Your Questions & E-mails

This page has not been updated at the same time as the others (June, 2004). I do plan to add all your e-mails as soon as possible, but it is a major task, so please bear with me.

Over the time this website has been on the Internet, I've had fans e-mail me with a number of interesting (and sometimes unusual) questions. After some time, I passed a pile of questions on to Richie, who, although this isn't his official site, kindly responded. Here are those questions and his answers.

Is it possible to get a hold of a copy of "Road to the Super Bowl", which can be heard on a couple of NFL films? Are you a football fan? What team do you follow?

You would have to contact the NFL production office about that one - I don't know the answer.

Is there a way of getting hold of your older, deleted material? Mixed Bag was re-released on CD, but nothing else has come out. Does your management keep a stock of material for sale at concerts and are they prepared to sell this mail order?

All of the Stormy Forest records - my own label, under MGM - are out of print. Because they all reverted back to me as owner, I am in the process of putting together a re-release of those albums on CD.

Is there a source of the tablature of any of your songs? [Most requested is Freedom]

There was only one music book put out - I believe it was in 1972 - it had songs from my first album. That's it so far, but it's not a hard thing to do - I'll work on it. [Also see below.]

In concert there’s a song you do as a precursor to Freedom about there being only 12 people in the world. Does it have a title; who wrote it; is it available as a recording?

That song is called The Zodiac Song and I'm releasing it on my next CD. [It came out on Time.]

What is open E tuning? – i.e. what are the individual strings tuned to? Is it E B E G# B E? And if so, how do you produce minor chords or 7ths?

The tuning is D A D F# A D, from top to bottom. [I wasn't far out - B.M.] I have just finished a book on how I play - chords and all, in photos - within a month it will be available. [The book didn't come out as such, but the detailed information on his guitar style is partly given in his autobiography and partly on his official website. In addition, a DVD on his guitar style is now on sale from its producers.]

Do you have any sort of physical handicap? [Yes, I know that’s a weird one.]

The only physical handicap is being physical.

Regarding a comment you made at a concert in Pittsburgh, PA in Sept of 95', what are your opinions on paying taxes in your country?

I don't have an opinion on paying taxes. I just think we ought to know that they are voluntary. Seriously, the idea was that our forefathers didn't want us to pay for what we didn't get - it's constitutional.

On a personal note, you sing a lot of songs about how we should treat our children. Do you have any children and, if so, how have they turned out?

I had four daughters. One passed away several years ago, but I still have three, and four grandkids - all great people. Actually, they are older than I am - J .

On the same theme, have you ever thought of recording Mike Rutherford's The Living Years? It would be a good one for you.

No, I never thought of recording that song. It's a great song, though - I like it a great deal myself.

Are the lyrics of your songs published anywhere? [I've had several requests for the lyrics of Follow and sent them each time. It was featured in the film The War, as well as in The Pall Bearer, it seems. Another popular one is Handsome Johnny, which featured in Coming Home.]

Unfortunately no, they are not published anywhere - something else to work on. You should know that it is because I have been on the road practically ever weekend since 1968. Seriously, this is what I do; it takes precedent.

What songs did you do in the movie Homer & Eddie? Is there a soundtrack?

 The Homer and Eddie movie does have a soundtrack. I'll try to get those titles for you, but it's been a while.

Is There's a Hole in the Future on your current concert playlist? If you have time to respond in detail, what is on your playlist?

 No - Hole in the Future has not been done for a long while. I learned a long time ago that you need to know the first and last song that you intend to do. What happens in between is between that particular audience and me at that particular moment.. The songs change according to where I am and I do not choose them - they just come out that way, one after another.

Did you ever do a song called Desiderata, with narration by someone called Rosko? Is it available anywhere?

 Yes I did. Rosko is a friend of mine for many years. He was the first DJ on FM radio and he played albums, not singles. Mixed Bag happened to be the first record played when FM was born.

Do you recall using the phrase, "Responsibility is just the ability to respond" back in the early 60s? It has been one fan's code for the past 35 years, he tells me.

 Yes, I do remember saying that. The rest goes, "… and if we are not responding, then we are dead."

Did the novel, The Great Blind Degree ever come out? It was "soon to be published" according to the album sleeve notes.

 No, Great Blind Degree never came out, oddly enough. There is a long story - I'll tell you about it sometime.

Finally, two people from your past e-mailed me. One is Paula Stone, who worked on the Portfolio album and the other is Cyril Caster, who gave me this story – is it true, and if so, can I quote it? 

Setting: The original Woodstock-Saugerties Sound Festival. MC--Bob Fass of WBAI listener sponsored radio in NYC. Year 1968 (or '67?) Onstage: Richie Havens, singing and telling stories at his best to an outdoor audience sitting around campfires in Pan Copeland's field. A UFO appears directly over the field (it is night time) I'm yelling, pointing up at it (it wasn't my first) then others start yelling and pointing. Then Richie looks up and starts talking to the UFO over the PA system. Bob Fass also talks to it. They say "if you are with us and enjoying the music, please give us a sign." The thing does a perfect circle in the sky.

Another long story, but it is true. That concert happened 7 years before the big one. It was put on by a guy named Jocko, a really peaced-out guy who lived in Woodstock at the time. He got a field and put on a concert. 6000 New Yorkers turned up. It was great. Some 14 years later, Jocko visited me in NY and played me a tape of me on stage. I almost died when I heard what I said: "Wow, this is far out; I see a field, ten times as big as this one, and people sitting as far as the eye can see. And the music will go on for days." True story. - RH