Richie Havens - Wishing Well
Product Description:
"...this album is both a revelation and a joy" - MOJO MAGAZINE [May 2002].
Song List:
1. The Well (Havens) 6:37
2. Handouts In The Rain (Havens) 5:58
3. Love Is Alive (Wright) 4:40
4. You'll Never Know (Havens) 3:20
5. Slow Down (Havens) 3:39
6. On The Road To Calvary (Nile) 4:24
7. Stardust & Passion (Havens) 3:43
8. Paradise (Mescall) 4:16
9. Alone Together (Havens) 3:38
10. On The Turning Away (Gilmour, Moore) 7:44
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http://www.richiehavens.com/official_site/home.html
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Review by Chris Nickson
The earnest Richie Havens of Woodstock has turned into a mellower, wiser man and a very spiritual individual — which infuses his music with a wonderful depth. "The Well," the album's opening track, is a prime example, a small path toward truth and love. But love in all its forms is the central idea of the album — even down to one of the covers, a glowing, laid-back version of Gary Wright's '70s FM staple "Love Is Alive" that's enough to make you forget the original (now if he could only manage the same for "Dream Weaver"). But his individual stamp is unmistakable, whether on his own songs, which make up the majority of the disc, or his covers — his take on Pink Floyd's "On the Turning Away," remaking it as an Indian meditation, is nothing less than inspired. But inspiration runs deep throughout Wishing Well. It's a walk through a blooming garden of the mind and heart.
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Release Date: Apr 23, 2002
Recording Date: Aug 2001
Label: Evangeline (UK)
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Credits:
Jorge Alfano: Fretless Bass
Frank Annunziata: Guitar (Electric), Sitar (Electric)
Renee Cologne: Engineer
Randy Crafton: Percussion, Trombone, Drums, Darbouka, Producer, Engineer, Shaker, Mixing, Frame Drum
Ray Dillard: Engineer, Mixing
Steve Gorn Basuri: Bamboo Flute
Richie Havens: Producer, Executive Producer
Leslie Hawes: Executive Producer, Graphic Design
Michelle Kinney: Cello
Dayna Kurtz: Vocals (bckgr)
Rich Meitin: Mixing
Walter Parks: Guitar (Electric), Graphic Design, Photography
Gene Paul: Mastering
Bill Perry: Guitar
Amy Platt: Clarinet
Dave Richards: Bass, Electric Upright Bass
Alki Steriopoulos: Organ
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Styles: Folk-Rock / Psychedelic / Singer/ Songwriter
Moods: Reflective / Gentle / Organic / Intimate / Literate / Earnest
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Biography by William Ruhlmann
Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Richie Havens moved to Greenwich Village in 1961 in time to get in on the folk boom then taking place. Havens had a distinctive style as a folksinger, appearing in such clubs as the Cafe Wha? His guitar set to an opening tuning, he would strum it while barring chords with his thumb, using it essentially as percussion while singing rhythmically in a gruff voice for a mesmerizing effect. Havens was signed to Douglas Records in 1965 and recorded two albums that gained him a local following. In 1967, the Verve division of MGM Records formed a folk section (Verve Forecast) and signed Havens and other folk-based performers. The result was Havens' third album, Mixed Bag. It wasn't until 1968 and the Something Else Again album, however, that Havens began to hit the charts — actually, Havens' fourth, third, and second albums charted that year, in that order. In 1969 came the double album Richard P. Havens 1983.
Havens' career benefited enormously from his appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and his subsequent featured role in the movie and album made from the concert in 1970. His first album after that exposure, Alarm Clock, made the Top 30 and produced a Top 20 single in "Here Comes the Sun." These recordings were Havens' commercial high watermark, but by this time he had become an international touring success. By the end of the '70s, he had abandoned recording and turned entirely to live work. Havens came back to records with a flurry of releases in 1987: a new album, Simple Things; an album of Bob Dylan and Beatles covers; and a compilation. In 1991, Havens signed his first major-label deal in 15 years when he moved to Sony Music and released Now. Nobody Left to Crown was issued by Verve Forecast in 2008.
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