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Richie Havens

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Richie Havens was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, born on 21 January 1941 in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and died on 22 April 2013. He was the eldest of nine children. His father had Blackfoot ancestors, his mother came from the British West Indies. As a boy he formed a doo-wop group with friends on the street corner, and at sixteen he sang with the McCrea Gospel Singers. At twenty he left for Greenwich Village, where he first recited poems, drew portraits and heard folk in the clubs, before he picked up a guitar.

Music and breakthrough

His solo performances quickly spread beyond the Village. He signed with Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan's manager, and got a contract with Verve Folkways, later Verve Forecast. There Mixed Bag appeared at the end of 1966, including a cover of Dylan's Just Like a Woman. His first single, No Opportunity Necessary, was later covered by Yes. Something Else Again from 1968 was his first album on the Billboard chart. In the years that followed came, among others, Electric Havens, Stonehenge and Alarm Clock.

Influence

His music contains folk, soul and rhythm and blues, and he played rhythm guitar, often in open tunings. He opened the Woodstock festival and sang many jingles for television commercials. He played many songs by others and gave them a rhythm of their own, which made him a recognisable figure of the 1960s folk scene.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to his cover of Just Like a Woman on Mixed Bag and notice his rhythmic guitar playing. Do you hear how the chords and the voice together make a beat of their own?

Discography

Studio albums

See also

Categories: Artists