Oh sad. Richie Havens died

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Oh man. I feel old. Am listening to “freedom” from Woodstock on my phone. Motherless child will be next. RIP Ritchie.</p>

2

<p>How sad… Spouse and I saw him in outdoor concert in our home city within the last 5 years. He put on an excellent show and was still in great voice. Another cultural touchstone lost.</p>

3

<p>That is sad…</p>

4

<p>I used to listen to “Follow” over and over and over again.</p>

5

<p>We are getting old. :(</p>

6

<p>It is truly very, very sad.
One of my heroes.</p>

<p>*Handsome Johnny</p>

<p>High Flying Bird*</p>

<p>:(</p>

7

<p>There goes the sun.</p>

8

<p>Humorous recollections about Havens:</p>

<p>In a woodstock documentary, they talked about how he went on first and played for some remarkable extended period (hours?). This apparently happened because the roads got jammed and no performers could get to the stage. So they somehow had a helicopter available, but it could only accomodate one or a few people, so Havens got sent there first. The delay in getting the other performers was so long, and he was sitting in front of the largest crowd he’d ever seen. He said he was afraid to stop playing. :)</p>

<p>I read a nasty review one time that said something to the effect that Havens had a unique ability to make all songs sound alike.</p>

9

<p>Were those the good ol’ days?</p>

<p><a href=“http://content.worldcarfans.co/2007/10/medium/9071005.005.1M.jpg[/url]”>http://content.worldcarfans.co/2007/10/medium/9071005.005.1M.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>This always comes up when the topic is Havens.
He, himself, used to say the same thing – that he played at Woodstock for three and a half hours.
Sorry, it is an urban (or “festival :wink: ) legend.
I was there.</p>

<p>Friday was “folk day” at Woodstock.
Acts included, besides Richie, Tim Hardin, Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.
(In addition, John Sebastian did an impromptu set borrowing Hardin’s guitar.)
The Incredible String Band were supposed to play on Friday but they refused to play in the rain and played Saturday afternoon instead.
The only non folk acts on Friday were Sweetwater (who came on after Havens) and Ravi Shankar.</p>

<p>At that time, Havens did not know three or four hours worth of material.
He did his usual set (about an hour or a little more) and then added his cover of “Motherless Child.”</p>

<p>We drove along Route 17B past the road to the festival (Hurd Road) and could hear Havens playing (it was about 3/5 of a mile away) early in his set.
We parked the car and walked back and Sweetwater was already on stage.</p>

<p>I contacted Arte Kornfeld (one of the festival organizers) and he confirmed my recollections.
Sorry, Havens did not play for three or four hours.
Great story but not true.</p>

11

<p>Just recalling what I think I remember seeing in the documentary, which apparently was promulgated by Havens himself. It is a good story. :)</p>

<p>Only knew one kid who went to Woodstock. He was the smartest and one of the richest kids in our school. I have a vague recollection that I hadn’t heard anything about this thing that he was planning to attend.</p>

12

<p>^^^ Lol the smart and rich kid at Woodstock. I couldn’t afford a stash or a mini-van so that left me out…</p>

13

<p>^^^ The most fun vanity plate I ever saw was a few years ago at a concert at Wolf Trap. Someone has a loaded Jag convertible with the plate “X-HIPPY.”</p>

<p>RIP Richie.</p>

14

<p>

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<p>I was neither smart or rich.
Plus, I was too young to drive myself.</p>

<p>My older sister and her boyfriend took me.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, he had to get back to work on Monday so we left on Sunday afternoon. :(</p>

15

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<p>If you were young then–hell, yes!!! But, it got weird pretty fast. Altamont Stones Concert was December 1969.</p>

<p>Jimi, Jannis and Jim were dead by the end of 1970.</p>