I wasn’t even born yet when Woodstock ’69 happened. The world’s most famous 3 Day rock festival that happened here in Upstate, New York. The festival featured some famous acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Grateful Dead, CCR, Joan Baez and the list goes on. Richie Havens was also booked for the lineup. He wasn’t just part of the lineup, he was the festival’s opener. He was the first performer to hit the stage there. It was his iconic performance at Woodstock ’69 which launched him into fame.
Even though, I wasn’t around when Woodstock happened — I did watch the Woodstock movie, however. The first performer was some dude on stage with an acoustic guitar and conga players, screaming, “Freedom, Freedom” through the microphone at the top of his lungs with his aggressive acoustic guitar playing. In my eyes, Richie was the best part of the Woodstock ’69 movie. It was him that made me want to watch his performance over and over again.
His aggressive and percussive like guitar playing is a huge inspiration for my own playing. You notice how I play my acoustic aggressively on stage? Well, most of that came from him. I love playing acoustic guitar aggressively and hard. Pounding on the strings and playing fast rhythm. I can play like that too.
Even though, “Freedom”, is a simple song — it’s still powerful. It sends a clear message about world freedom, and peace. You shouldn’t really look at him just for his “Freedom” song though — his other music is great too. Before Richie’s death, he continued to perform live and release studio albums. He never gave up what he did. He played music until the day he died, and that’s exactly what he did. This really sucks. I’m kind of devastated about his passing ’cause he has been a favorite of mine for years.
In honor of Richie Havens, I’m planning on learning his song, “Freedom”, and I’ll cover it myself for a tribute video. Richie Havens was 72 years old.
Kev
K'Brocking 
On a positive note, the “Freedom” song is not so hard to play. It’s just a drop down tuning with a few chords. It should take me a few days to get the rhythm and vocals down. The song doesn’t look too hard to sing either. I should be able to nail this song with no problem.
Yes, I’ve been a Richie fan for many many years. Anybody that want to doubt you is a piece of crap. Anybody who has seen the Woodstock movie would know who Richie Havens is.
If you want more proof that I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, he’s done a lot of Beatles songs and Bob Dylan covers. He uses a lot of different alternate tunings and he mostly uses his thumb to fret chords on the guitar, because he has huge hands. The man was a musical genius.
I’m going to learn his “Freedom” song and will record myself playing it on video. I am planning on starting to get my youtube account going again.
Kev