Live at the Cellar Door

by

Richie Havens

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This somewhat hard to find Ritchie Havens CD combines two 1970 performances-- The Cellar Door in Washington, DC (now defunct), and the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Ritchie Havens puts so much heart and soul in to each song it will make your hair stand up (then, I've never heard of a concert where he didn't).

As usual, Havens does more covers than originals, but every song he plays becomes a Ritchie Havens song. Especially great are his Helplessly Hoping (Stephen Stills), his famous version of God Bless the Child, and Dolphins, a song which he popularized as far as I know.

Another bonus to this as opposed to a greatest hits collection is his "narrations". Havens is gentle and funny, and tells stories like no one else. Buy this CD, see him live, gawk at his underrecognized talent.

I love Richie Havens as a perfomer. However, I found his live releases to be pleasant, but infuriatingly unsatisfying. Havens performed at lot of classic shows in the late 60s, early 70s such as Woodstock(1969), Isle of Wight Festivals(69 & 70), Atlanta Pop Festival(1970), any Fillmore East show, etc. His classic strumming and poignant vocal power captured the spirit of the late sixties hippie rock generation. Unfortunately, Havens seemed to pass up the chance for the public to hear the showstoppers. This live album and ON STAGE (1972, currently not available on CD) is made up of mainly slow/moderate tempo tunes that really do not epitomize what Havens made famous. A lot of them are covers. Many are good versions, but they are not from classic shows.I really want a live release that is a complete show from a classic concert or venue. One radio interviewer a few years back asked Havens if he ever planned to release his Woodstck set in its entirety, but he avoided the question and changed the subject. Strange. CELLAR DOOR does have its moments, and is from 1970, a classic year, but the entire show should have been released to make it completely worthwhile.