The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday April 20, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

Putting my prepared questions
aside, I couldn't help but ask Richie
Havens what went through his mind
as he finished his performance.
"Nothin', just plain nothin'." Since
the concert had ended on a fever
pitch. I assumed that there must be
some emotional letdown; however,
he replied to the contrary, "I don't
go up or down. I go straight on
through."

It had been over two years since
I'd last seen him perform and in
that time he had evolved from
strictly performer to messenger.
"It's been an eventual kind of
thing. I'm doing what the times are
doing."

Always Dug Music

It all began when Mr. Havens,
who had been a portrait artist in
Brooklyn, moved to Greenwich
Village where he sang harmony in
several small groups. "I was playing
in the coffeehouses when
everybody was going through. I
didn't know how to play guitar ...
and I still don't." Much of his
self-accompaniment is improvised
with a greater emphasis on rhythm
than on chord variation.

"I dug music always, but the
move from Brooklyn to Manhattan
was inspirational. The Village is a
subliminal culture ... emotional.
There is no other place to get it."

Astrology

From the small audiences of the
coffeehouse Mr. Havens went on to
do college concerts and finally
Woodstock. As to his preference, he
replied, "I like all of them."
Concerning the fate of the
Woodstock Nation, he continued,
"It may happen again but this time
there'll be a million and a half
people ... and politicians will have
to be there. You can't overlook
that many votes."

Mr. Havens readily admitted
that the concert had been an
attempt at mass communications.
"I know where the Blue is. So do
the rest of you, but you just don't
want to admit it."

Reiterating his beliefs in
astrology, he commented, "It's true
that there are only twelve
personalities (relating to the signs
of the Zodiac), and through them
the average man can learn a little
about himself and his neighbor. The
Bible is saturated with astrology."

Peace And Love

Up to this point his statements
had emphasized the vertical love
between man and God, but what
about horizontal love? "Out of
sight. We do rely too much on the
Blood. Our parents didn't know any
better."

He clarified this by saying, "Old
people got their views from
books ... reading back and forth
on a straight line. They tend to be
linear thinkers. Take the 18 year
old vote. Their views are so narrow;
no one cares about the 19 or 20
year old."

"The young kids today have
television and they can dig it. To
them everybody ... the
conservatives, the liberals, the
Panthers ... is full of baloney
except for another eight year old."

Will there ever be peace? "Peace
is already here. Peace is within. Man
just does not see peace without. All
he sees is unpeaceful peace."

As the interview ended a
bystander asked Mr. Havens if we
could expect to see him again at the
University. Replying in the
affirmative, he said, "I love
Charlottesville. It's so nice and
peaceful. Can you dig that."