Richie Havens: Hearing the truth going by

By MARY GREENE

BETHEL, NY - “In retrospect,” said Richie Havens, “my generation was the last to ‘speak only when spoken to.’ In addition, we had rock and roll—the primal scream.”

Richie Havens is coming again to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts—a place he’s had an influence in shaping. The legendary folk singer was on the list of performers during the original 1969 Woodstock festival, and he rocked the half-million young people digging the scene on the muddy field with his refrain of “freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom.” The power of that concert was “the highest level on the plateau,” said Havens in a phone conversation conducted on August 10, “and reaching the top of it was a coming together generally across the world.”

In a resonant, lyrical, conversational tone, Havens spoke about what it means for him to return to the Woodstock site, a place he has performed at several times since the original iconic event.

“My generation discovered the now and we all wanted to be in the now,” he said. It was the beginning of the story. People today, he said, “have all melted into one block, with hearts and minds connected.” Havens was consulted by the powers that be in Sullivan County when the site was under consideration for development. “I thought they should preserve the old field,” he said, “and I told them that.” Alan Gerry and the designers of Bethel Woods did indeed preserve the old field, which looks much like it always has, and is a welcoming spot for visitors to sit and contemplate the historical significance of the site.

Havens was the oldest of nine children growing up in Brooklyn. His mother was a bookbinder in Manhattan and his father did electroplating, but “he was a musician at heart,” said Havens. From his father, who was self taught on the piano, Havens may have received his ear and perfect pitch. “My father loved honky tonk,” said Havens. “We’d have to sit through all the old sentimental songs every Friday night.” His mother also had a wonderful voice, said Havens, and would sing while doing the dishes “to get through doing the dishes.” As for Havens, “I inherited hearing music well.” He recalls his fifth-grade music teacher playing a chord on the piano, and he was the only student able to sing it back.

Havens grew up on jazz, doo wop, Nina Simone and, he said, the classical music that was common to television cartoons of the era. “Ninety percent of the cartoons we grew up with used Beethoven” and other classical pieces as scores, he said. “We had the real deal going there.”

Havens reached the Greenwich Village scene in the early ‘60s where his initial desire was to perform poetry in clubs. He was singing the lyrics aloud from the audience to the folk singers in clubs, and was finally invited to take up a guitar and perform himself. “And I did,” he said. “I learned my six songs in a few days, and I performed them.”

Along with Bob Dylan and others, he was taught by the likes of Dave Van Ronk and Bob Gibson. “I came up with the poets who got to sing their own poems,” he said. “We were the new kids on the block.” Havens writes most of his songs in 10 minutes or so, he said. He begins with a title that might come to him on a train or on a street, or even backstage before a concert. Then, he gets his guitar and strums along until the first line comes. “I write the first line and then I hear the melody. Then, it becomes form, and I can follow the form through to the end.”

Poetry still informs his work, and “I write about things I didn’t know that I knew. I become an audience for my own music.” It comes fast and pure because “it is being given to me,” said Havens.

With regard to the popular music of this era, especially rap and hip hop, Havens feels an affinity because “with rock and roll, we were able to say what we were feeling,” and this is what artists are doing today. Folk music, he said, had several layers: the protest song, the historical song and the visionary piece. “And then there were the angry guys,” he said. “Rap is the strong arm of the new law—respect us, please.

“I can tell you this: around this country,” said Havens, “there is a lot of positive rap. It shakes and shimmers. It flakes off and reveals the crux of things. There is nothing for musicians to look forward to except for what they make,” and Havens respects that process. In spoken word and slam poetry, Havens sees the same full circle coming around. “When you hear that sort of performance today, you can hear the truth going by.” He sees the new music and spoken word as stirring up the positive and negative aspects of things as they are today.

Havens continues to write music. His last several albums, including “Wishing Well” (2002) and “Grace of the Sun” (2005) were written in a different key than earlier collections. This gives him access to new material. “Once it’s done, it’s done, and I go to the stage with it,” he said. His concerts are a combination of old and new songs. Of the upcoming concert at Bethel Woods, Havens said, “We’re on a new mission that will bring us all closer together. My hope is that the mission of [Bethel Woods] is to create new musicians, and artists of all kinds. One classroom—10 classrooms. Dance, music, poetry. It can all happen there.”

Havens will perform at Bethel Woods with Arlo Guthrie on Friday night, August 17 at 8:00 p.m. Visit www.richiehavens.com or www.bethelwoodslive.org for more information.