Richie Havens - All Along The Watchtower - Rhythm Festival 2008

[beachviewman]

There's not much I can add to that!

[Oranguke]

I was fortunate to attend one of his concerts back in '66 or '67. The intensity and energy of his live performance can not be captured on video, truly a life changing experience. This world is blessed by such a spiritual man and performer. His sincerity and compassion is rare in this world, and he as stayed true to his musical message for more that 45 years!

[yarinztay]

enjoy his music -) i do

[ruach2351]

I have always loved Richie Havens. I met him in 1971 and talked into the early hours about astrology and music. He has such a warm heart. I thank him for his music and his life. I wish I could talk to him again sometime. He inspired some of my own music and my playing.

Father Peter

[dirtbike5100]

I want to go see him

[beachviewman]

I'm grateful for all the response to this video - a man of such stature undoubtedly does not go unnoticed, whether you like his music or not!

[JoetheLawnmowerGuy]

Why Is Everyone Dissing Richie Havens? Don't Comment On This Page If You Have Negative Comments About Him. He's One Of The Greatest Folk Artists Of All Time In My Opinion And You're All Pathetic If You Discuss Angry Views On An Artist On Youtube.

[gogogurlish]

those of us who worked with the man know we were in the company of greatness

[BjavaBluesStop]

Richie sings better without his teeth, than 90% of the current singers with all their teeth.

[plarkin547]

Was this in paris?? Think i was ther :)

[nigegt]

this was great i was there and sat with richie and we had a qwik chat,

he has not lost it at all,

[TheRetroArchangel]

I went to see this legend at guilfest, so awsome.

[wideglidepaul777]

What a beautiful individual. Richie is a gift from God.

[DemoManPinballl]

Richie Havens does an excellent version of the Dylan classic.. I rate this version as the second best, just behind the Dave Mason rendition.

[thejaynedavis]

When Dylan sings it ...it's Dylan's song. When Hendrix sings it ..it's his song.

When Richie Havens sings it...its his song. All unique and great.

[sspanzer]

I'm taking back what I said yes this isnt bad at all but that Beatles song I heard on TV by him the night before my original comment wasnt very good.... Is that OK ?

[basenjimusic]

he still simmers with that fire & soul he's always had

but that electric...just damn...

[ataylor31420]

Anyone who thinks they can do better try it and post let's see how u do until then shut up he is amazing on the guitar

[kajwilhelm]

Haven't seen & heard this one before. He still rocks!

[DavelovesRealMusic]

This is close to if not amazing.. the guitar work is so beyond ......

[66swot]

i remember this it pissed it down just after he finished

[atty1chgo]

Please, let's not spoil Richie Haven's performance with the mention of Dave Matthews.

[BobMillahhh]

his guitarist had the craziest mustache and appeared to be on another planet the entire concert... not in a good or bad way, he just seemed HUGELY detached from everything around him, especially when richie havens was telling stories

[atty1chgo]

If you heard these stories thousands of times, you might feel detached too. I spoke with him after Richie's show in Chicago recently, his name is Walter Parks, and he is a brilliant guitarist, with a great red vintage Gibson guitar.

[macbookusrkid]

@BobMillahhh the guitarists name is Walter Parks, he is an incredibly gifted guitar player and a very nice guy. He really gets into what he's playing

[joehsmothers]

Travis,

You can go to Richie's web site for his schedule. See him when you can. He's still amazing.

[joehsmothers]

Saw Richie last night in St. Augustine. Truly the 8th Natural Wonder of the World. His voice gets better and better. SEE him when you can. Terrific show.

[fattirevsbud]

Lucky: 1st to be in FL right now and 2 to have seen this guy!

[travisbrattelid]

@joehsmothers

wen is he next playin a show???

[alfredo05]

Richie is going to be in Gainsville Florida 12, 13 and 14 of Feb,,,,see you there Richi

[ANEWWORLD2012]

GREAT musician GREAT music

LOVE RICHIE !

[LadyHeathen]

SWEET! 5 stars

[Earthdancer46234]

Great Version Richie. You Rock.

[samderrida]

The song of course is by Dylan. Nice version. And why would some idiot who hates Ritchie Havens search out his songs to make idiotic comments?

[sspanzer]

Not only has this character murdered a song made great by Hendrix he murders Beatles songs too, wtf is this guy thinking ?

[beachviewman]

You're entitled to your opinion but I cannot agrre or see where you're coming from!

[sspanzer]

Well I saw him murder a Beatles song on TV last night and murder another 'All along the watchtower' but this one admitidly is not as bad.

[heyski]

sspanzer - When you can do better we will all shut-up. -[until that day comes!!] You don't have a clue do you. Jam on Richie Carry on the Jimi thing.

[rr5n]

Yeah, and they made him give a two hour encore at Woodstock in 69 when he opened the show.

[Azur0]

Obvious troll is obvious.

Ah and you overuse word murder.

[rr5n]

Ha, learn your rock history. The way the story went Dylan showed the song to Richie, and then Richie showed it to Hendrix.

[atthehops]

The way Richie told it to me just that he saw Dylan do the song at the Cafe Wah in Greenwich Village and ask Bob to write the song down for him. Dylan after a while gave him a copy of the song. One night Haven's is performing the song and Jimi Hendricks comes up to him and asks Richie for the words to the song. Richie was so blown away by Jimi's version he stopped doing the song for many years. Richie has started to tell this story or versions of it at concerts recently when doing the song.

[blobbym]

jimi hendrix loved bob dylna, in his early career he spent all his money on dylan records, and he has done several dylan covers.

[FlamingBannanaTV]

@sspanzer wat are u taking bout man??????? really, ur ears are mesd up

[TheSlevaslava]

@sspanzer

you r crazy and stuck on one style i love the other versions but murdered isnt right

way to describe this wonderful performance by richie

[RoadSodyinGoodTimes]

@sspanzer dumbass

[76MOUSE77]

@sspanzer Hey dip shit, this "character" gave Hendrix the lyrics to this song. Do some home work before you open your mouth.

[evanthepanther]

@sspanzer this song was made great by Bob Dylan, get your facts straight

[solaceaker]

@sspanzer you should watch the first 5 minutes of the Woodstock documentary

[GrowlingPuppet]

wow hes getting old

[beachviewman]

Old he may be, but he still rocks!

[pmelady]

@GrowlingPuppet That tends to happen over time.

[akbar255]

@GrowlingPuppet dude he's 69! he kicks ass!

[ZPGX]

This blows the Dylan and Hendrix versions out of the water, which is saying A LOT.

[beachviewman]

I would prefer to think that we are now blessed with 3 truly great versions of this song!

[GrimRabbit187]

@beachviewman Eddie Vedder & Million Dollar Bashers version too?

[Brigglz]

@beachviewman  at least 4 ... you forgot neil young's version ;)

[rwebb61]

Dave Matthews Band does a fucking amazing version at Woodstock in 94, check it man

[thehomefront]

@ZPGX better than hendrix version, ha ha ha, dont make me laugh, man you are one stupid fool, get that earing aid in

[zeeky125]

this guy is awesome!!!

[beachviewman]

The combination of Richie's live talents and the song (written by Havens & given to Dylan or was it the other way around? The jury still seem to be out on that one!) make this a memorable performance and the most watched video I've posted on this site to date.

[azothdaco]

I first saw Richie 40 years ago..wonderful!

[meemeesiko57]

Woodstock? That would be 40 years.

[TheFlatheadpete]

What 'lectric? In my mind, I hear no 'lectric. This dude is just flat our amazing. I'm glad I stumbled upon his music recently. Both as a guitarist and a person.

[LucasDeckmyn]

this is so gre

[ObserveIt]

Richie isnt musical study, hes more a musical spirit, thats why maybe the miss match with the other player.

[foxfire180]

Yeah! Mute that electric! xD

[beachviewman]

I can hear what you're saying - it was Richie's amazing guitar style that caught my attention way back at Woodstock. But remember, I'm standing in front of the stage with small camera and no idea of the sound set up on stage. As far as I can remember, Richie's guitar stood out far better in relaity and the elrctric playing complimented it. I'll therefore accept the blame for the unbalanced production!

[foxfire180]

Lol. The production is amazing, because you've shared it with us ;)

Thanks for uploading it :)

[MartijnHover]

No way you could have changed it, so no reason to accept blame. Thanks for sharing. The guy actually plays pretty good. And Richie Havens is amazing as always. Ah, to be born with a voice like that...

[beachviewman]

Thanks for the feedback!  Appreciated.

[lpachter]

The electric guitar accompanist Walter Parks, sound great with Richie live. He really compliments Havens, and doesn't get in the way.

[foxfire180]

In my opinion, the electric guitar sounds too much.

His style is amazing

God bless Mr. Havens! :)

[rek525]

Totally, far too loud, Why is he playing all the way over the vocal, whats that about ? and blowing out one of the best steel string acoustic rythm players ever, It spoils a great performance

[blair442]

so Richie Havens claims to have written this song in the early 60s and gave it to Dylan before either was famous.... I wonder...

[aaronblarin]

i saw him say he got it from Dylan at a show.

[rr5n]

He gave it to Hendrix, not Dylan. Kind of a rock legend that Dylan taught it to Havens and then Havens taught it (base chord progression at least) to Hendrix.

[dajbes58]

he uses an open d tuning , go to his web site , he explains how he tunes his guitar and the technique he uses playing , he says he uses the same chords for every song he does,

[Beaniesk8er]

great vid richie valens is another one of those special talents with a guitar

[baiyun]

one of the best versions of this great song

[Gruehn]

Richie Havens : eine Legende!

[curlymolly70]

props to the legend, nice to see ppl with great taste, even if there's only 500 views :S

[amadeus49]

500 and grown to 7880 as I watch it !

[chogyi798]

this guy is my grandpa no joke!

[flo43223]

You are very lucky. I'm an old fan of your grandfather from the "60's" He is like a breath of fresh air. I love him.

Flo

[Ezhuks]

Is Richie using tuning other than standard ?

[beachviewman]

I think it is probably a DADGAD tuning although I can't be certain. It's certainly an alternative tuning. I use DADGAD as my primary tuning and apart from the very different soundthe guitar produces, the positions of Richie's left hand fingers on the fingerboard are more akin to an open tuning rather than standard tuning. I'm no expert at reading other player's techniques though!

[ilutzio]

This song was in C#m on the album version.

Richie hangs a lot around second fret, which would be a C# chord (whole barred) in Open D tuning (D A d f# a d').

He might also use the Delta Blues tuning of open G (D G d g b d'), and transpose the song to... A#m or something.

But looking at which scale the lead guitar is using, it looks like a C# scale. So it must be Open D. =)

[ilutzio]

Sorry, i meant he hangs around THIRD fret' for the I-chord...

[klpra1]

For those you who don't know Mr. Richie Havens you are seeing and hearing one of the greats. From when he opened The Woodstock Music Festival until now. They just don't make them like him any longer. Thanks Beachviewman for sharing this with us.