Album #8: Richie Havens - Woodstock 1969

    The Woodstock covers might be the two I am proudest of so far. For John Sebastian, I thought his represented his fun and goofier side. For this, I had the idea in my head to use artwork from the Book of Kells, a REALLY old and really beautiful Irish religious text from the 9th century. The Wiki's history section can tell more about the book than I can, but I was in Ireland last summer and got to see it in Dublin. What a great time! The border and big letters are from the book, and the background is a photo of the crowd at Woodstock.

    I love how this recording starts, he introduced as "one of the most beautiful men in the world". While I never knew him, but this statement is reaffirmed with every recording of him, both in the studio, and especially in concert.

    Richie Havens was not scheduled to be, but was made the opening act of Woodstock after some delays and issues. The stage wasn't even ready for full bands! His set, to kill time so everything could work out, was longer than he had planned, which meant he had to come up with what to play, leading to the song Freedom, an improvised jam written on the spot. Because of it being such an important performance, this became Haven's introduction to the larger music world, and Freedom became his most iconic song.

   

    Alongside Freedom, Richie played From the Prison off his 1968 record Something Else: Again. This is one of my FAVORITE records, of not just 1968, but of all popular music. I've heard his cover of With a Little Help From My Friends was one of the songs he played to extend his set, and the only reason he ended up humming it was because he didn't remember enough lyrics, which I think is a very fun way to keep the song going. Instead of struggling through the words, he just did the melody, which he excelled at.

1. intro

2. From the Prison / Get Together / From the Prison

3. Stranger

4. talk

5. High Flying Bird

6. I Can't Make it Anymore

7. With a Little Help From My Friends

8. Handsome Johnny

9. talk

10. Strawberry Fields Forever

11. Freedom

Download Link: Google Drive