Richie Havens

1. From the Prison
2. Get Together
3. From the Prison (Reprise)
4. The Minstrel from Gault
5. I’m a Stranger Here
6. High Flying Bird
7. I Can’t Make It Anymore
8. With a Little Help from My Friends
9. Handsome Johnny
10. Strawberry Fields Forever > Hey Jude
11. Freedom (Motherless Child)

Watch Havens perform Freedom.

Havens as a live performer earned widespread notice. His Woodstock appearance in 1969 catapulted him into stardom and was a major turning point in his career. As the festival’s first performer, he held the crowd for nearly three hours. In part, Havens was told to continue playing, because many artists scheduled to perform after him were delayed in reaching the festival location with highways at a virtual standstill. He was called back for several encores. Having run out of tunes, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual Motherless Child that became Freedom. The subsequent Woodstock movie release helped Havens reach a worldwide audience. He also appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival in late August 1969.