Ritchie Havens died on April 22. Everyone
has seen him sing âFreedomâ at
Woodstock, a song he improvised when he was out of material, thrust by
an accident of history into the role of a 2 hour opening act before a crowd of
400,000 on a hot afternoon in a soaking wet orange dashiki.
He just started strumming in that rhythmic
way only he could and just chanted the word âfreedomâ until it
started to sink into the crowdâs collective consciousness. He brought the
verses of an old spiritual to the riff in a way that couldnât have been more
appropriate.
Listen to it today and it can move
you to tears.
In
the BBC’s
discussion of Havensâ career, Havens says about Woodstock:
in my life, and [in] so many others’, is attached to that train.
It
is appropriate that Havens died on Earth Day. He devoted much of his life to
educating children about ecological issues, from co-founding The Northwind Undersea
Institute (an oceanographic childrenâs museum in the Bronx) to creating The
Natural Guard, which is described on his website as:
way of helping kids learn that they can have a hands-on role in affecting the
environment. Children study the land, water, and air in their own communities
and see how they can make positive changes from something as simple as planting
a garden in an abandoned lot.
Havens took his teeth out to sing. Apparently he
cared more about how he sounded than how he looked. If you have that much
talent, you donât need teeth. He just sat up there with his guitar and simply
sang his songs. He didnât have a persona, he
had no guile.
Havens
was also political. Often at concerts, he told the story of being an avid
follower of comic book superheroes, especially, Superman, who fought for
“Truth, Justice, and The American Way.” He would say that it was only
when he was much older that it occurred to him:
Justice, AND the American Way?? I thought Truth and Justice WAS The American
Way. They were telling us how it really is and we missed it. We blew it.
Richie
represented the soul of what we were fighting for in the 1960âs and 1970âs:
Freedom for the oppressed in our society, freedom from mindless obeisance to
authority, freedom to pursue our unalienable rights as proclaimed by Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. in his âI Have a Dreamâ speech. Rights which remain elusive
today. Havensâ pleas for harmony, equality, and fairness are as applicable now as
they were at the end of the 1960’s
Ritchie
Havensâ first album was âMixed Bagâ, which includes his song, Follow.
It joined a short list of essential ’67 vinyl, (remember vinyl?) with “Are You
Experienced?”, “Fresh Cream”, and a few others. The late, great Pete Fornatale’s program
on WFUV-FM was titled “Mixed Bag” as a tribute to Havens.
Ritchie
Havens was a warrior for peace and decency for all people; no similar saints exist
in pop music today.
Rest
in peace, soul man and thanks for the music. You will be missed.
We managed to see him a few times (before Woodstock) at the cafe au go go in the Village. I was i HS boy, and my parents let us out late on a school night. sigh.