Richie Havens gets a song, literally, from Dylan
St. Annie
"We are the best-lookin' generation," Richie Havens said last night at
the Highline Ballroom, speaking to "all the young men" in the crowd.
There were more than you'd have thought. And Richie had a point:
with his elegant stage garb, twenty pounds of silver rings on both
hands, that remarkable beard, and that zen smile, he sure did look
great. Sounded great, too, for two hours and through three encores.
He opened the show with a long story about how he got a song. Back in
the day, he smiled, back when the Village was, someone would play
something traditional or new ("they all had fifteen verses"), and if
you liked it you'd go up and say you'd like to do it. And the singer/
writer would sit down and write it out for you, and then you'd carry
it off and perform it too. Well, Richie heard a guy he knew sing a
new song. And so he went up to him afterwards and said, "I'd like to
sing that. Could you write it out for me?" The guy said, "Here, man,
I have a demo," and reached into his pocket and pulled it out. So
Richie learned it, and started performing it. The handoff continued:
a young guitar player heard Havens do the song, and came up to him
after the gig, and said (and Richie did a spot-on impression of him,
down to the phrasing of the words) said "I'd like to sing that." "And
then he recorded it," said Havens, holding his head in mock despair,
"and you couldn't do it any more." He went more than twenty years
without performing the song - then, when he did, young people came up
to him and said, "I love that song!" "Where'd you hear it?" he would
ask, and they'd reply, "on my Grandma's records." "I don't ask
anymore," Havens chuckled. And then he launched into his first song:
"All Along the Watchtower." An "aha" ripple swept the crowd: guy
with demo in pocket? Bob. Young guitarist? Jimi.
Havens went on to do two other Dylan songs beautifully. Trailing onto
the end of a lovely "Tupelo Honey" he finished up with "Just Like a
Woman," and made it gentle, patient, and nostalgic - without a touch
of bite or fight in it. And, as his final encore, "Maggie's Farm,"
with a clip of "Won't Get Fooled Again" cranked in. "Pick up my
guitar and play/Just like yesterday" got a lot of people on their
feet, yelling. The Highline Ballroom seems like a sturdy building,
with all those exposed iron girders and such, but it shook a little on
that last one, even though people were supposed to be seated at a
supper-club style gig.
After the show Richie wasn't giving out songs or arrangements to
people, but he did sit down in the back and meet folks, and sign a few
cds. A really peaceable, gentle soul, and a super performer in
person. Catch him if you can.
Babs
Sounds like a fantastic night, Annie. I loved reading about it. Did he
perform "Follow"?
St. Annie
> Another assessment based on choices in cover songs. A recurrent RMD
> affliction.
Yo -- I love being afflicted! A good night's music by a happy and
proficient performer is a good night for me, whether I hear nothing
but that performer's own "original" songs, or ones they've love-and-
thefted from other musicians, or a mix of the above as was the case
last night.
No, Babs, no "Follow," unfortunately... would have provided something
other than COVER. Though Havens certainly did his own songs, and a
few by other artists -- I only mentioned the Dylan ones here because I
was under the, I reckon wrong, impression that they're the ones in
which rmders would have the most interest.
Now off to meet friends and listen to a bunch of other guitar players,
including Larry Campbell who spent a lot of years COVERing for Bob, do
more Dylan COVERS! Duck and COVER, y'all. My under-COVER affliction
is happily ongoing, this whole weekend!
Yours peeking out from a manhole COVER,
Annie
frinjdwelr
"St. Annie" <botticel...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d165e5cf-8b5a-47e8...@j78g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> "We are the best-lookin' generation," Richie Havens said last night at
> the Highline Ballroom, speaking to "all the young men" in the crowd.
> There were more than you'd have thought. And Richie had a point:
> with his elegant stage garb, twenty pounds of silver rings on both
> hands, that remarkable beard, and that zen smile, he sure did look
> great. Sounded great, too, for two hours and through three encores.
>
Thanks for your description.
It reminded me that Richie Havens is the only one of Dylan's early co-harts
to appear in both Hearts of Fire (at Bob's request) and I'm Not There. He's
also the person Bob chose to sing Times Changin' for that infamous bank
advert so that Ritchie could make some money.
But then we know how fond Bob is of Ritchie since he told us so in that 74
interview with Mary Travers.
the dancer with laryngitis
> "St. Annie" <botticellisni...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
And he sang at Mr. Dylan's 30th anniversary concert.
(although I don't know if that means anything, like Bob being at
Hillary's birthday party.)
Peter Stone Brown
"St. Annie" <botticel...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d165e5cf-8b5a-47e8...@j78g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>
>
Nice story, but lessee Jimi Hendrix recorded Watchtower on album #3 when he
was already huge, and um surely Richie Havens heard John Wesley Harding.
M. Rick
was already huge, and um surely Richie Havens heard John Wesley Harding.
The usual story is that Hendrix first heard Watchtower from (or with) Dave
Mason, who actually played the 12-string on the track, or at least until
Hendrix wiped it in favor of his own.
Babs
> Nice story, but lessee Jimi Hendrix recorded Watchtower on album #3 when he
> was already huge, and um surely Richie Havens heard John Wesley Harding.
Another story I heard was that Richie Havens once brought Bob Dylan to
tears when he sang "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". Supposedly Havens had
picked up the song from another singer and had no idea Dylan had
written it.
the dancer with laryngitis
Crocodile tears, no doubt.
St. Annie
I figured the story was what it sounded like -- a story, a good ole
yarn, both the Dylan part and the Hendrix part. Thanks for confirming
same, M.Rick and PSB and Babs. However, it was still a good intro the
way Havens spun it, and he told it as if it had really happened that
way -- I thought people here would get a smile out of it.
Besides, I'll always be grateful to Richie for showing up at the hotel
room door in London JUST as I was about to be unable to bear another
second of "Hearts of Fire." His beaming face and risque comments kept
me going for at least another 5-6 minutes, before I whimpered and
stopped watching.
Richard
period. They had just met Dylan for the first time at Newport, this is back
in 64. I had hooked Jerry Merick up with Dylan's manager, a guy I knew in
the village when I worked from time to time at the House of Chears, located
under fretted instruments and the movie theater on 6th Ave.
The stories Richie is know to tell about the old days in the village are
very interesting but there is little if any objective facts upon which they
are based. This is the kindest way I know to say this. Richie, back in those
early days was already a huge Dylan fan and he already had mastered his own
unique way of playing most of Dylan's songs, including many unreleased songs
on tapes that were passed around the village by friends and fans. Richie got
Watchtower from the same place that Hendrix guy got it. Just picture it,
Richie and Jerry playing new tunes for you in the dorm room until you are
all thrown out for making a disturbance; those were the days.
Richard
Babs
I think Follow is one of the most beautiful songs out there. Has your
college friend written others?
I'm picturing that scene you just painted in my mind and smiling.
michele l'ulysse
> Thanks for your description.
> It reminded me that Richie Havens is the only one of Dylan's early co-harts
> to appear in both Hearts of Fire (at Bob's request) and I'm Not There. He's
Ciao B
kerry...@aol.com
It's a fascinating story. Bob Dylan first recorded All Along the
Watchtower in Nashville on November 6, 1967. He hadn't performed it
live before that. It was released on his John Wesley Harding album in
January 1968. According to Eddie Kramer's book, "Hendrix: Setting the
Record Straight", Jimi got an early copy of the JWH album from
publicist Michael Goldstein who worked for Dylan's manager Albert
Grossman. Jimi first recorded Watchtower in Olympic Studios in London
in January 1968. He finished it in the Record Plant in New York 3
months later. As Richard Brautigan said, Some things are true even if
they never happened.
Richard
college friend written others?
I'm picturing that scene you just painted in my mind and smiling.
Jerry Merick has to albums out, one on record (long out of print) and one
more recently issued on CD (an old friend from the college days helped
produce it. Richie has recorded several of his songs. I have a CD I made of
a Jerry Merick/Richie Havens concert I help produce back in 64. The tape was
falling apart by the time I got to it, but Richie does his first public
performance of Follow. This was in Oneonta, NY, the home town of Jerry Jeff
Walker, and my brother-in-law's friend from HS baseball team days. (Small
world type of story for ya).
Richard
Richard
Grossman, if the truth be known.
Richard
Babs
Thanks, Richard. I appreciate these small world stories. I'll google
Jerry.
Hang on to that cd! Priceless!