Richie Havens on Film, TV, Video & DVD

Woodstock (1970): Music Documentary 184 min (Oscar for Best Documentary) DA Pennebaker had made the first quality rockumentary in 1966 when he followed Bob Dylan on a tour of Britain, but Woodstock remained the best of its kind until The Last Waltz came out in 1978 – interestingly directed by Martin Scorsese who was a film editor on Woodstock. Director Michael Wadleigh assembled a massive array of cameras and captured a mood that sparked a generation. Richie Havens was just one of the performers, but his contribution set his own career in a new and spectacular direction. The Director's Cut version of the movie contains Handsome Johnny, as well as Freedom. Other artists who performed included Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, Santana, John Sebastian, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. Sadly, Tim Hardin’s performance was cut from the film and, of course, despite singing about it, Joni Mitchell never got to Woodstock..

And now: Woodstock Diaries (2002) 180 min. Available on VHS and DVD. This contains many of the performances omitted from the original movie, so as well as seeing Richie perform I Can't Make it Anymore, you'll also get the chance to see Tim Hardin, The Incredible String Band, Ravi Shankar, Mountain, Johnny Winter and all the other regulars you'd expect from a Woodstock movie. Because it's on DVD, there are also extras, including interviews, biographies and links to websites (including this one!)

If you want to learn how to play guitar in the style of Richie, you'll want his DVD, The Guitar Style of Richie Havens. It's available directly from the DVD's producers, Homespun Video. Even if you aren't a guitar player, this is still a fascinating interview, offering glimpses into Richie's personality, as well as his various techniques for creating that unique sound.  It's a must for every fan!

The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970) Directed by Leonard Horn. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Robert T. Westbrook, the movie is about 23 year old Columbia University dropout (Stanley Sweetheart) who seeks his identity during the sexual revolution. Richie appears on the soundtrack, but not singing any of his own songs. IMDb: "It has all the ingredients for the perfect midnight movie."

Ciao! Manhattan (1972) Directed by John Palmer & David Weisman. Richie wrote the musical score.

Catch My Soul (1974): Musical 95 min (Also known as Santa Fe Satan) Patrick McGoohan, best known for the 60s cult tv series The Prisoner, has his pretentious foibles and this may have been one of them. Adapted by Jack Good from Shakespeare’s Othello into a musical, with Richie as the Moor, this is not a film to rush to the cinema for – even if the music is not bad. Unfortunately, there is no video or DVD available at present. I do, however, have a vinyl album which was designed to be issued to radio stations and which contained a long interview with Richie on his performance in the movie.

Last Rally (1975) Richie acted and sang in this 31 minute film.

Ali: The Fighter a.k.a Ali: The Man Behind the Myth (1975) Directed by Rick Baxter & William Greaves. Richie wrote the musical score for this documentary and appears in it as himself. Although it does get occasional screenings, the film is not available on DVD or video.

The Gumball Rally (1976) Directed by Chuck Bail. Richie appears on the soundtrack.

Greased Lightning (1977): Biography 94 min.  Director Michael Schultz has made some classy movies in his time – and then there’s this one. Richard Pryor stars as Wendell Scott, the first black racing car driver. The film also features Beau Bridges and Cleavon Little (the sheriff in Blazing Saddles). I gather that Richie played the character Woodrow as well as singing in it.

Coming Home (1978) Drama directed by Hal Ashby, with Oscar-winning performances by Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. Closing titles include Tim Buckley as well as Richie performing Follow.

The Boss's Son (1978): Comedy 97 min.  Directed by Bobby Roth, this is a pretty good movie about a young man who is obliged to work in the carpet factory owned by his father. Richie, as usual, plays a supporting role as the character, Albert. Gets a good review on IMDb, but is no longer available on video or DVD.

The American Game (1979) Documentary directed by Jay Freund & David M Wolf. Richie appears on the soundtrack.

The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite (1981): 100 min.  OK, so this girl is the heir to a business that is on the slide – but she has this watch that can stop time. Ah, well, it kept Richie in work and led to the issue of the film’s title as a reasonable single. Directed by Hy Averback. The original hardback first edition book by John D MacDonald sells for over £100.

Kent State (1981) Directed by James Goldstone. Richie appears on the soundtrack.

Children of Pride (1984) Documentary directed by Carole Langer. Richie appears on the soundtrack.

Hearts of Fire (1987): Drama 95 min. Director Richard Marquand really messed up with this one – but then who wouldn’t with a script so dire as to make it an instant turkey. Rupert Everett played a rock star and Bob Dylan a former legend of rock. Even the soundtrack was unimpressive.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988) Australian movie directed by Pina Amenta that took a further 6 years to be released in the USA. Richie sings the title song. The soundtrack may still be available from Amazon.

Wired (1989) Biography of John Belushi, directed by Larry Pearce. Richie sings Still Looking for a Way to Say Goodbye.

Homer & Eddie (1990) Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, starring James Belushi & Whoopi Goldberg. Richie appears on the soundtrack.

Navy Seals (1990) Directed by Lewis Teague. Richie appears on the soundtrack, performing Hardline.

Street Hunter (1990) Directed by Andrew Gallagher. Richie acts in this gang movie, playing the character Daze.

Peace Tapes, Vol 1 (1990)

Songs of the Civil War (1991) A 1 hour documentary, in which Richie acts and performs Following the Drinking Gourd and Give Us a Flag.

Perfect Harmony (1991): 95 min. Richie works for Disney in a 50s movie about racism in a fancy boys’ school in the Deep South. Director Will Mackenzie keeps it simple for the kiddies. Made for tv. One quote from the Internet Movie Database: "The story of this wonderful film will touch your heart and the music will make your soul dance."

Brother Minister: The Assassination of Malcolm X (1994) Directed by Jefri Aalmuhammed & Jack Baxter. Richie composed the musical score along with Annie Lennox.

The War (1994) Directed by John Avnet and starring Kevin Costner. Richie appears on the soundtrack, performing Follow.

The Pallbearer (1996) Romantic comedy directed by Matt Reeves and starring David Schwimmer & Gwyneth Paltrow. Richie appears on the soundtrack, performing Follow.

Warriors of Virtue (1997) Directed by Ronny Yu. Richie appears on the soundtrack performing Inside of You.

Free Tibet (1998) Documentary directed by Sarah Pirozek. Richie composed the musical score.

Hideous Kinky (1998) Directed by Gillies MacKinnon and starring Kate Winslet . Richie appears on the soundtrack performing Here Comes the Sun & Follow.

A Walk on the Moon (1999) Directed by Tony Goldwyn. Richie appears on the soundtrack, performing Follow.

Collateral (2004) Directed by Michael Mann. A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in LA. This film, starring Tom Cruise, features the Groove Armada track, Hands of Time, with Richie on lead vocal.

Thanks, again, to Antonio Alfaiate for filling in gaps in my research for this page.

In addition, Richie has, over the years, contributed a couple of times to Sesame Street. Any completist who wishes to share information on this is most welcome to let me know by e-mail. He also appeared in the tv series Married . . . With Children in an episode entitled Rock of Ages. It was first broadcast on 15 November 1992 and featured him, and others, on their way to Woodstock. On 20 November 1997, he played himself in The Promised Land, an episode of the crime series New York Undercover.

As you can see from the above list, Richie has provided the music for the closing titles to several movies, including Coming Home, Homer & Eddie, The War and The Pall Bearer. Strangely, this has been the introduction to Richie's music for so many people who had never known of him in any other way.

Since I am based in the UK, my one experience of Richie on TV was an In Concert programme for BBC2 in the early 70s. The soundtrack for this performance formed the basis for the Richie Havens On Stage album. Again, any information on tv performances and, in particular, availability of video footage would be most welcome. Two examples that have recently come out were taken from Beat Club, a German tv programme of the Seventies.  One is The Singer & The Song (opposite) where he performs Lady Madonna. The other is So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star, where he performs Here Comes the Sun.

The aim of these pages is to share details with a widespread set of fans.