
Alarm clock
  US 29 01/09/1971 (34 weeks)
The Great Blind Degree
  US 126 11/13/1971 (11 weeks)
Richie Havens on stage
  US 55 09/23/1972 (18 weeks)
Portfolio
  US 182 06/09/1973 (4 weeks)
Mixed Bag II
  US 186 October 12, 1974 (3 weeks)
The end of the beginning
  US 157 10/02/1976 (4 weeks)
Simple things
  US 173 10/03/1987 (4 weeks)
Singles
Here comes the sun
  US 16 03/20/1971 (14 weeks)
  • 1965 - Richie Havens' Record
  • 1966 - Electric Havens
  • 1967 - Mixed Bag
  • 1968 Something Else Again
  • 1969 - Richard P. Havens 1983
  • 1970 - Indian Rope Man
  • 1970 - Stonehenge
  • 1971 - A State of Mind
  • 1971 - Alarm Clock
  • 1971 - The Great Blind Degree
  • 1972 - On Stage
  • 1973 - portfolio
  • 1974 - Mixed Bag II
  • 1976 - The End of the Beginning
  • 1977 - Mirage
  • 1980 - Connections
  • 1983 - Common Ground
  • 1987 - Simple Things
  • 1987 - Sings Beatles and Dylan
  • 1987 - Collection
  • 1990 - Live at the Cellar Door
  • 1991 - Now
  • 1993 - Resume
  • 1994 - Cuts to the Chase
  • 1995 - The Classics
  • 1999 - Time
  • 2000 - Best Of
  • 2002 - Wishing Well
  • 2004 - High Flyin 'Bird: The Verve Forecast Years
  • 2004 - Dreaming as One: The A&M Years
  • 2004 - Grace of the Sun
  • 2005 - Connection
  • 2006 - Classics
  • 2008 - Nobody Left to Crown

literature

  • Richie Havens: They Can't Hide Us Anymore . HarperCollins, 2002, ISBN 0-380-80378-X (autobiography).

Web links

Commons : Richie Havens  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ Legend of Eternal Woodstock , Die Welt, April 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ Clip: Richie Havens' "Tombstone Blues" Dylan Cover From 'I'm Not There'. Retrieved April 19, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Chart positions albums
personal data
SURNAME Havens, Richie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Havens, Richard Pierce
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American folk singer
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 2013
Place of death Jersey City , New Jersey