Handsome Johnny - Music

Richard P. "Richie" Havens Born January 21 1941 Died April 22 2013 Was An American Folk Singer And Guitarist. He Is Best Remembered For His Intense Rhythmic Guitar Style Often In Open Tunings Soulful Covers Of Pop And Folk Songs And His Opening Performance At The 1969 Woodstock Festival.

Born In The Bedford-Stuyvesant Section Of Brooklyn Havens Moved To Greenwich Village In 1961 In Time To Get In On The Folk Boom Then Taking Place. Havens Had A Distinctive Style As A Folksinger Appearing In Such Clubs As The Cafe Wha? His Guitar Set To An Open Tuning He Would Strum While Barring Chords With His Thumb Using It Essentially As Percussion While Singing Rhythmically In A Gruff Voice For A Mesmerizing Effect. Havens Was Signed To Douglas Records In 1965 And Recorded Two Albums That Gained Him A Local Following. In 1967 The Verve Division Of MGM Records Formed A Folk Section Verve Forecast And Signed Havens And Other Folk-Based Performers. The Result Was Havens's Third Album Mixed Bag. It Wasn't Until 1968 And The Something Else Again Album However That Havens Began To Hit The Charts -- Actually Havens's Fourth Third And Second Albums Charted That Year In That Order. In 1969 Came The Double Album Richard P. Havens 1983. Havens' Career Benefited Enormously From His Appearance At The Woodstock Festival In 1969 And His Subsequent Featured Role In The Movie And Album Made From The Concert In 1970. His First Album After That Exposure Alarm Clock Made The Top 30 And Produced A Top 20 Single In "Here Comes The Sun." These Recordings Were Havens's Commercial High-Water Mark But By This Time He Had Become An International Touring Success. By The End Of The '70s He Had Abandoned Recording And Turned Entirely To Live Work.

Havens Came Back To Records With A Flurry Of Releases In 1987 A New Album Simple Things An Album Of Bob Dylan And Beatles Covers And A Compilation. In 1991 Havens Signed His First Major-Label Deal In 15 Years When He Moved To Sony Music And Released Now.

On April 22 2013 Havens Died Of A Heart Attack At Home In Jersey City New Jersey. He Was 72.

Discography
* A Richie Havens Record 1965
* Electric Havens 1966
* Mixed Bag February 1967
* Something Else Again 1968
* Richard P. Havens 1983 1969
* Stonehenge 1970
* Alarm Clock 1971
* The Great Blind Degree 1971
* Richie Havens On Stage 1972
* Portfolio 1973
* Mixed Bag II January 1975
* The End Of The Beginning 1976
* Mirage 1977
* Connections 1980
* Common Ground 1983
* Simple Things 1987
* Sings Beatles And Dylan 1987
* Live At The Cellar Door 1990
* Now 1991
* Cuts To The Chase 1994
* Time 1999
* Wishing Well April 2002
* Grace Of The Sun 2004

Guest Appearances

* Please Don't Touch By Steve Hackett 1978
* Starlight Express Music And Songs From 1987
* OVO By Peter Gabriel 2000 Soundtrack To The Millennium Dome Show
* "Freedom" On The Best Of The Jammy's Volume One W The Mutaytor
* "The Long Road" Duet With Cliff Eberhardt On Cliff's 1990 Album "The Long Road"
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