Back To The Garden

Richie Havens Delivers Songs Of Change

originally published February 6, 2008

Casual music fans familiar with singer-songwriter Richie Havens know him primarily for his soulful opening performance at Woodstock. But the 1969 music festival is just the tip of his iceberg of accomplishments. His guitar style and unique open tunings have been adapted by several generations, and most of his influential catalog of work is now available to the world via iTunes. He even appears in Todd Haynes' filmic Bob Dylan meditation I'm Not There, and on its soundtrack.

The Brooklyn-born performer also runs his own record label, sculpts, paints, creates computer art, collaborates with scores of musicians and still makes time to devote nearly every weekend to performing. His urgent and intuitive style, percussive guitar strumming and sage-like countenance are belied by his off-stage easy-going charm and quick wit.

During a genial and wide-ranging conversation on a recent weekday afternoon, Havens, calling from his New York home, discussed everything from Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons to his collaborations with Groove Armada. The weekend warrior for peace comes to town this Saturday for a show at the Melting Point.

Flagpole

Let's talk about your new album, Nobody Left To Crown. What a great title. It's not out yet, but can we hear some of it at the show coming up?

Richie Havens

Yes. It's almost here. It'll be out in Europe in February. The 19th or so. And then here a week later. Derek Trucks is on it, and I'm looking forward to people hearing it. The guy who put the deal together with us in France is a fan, and he wanted to have something we did together put out in his lifetime. And for over here, he wants to give it to the right person [for distribution], so it'll be heard, which is so nice of him.

Flagpole

It seems like Europe has always embraced you, maybe more-so than the United States.

Richie Havens

Well, the thing that is really different is I play all year round, but on weekends. The only tours I do that I can call a "tour" is going to England for 10 days so it has the real feel of a constant, but other than that, I've been playing weekends for 29 years now. So I'm used to it and always busy.

Flagpole

For this visit, your show is billed as The Richie Havens Trio.

Richie Havens

Yes and I love it. We've been playing for a while now. My guitar player Walter Parks has been playing with me for the last five years. And Stephanie Winters, the cello player, has been with me for three and a half years now. So it's a band now. They used to play as a duo, and they'd open in certain places that I'd play. I never knew where they'd pop up from because it was all over the country. Basically they were working out of New York, too, but I only heard them out on the road. I thought, "Man would I love to work with these guys." Eventually it happened, two records ago, or two CDs ago, I guess now. And it's worked out great, so we've kinda stayed together. I said, "I'm workin' weekends, and we can play together all year if you want." They said, "Great," and here we are. It's been that easy.

Flagpole

It seems like a lot of your work is intuitive, so it would be a a bit of a challenge to follow you musically.

Richie Havens

Well, yes, especially for drummers. Because I'm doin' more rhythm than they are! And it reduces them to playin' the ones! It is a challenge. I've found a few guys over the years that can do it, but you're right, it's not easy. But, Walter and Stephanie, they're feelers. It has to be more a feeling than anything, because I never tell anybody what to play. It's wonderful. I used to carry a percussion player along, and I do still, but only in Europe.

Flagpole

You've had your own label for a long time, Stormy Forest.

Richie Havens

Right. I've had a label since 1970. I knew nothing about running a label, but I had friend who helped, who missed being my manager by three days. I'd signed the papers with [legendary folk kingpin and manager of Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul And Mary and other NY-based artists] Albert Grossman. We became friends in '63 when I was playing clubs in the Village.

Flagpole

You were popular in the folk clubs back then, but your debut album didn't come out until 1967. That's a long time, especially in those days when people had two or three LPs out every year.

Richie Havens

It is. But Albert didn't know what to do with me. He sent me in the studio with a country group, and that didn't work; then a rock group, and that didn't work; then a jazz group, a blues group. None of it worked, because I was singing songs from everywhere and from all kinds of music. I finally went in and did the whole first album in about four days, after waiting years to get it right! And I've usually worked fast like that ever since.

Flagpole

Did Albert ever try to pair you with Bob Dylan, like he combined Peter, Paul and Mary? You obviously go way back with Dylan.

Richie Havens

Oh, yes. We hung out a lot back then and I've always loved his music. But Albert knew what he had with Bob. He loved music and he could recognize people who were truly unique.

Flagpole

And that way you were exposed to a wealth of material firsthand. Some of your covers, like "Here Comes The Sun," for example, are as well-known as your originals.

Richie Havens

I've always had an incredible amount of providers, people who wrote songs that changed me. The songs I sing now are all of the songs that have changed me. That's what I do.

I share songs that have affected me, songs I'd go buy on a record and learn, and with the songs I write, it all makes that statement of what I believe.

Flagpole

Did you have any idea when you played Woodstock that it would have the impact it did then, and continues to have, nearly 40 years later?

Richie Havens

I expected it to have impact because they were shooting for it to bring maybe 60,000 people, without thinking it would be 520,000, of course. It was the times. It was our breakthrough. We all had broken through from the underground to above ground, and rightfully so. And I don't mean just the artists, I mean the generation.

It had been a lot of hard work, but it was also a time of discovery. That's what made it special. I was seeing people there for the first time, too. It was an East-Coast-meets-West-Coast type of coming together. So we all grew from it. But I can tell you that we, as a generation, wanted something like that for a long time, even in the '50s. So it was the culmination of everything, from the old Alan Freed package tours to Newport Folk Festival to Woodstock. It just took a while to happen.

Flagpole

But Woodstock wasn't the first festival you'd played. You were already a big attraction in the folk world, but it was still your introduction to a lot of people.

Richie Havens

That's right. At Woodstock we were really expecting some change or input, so for me it was just a confirmation. The big door opened up. The Newport Folk Festival was the first place I'd played where there were like 9,000 people in front of me. And my knees were shaking!

It was the same stage they'd booed Bob [Dylan] off of, so I thought, oh no! But I said to myself, "I've gotta reach that back wall. If I can reach the back wall, then this giant lying down in front of me will look up and we can connect." I had this image of this giant with his head way back there and his feet were the first row. And as I started playing and people were getting into it, they started applauding, like they were happy or something! I thought, "Wow, he looked up!"

Flagpole

Speaking of the lyrics of "Woodstock" [a Joni Mitchell tune on Havens' 2004 album Grace of the Sun] - can we ever get "back to the garden" again?

Richie Havens

Yes we can! The young people are gonna create the pathway for us all. There's so many talented young people now, and they don't even have to get beat up anymore to be heard. They haven't in at least 30 years.

See, we created it, and now it's in the DNA. And change is coming. Now we are open to the whole world. Really, I call it "The Great Becoming." We're all in it, and it's still on the way. I knew when I was 13 years old that this country ain't finished yet. It ain't even made yet!

Lee Valentine Smith

WHO: Richie Havens Trio
WHERE: Melting Point
WHEN: Saturday, February 9; 8:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $30 (advance), $35 (door)