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RIP Richie Havens


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I had the privilege of seeing him once in a small club setting, opening for someone I've forgotten. We were at the front center table, right against the stage, and my then-boyfriend Duane got bored waiting for the show to begin. We could hear noises behind the heavy red curtain, and Duane gave in to curiosity and eased the curtain up to peek under. Somebody on the other side leaned down almost right into his face and startled him so much he dropped the curtain. I asked Duane what he'd seen and he said not much, since he'd dropped it so soon, but the guy had "the most enormous feet!!!" he'd ever seen.

Moments later the curtain lifted, and Havens gave Duane a big, laughing grin...he knew he'd startled the hell out of him, and had clearly had fun with it. His set was captivating, and yes, he had enormous feet. 

I'll bet he's tapping those big toes in heaven's band right now. RIP, Richie.

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Nice story, Donna.  :thumbup  I never got to see Mr. Havens, unfortunately, but he seemed to personify the essence of the late-60s music scene in general, and Woodstock more specifically. And few people have ever done such justice to covering other people's tunes. More often that not his versions would surpass the original.

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Its always kind of interesting to see who has meaning to someone when they pass, particularly musicians, which is our main interest here.  In many respects Richie Havens was a minor, if iconic figure because of his participation in Woodstock.  He certainly belonged to that time period despite having a reasonable career, which also included what must have been a nice living doing ads. 

 

No one has yet mentioned his brief acting career, which included a memorable and moving scene in "I'm Not There". 

 

OH yea and his Dylan cover version that he owned was "Just Like a Woman."  No one did it better.

 

LouieB

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