sad about Richie

I was asked in the middle 90s to interview Richie Havens for an EPK for Bill Perry's first album. (An EPK, Electronic Press Kit, was a video that was played in record stores to promote an album.) Bill had played guitar with Richie before starting his solo career. I had interviewed Bill for a national magazine, and his manager asked me to interview Richie. We did the interview at a blues club, Manny's Car Wash, which was kind of an unusual venue for a video interview, which may be why Richie remembered me when I ran into him some months ago. He was a very, very nice man, and a great talent. I've met an awful lot of musicians in my day, some famous and some not, but only a handful had that deep sweetness, and Richie was one of them. And now he's gone.

I never saw that EPK - don't even know if it was completed and used. Bill's manager was kind of a slippery guy. He also managed Johnny Winter, and kept saying he wanted me to interview Johnny, and then called it off numerous times, always with fishy excuses. (Strangely, I hadn't asked for the interview - the manager had offered.)

Bill Perry was a great guitarist and singer, but a little wild around the edges. He died young, sadly.

No one stays the same, no one is safe from the passage of time. We fall away from each other without realizing it, and suddenly it's been years, decades. I don't feel old, but I'm constantly reminded that I've been around for a good chunk of time. I hope I've affected people in some good ways, but it's out of my hands and I may never know.

in the cheapie store, I kid you not

If by any chance you didn't see it on Facebook, I was in a big discount store today and ran right smack into Richie Havens.  At first, I thought, wow, there's a guy here in the discount store that looks just like Richie Havens!  Then I saw another guy had come up and started talking to him, and I realized that it indeed was he.  I introduced myself -- rather, reintroduced, since I had interviewed him around 1996.  I mentioned the interview and he said he remembered it, which was either true or very nice of him to say.  We talked a little about Bill Perry, a blues guitarist who had started with Richie, made a big impression with his own band, and died very young of bad health coupled with bad habits.  I promoted Bill very heavily when I was first at Blues Revue and Bill had released his first album with a national label.  (Bill indeed lived up to my hype, which made me a lot of points at BR, since I started there with basically no music journalism experience except an interview with Peter Stampfel in Folk Roots.)

Anyway, Richie is a super-sweet guy, just a very laid back and mellow guy.  And he belongs to a very elite group:  he played Woodstock.  In fact, he opened Woodstock.

I was not old enough to be at Woodstock (1969), but it was a huge event in the consciousness of every American rock fan.  It was the first of the big outdoor multi-day multi-band concerts.  And the line-up was outrageous.  I believe the Who gave their first US performance.  Ravi Shankar performed.  Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Grateful Dead.  Oh, and Jimi Hendrix.  So it was kind of cool today to spend a little time chatting with someone who played Woodstock.

I'll sign off for now, since I just got distracted on YouTube and watched a Ruben Blades video.  I can see I'll be doing some pool-table bouncing around YouTube for a while.  I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW.

Here's the Ruben Blades video, which is a great song on a cheesy set, probably from the 1980s. Well.  I can't find the right one.  Why I cannot retrieve a list of My Favorite on YouTube (owned by Google) to Blogger (also Google) is beyond me.  I have to do a search on YouTube, and often can't get, or am not sure I have, the same version I have saved in My Favorites.  WTF GOOGLE?

Screw it:  http://youtu.be/nQ_YCctsSWs .  This is Ruben Blades doing Camaleon.  I haven't listened to him in a while, and he should be listened to.  He totally rocks.  Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure that the reason I never listened to him more is that I don't understand the lyrics.  Duh.  I've pretty much listened to nothing but Hindi music for a couple of months now, and I understand way less Hindi than I do Spanish.  I think Ruben's going to get back into the heavy rotation at some point.

Well, why don't you all come along on my YouTube tour?  First off, I have no idea who's reading this -- Indian movie fans or craft jewelers? -- so I'm just not aiming this at any one.  I'm just gonna watch some videos I like.

I just discovered these guys the other day.  This is because I am over 25 and new music does eventually get to me, but a little more slowly.  They're pretty popular.  Their songs are very dance-y and synth, but they're really catchy.  And these videos made me laugh my ass off...not surprising.  The band is actually called LMFAO.  Here's the wild part:  the two guys are Berry Gordy's son and grandson (one is the uncle of the other).  Berry Gordy founded Motown.  I keep thinking I shouldn't like these guys, but I do:  http://youtu.be/MBg1SxfCCM8.

MY president can sing an Al Green song! http://youtu.be/T-hDt2E8MoE.  Maybe we should elect Al Green in 2012.  http://youtu.be/COiIC3A0ROM

That's probably enough for now.  I have big plans to stay up late and watch a movie, to be determined.