Day 38: Richie Havens-things I didn't know or maybe I forgot

Richie Havens is one of my all time favorite musicians. He is on my musical Mt. Rushmore The passion and emotional depth he put into his music has been inspirational and at rare times aspirational for me.

I have already posted about him since this confinement begin. Bob Dylan is also on the granite face of my imagination. Next Monday, I will post about the third face

Here are some facts about Richie Havens that I didn't know or maybe forgot.

Woodstock

The most striking image most of us have of Richie Havens is opening at Woodstock. He improvised his epic version of Freedom which was the closing number of what became a 3 hours set.

What I didn't know was that his bass player, Eric Oxendine had abandoned his car and walked 20 miles. By the time he got to Woodstock, Richie Havens, percussionist Daniel Ben Zebulon and guitarist Paul ‘Deano’ Williams were riffing on Freedom.

Williams-Havens-Zebulon...no Oxendine

Handsome Johnny

This song also performed at Woodstock was written by Lou Gossett Jr. who performed at Cafe Wha? before launching his movie career.

Louis Gossett Jr. and Richie Havens: The Troubadours of Folk Festival in 1993.

Greased Lightning

Richie Havens had a long film career as an actor and a composer. In 1977, he played Woodrow in Richard Pryor's first lead role, Greased Lightning, a biopic about Wendell Scott, the first African American Nascar driver.



Left to right: Beau Bridges, Richie Havens, Cleavon Little, Pam Grier, Richard Pryor


Married with Children: Rock of Ages

In this 1992 episode of MWC, Al Buddy passes himself off as Axel Buddy for reasons that are not clear to me. Here is a clip of Al playing the sandwich with among others, Richie Havens.




I'm Not There

In the odd 2007 Bob Dylan biopic, Richie Havens shows up on a front porch at .54 mark of this clip jamming with "Woody," played by Marcus Carl Franklin.



I've got to be jamming myself.

Click here for the Richie Havens web site and an excellent Richie Havens bio.

Don't forget to nominate your favorite confinement images and videos for the Donnies™. Nominations accepted until May 1.