Richie Havens is gifted with one of the most recognizable voices in popular music. His fiery, poignant, always soulful singing style has remained unique and ageless since he first emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. Havens will perform at the Napa Valley Opera House on Saturday, November 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $30.
For three decades, Havens has used his music to convey messages of brotherhood and personal freedom. With 29 albums released and a rigorous touring schedule, he continues to view his calling as a high one. As he told The Denver Post, "I really sing songs that move me. I'm not in show business; I'm in the communications business. That's what it's about for me."
Havens career began in New York’s Greenwhich Village. "I saw the Village as a place you could escape to and express yourself," he recalls. "I first went there to perform poetry in the late 1950s during the beatnik days. Then I drew portraits for about two years. I'd stay up all night listening to folk music in the clubs, but it took a while before I thought of picking up a guitar."
Havens' reputation as a solo performer soon spread throughout the Village folk circles and beyond. After joining forces with legendary manager Albert Grossman, Havens landed his first deal with the Verve label, which released “Mixed Bag” in 1967. This auspicious debut album featured standout tracks like “Handsome Johnny,” Jerry Merrick's “Follow” (later heard on the soundtrack to the hit 1978 film “Coming Home”) and a striking version of Bob Dylan's “Just Like A Woman” which earned Havens his reputation as a premier interpreter of Dylan's material.
It was as a live performer that Havens first earned widespread notice. By decade's end, he was in great demand in colleges across the country, as well as on the international folk and pop club circuit. Richie played the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, the 1967 Monterey Jazz Festival, the January 1968 Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert at Carnegie Hall, the December 1968 Miami Pop Festival, the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival and, of course, the 1969 Woodstock festival in upstate New York.
Havens' Woodstock appearance proved to be a major turning point in his career. As the festival's opening act, he held the multitudes spellbound for nearly three hours. Called back for yet another encore, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual “Motherless Child” that became “Freedom,” which eventually reached an audience of millions.
Havens became involved in acting during the 1970s and in the mid-1970s co-founded the Northwinds Undersea Institute, an oceanographic museum for children on City Island in the Bronx. This in turn led to Havens founding of the Natural Guard in early 1990, an organization that helps children to learn that they can play a hands-on role in affecting the environment.
Throughout the 1980s Havens spent much time performing for his devoted fans in Europe, especially Italy, where he also produced his “Common Ground” album with Italian artist Pino Danniele (“Connection,” 1987). Back in the United States toward the end of the decade and into the 1990s, Havens recorded several albums. His latest “Grace Of The Sun,” was recorded in 2004. -- www.napavalleyoperahouse.org
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