Richie Havens passed away April 22, 2013. Rest in peace, Richie Havens.
__________________________________
Dear Richie,
The loss of your bright shining heart and soul from our world is a shock. I realized that that I had seen you perform four times. More than I have seen any other nationally touring performer.
I first saw you at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, NY when I was barely out of college. My best friend had gotten concert tickets from his older brother. His brother decided he didn’t want to go to see some oldies acts. We were psyched to see Country Joe and the Fish. We reveled in his famous anti-war song. Joe was fun. We stayed to see the next act that — in our ignorance — we had never heard of. We figured we were there anyway. Why not give you a listen?
You blew us through the doors.