In a co-production between the Hawth and Acoustic Sussex - hopefully the first of many - Richie Havens came to perform for us and give us a sample of his delightful talents. This man is a legend and has been performing for nigh on fifty years. Born in the New York area of Brooklyn in 1941 he came to prominence in the early sixties, and became a popular artist and eventually veteran of the heady days of New York's Greenwich Village folk scene, which gave birth to the careers of Bob Dylan and so many others. Greenwich Village was a bohemian ghetto, home of the beat generation and was littered with clubs in which artists could escape the hustle and bustle of daily New York life and perform their songs in an environment where they could express themselves and deliver meaningful songs to their audiences, transcending the commercialism of the day. 

Richie told me: "I'm not in show business, I'm in the communications business. That's what it's about for me". This was self-evident by his approach to the fans both on-stage and off-stage, where he seemed to relish just talking to people with patience and an unassumingly gentle manner. I talked to him for over an hour, reminiscing about the old days and the people with whom he had collaborated with over the years, who had influenced his career and just about everything under the sun. 

To most people, Ritchie's fame became widespread for his legendary performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival in upstate New York, where he was originally supposed to be about fifth on the bill but, like so many of these festivals, not running strictly to plan, he ended up opening the show and played for nearly three hours, exhausting his repertoire and ended up doing a song called "Freedom" which was based on the classic "Motherless Child", more or less improvised on the spot. His music was so charged that the Woodstock audience would not let him leave the stage and he came back for several encores.

Tonight, he gave us the same treatment with a set full of moving songs, well crafted, tight and charged with an enormous amount of energy which would have defeated some much younger artists. Ably assisted by Walter Parks on acoustic guitar and Stephanie Winters on cello; both of whom have been opening for the likes of Daniel Lanois. Their contribution fused perfectly into Richie's original style of high energy playing which had the audience enthralled. At times Richie had difficulty playing as his pick was literally disintegrating as he played. 

Richie played mostly covers which worked particularly well, a number of Bob Dylan songs, George Harrison and even managed to morph into the Who's classic song "Won't Get Fooled Again" into his rendition of Dylan's "Ain't Gonna Work On Maggie's Farm No More", ending with his classic song "Freedom". 

If tonight was anything to go by, we should have more successful evenings at The Hawth, that is if we can get sufficient the critical support from our audiences. 

The stage was warmed this evening by the delightful Edwina Hayes who entertained us with a bunch of interesting songs to showcase her sweet and harmonious voice.

 Maximum Bob