Richie Havens (1941-2013)

[jimsumner]

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1559103/richie-havens-folk-and-woodstock-legend-dead-at-72

Saw him once back in the '70s and got my money's worth. Became a star at Woodstock. Dropped off the radar screen but continued to record and tour.

RIP/

[OldPhiKap]

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long way from my home

Peace.

[ncexnyc]

Maybe I'm old and out of touch with the world today as well as the current music, but it sure seems like back in Richie's heyday there were a lot of important things people were singing about.

[tommy]

The expression of sheer ecstasy of feeling like a man, or a society, is experiencing true "Freedom" for the first time, well, it still sends chills down my spine every time I hear it, as I did tonight.

RIP.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The expression of sheer ecstasy of feeling like a man, or a society, is experiencing true "Freedom" for the first time, well, it still sends chills down my spine every time I hear it, as I did tonight.

RIP.
Improvised on the spot, that always blew my mind. His time in the Woodstock movie is one of my favorite parts.

[Mal]

Improvised on the spot, that always blew my mind.

I didn't realize that until I heard it on the radio this morning. Amazing. Makes sense in retrospect, as it's not terribly complex, but he played and sang it with such incredible passion that I just assumed it was the most important song in the world to him, and something he'd been playing for years. He led a really interesting, diverse, and fulfilling life, in addition to almost by accident producing one of the more iconic concert moments in rock history. R.I.P.

[comdytrd]

I didn't realize that until I heard it on the radio this morning. Amazing. Makes sense in retrospect, as it's not terribly complex, but he played and sang it with such incredible passion that I just assumed it was the most important song in the world to him, and something he'd been playing for years. He led a really interesting, diverse, and fulfilling life, in addition to almost by accident producing one of the more iconic concert moments in rock history. R.I.P.

Having put Duke summer school on hold, we walked through the crowd as Richie was playing. My fraternity brother and I were looking to meet up with another brother of ours, but we now feared that would never happen, as all the landmarks that we had planned to use (gate A, flagpole, etc.) were gone. Our upstate New York friend was actually walking out to go home, knowing it would be impossible to find us in this age of land lines.
As Richie cranked it out, we literally bumped into each other, both saying "excuse me" before realizing what had just happened. Considering the odds of being at the same spot at the same time in that huge crowd, I'm still amazed.
With the coverage of Richie's passing, I found out that he was called upon to fill in (for hours) for other groups who were delayed. Thanks, Richie, for the musical accompaniment for one of those unreal moments!