RIP
This was the first Richie Havens record that I owned. I must of played the grooves off of this one, man! The influence he has on me is beyond words. At that time there were hardly any, if any, people of color in the genre of music that he was most popular. Taking what’s considered “folk music” and putting it into an African, jazz, and soul music setting was something new for that period. I had seen him many times at The Fillmore East in the late 60’s and he always gave everything he had and put it into the music. I’ve always felt very few artist could cover a Dylan or Beatle tune as well as Richie Havens.
Years ago while playing in a club called Mikells I met the actor Louis Gossett Jr. He and Richie Havens were good friends. He’d told me a story of how he was being evicted from his apartment and that same day he received a royalty check, for a tune he wrote for Richie Havens. That song is on found on this record (Handsome Johnny). I will always have a portion of Richie Havens’ musical DNA found in my music. RIP
Years ago while playing in a club called Mikells I met the actor Louis Gossett Jr. He and Richie Havens were good friends. He’d told me a story of how he was being evicted from his apartment and that same day he received a royalty check, for a tune he wrote for Richie Havens. That song is on found on this record (Handsome Johnny). I will always have a portion of Richie Havens’ musical DNA found in my music. RIP
