“They can’t hide us anymore” Richie Havens and Steve Davidowitz

 “They can’t hide us anymore” 

Richie Havens and Steve Davidowitz

Firstly, this is not the “La Bamba” guy, this man is much deeper than “LA Bamba” both musically and personally.

If there is one thing I have learned from reading rock biographies is that rock stars have egos - all of them! If they don’t have egos when they begin their recording careers they certainly develop one after a few successful records.

 There is a distinct lack of ego within this book. Let me explain:

 1)This is one skinny volume. So many stars want to cram as much information as possible into their books but Richie isn’t one of them. 

2) If you look closely, you’ll see that the book is even shorter because several pages are devoted to his lyrics. An ego would demand not only those pages but an additional 50 to compensate for the apparent loss of pages to lyrics.

3)Then there is the complete lack of pictures; there are none. Ok sure there are a few but not many at all and they are not all of him. 

A rock star's ego would demand hundreds of images - all of themselves. But not Richie Havens. 

What’s up with Richie Havens? Where are all the stories of excess? 

Stories of abundant and willing women are missing.  

Stories of ingesting massive quantities of illicit materials and bragging about it all. Some brag that they did it and others brag that they survived it all. 

There are no stories of going to rehab and sneaking drugs in or having friends smuggle in some contraband. There are almost none of the things that usually fill a rock and roll biography.

So what does that leave? I think this reveals so much more about the human being behind the celebrity.

Richie was the opening act at a little soiree you might have heard of : Woodstock. He talks about his experiences but he doesn’t dwell on things and he doesn't get bogged down by all the tiny details.

Sure he tells us how it came to pass that he opened Woodstock but he downplays his historic contributions. 

There is a wonderful story about how he developed his peculiar microphone technique. If you haven’t seen Mr. Havens hold a mic, go and look. It’s a curious thing.

Richie Havens is an artist. His life was not one of just music. There was so much more to this man than being the answer to a trivia question: Who opened the Woodstock Music and Art Fair?

He was also a visual artist. Havens gives us a few photos of some of his art as evidence. These are just some of the few images in the book.

Yet there is still more to Mr. Richie Havens and that is the great secret of this book. This is a concise look into the man that lies behind the music.

The man has been involved with the training of seals to save lives. He had some involvement with kids who have autism.  He was responsible for helping create a maritime museum that helped educate kids about the ocean. There is so much more to this man than just his public face.

Richie Havens ends with a chapter on drugs. Unlike many musicians, Havens does not detail his drug experiences but he does talk about drugs. Havens is strong in his belief that the biggest problem with drugs has been a lack of honesty in talking about them. 

 Did Richie Havens participate in the rock and roll lifestyle? Sure he did. Perhaps he did. Maybe he did. I dunno and, in the end, it just doesn’t matter. What matters are the lives Mr. Havens touched and this autobiography shows this to us.