Richie Havens
(Verve Forecast)
I have to admit that I’m glad Richie Havens is still out there making records and doing the good work he does. This is a dangerous admission to make; it reveals, for one, that I was biased going into this review and, perhaps more egregiously, it also reveals how unhip I likely am. After all, appreciating Richie Havens is one step away from appreciating the likes of Jackson Browne and James Taylor. God help me.
Younger music fans did not grow up with the music of Richie Havens in the way that the Woodstock generation did. But music fans take note: the legendary and ecstatic performance immortalized in the Woodstock film does Havens something of a disservice, at least to listeners who might find themselves listening to his new album, an album that is comprised of soft rock tunes for aging hippie-types.
Lest you think I mean the preceding statement in a positive way, please allow me to assure you that I do not. Nobody Left to Crown reminds me a bit of an album like Clapton’s Pilgrim: a boneless chicken breast of an album. The songs are fine, the playing is fine, the singing, as always, is fine, but in the end I found myself wanting Havens to get some balls, particularly since the topics are heavy ones. I want Havens to push the envelope at least a little or, failing that, I’d like his producers to push the envelope for him.
On the latter topic, where co-producers Jay Newland and Brian Bacchus brought an interesting enough mishmash of country rock and jazz sounds together for Norah Jones’ debut, here the producers rely mostly on stock studio sounds and package Havens in a capsule a bit too easy to swallow. That’s not to suggest that Havens needs Timbaland to produce his next album, but it’s difficult not to see some parallels with artists like Dylan or Cash, both of whom in some ways were rescued from sonic irrelevance by interested and conscientious producers—Daniel Lanois for Dylan and Rick Rubin for Cash.
In short, Havens still has the goods, but this album makes me want to kick him in the ass to see what he can really do. At his best, Havens is scary in his convictions, magnificent in his performance, and beautiful in his melodies. Believe me, I wish I could say otherwise, but On Nobody Left to Crown scary and magnificent are replaced by earnestness, and while there are certainly moments of beauty, it’s just not enough to make up for the vacuum.
Standout Tracks: “Nobody Left to Crown,” “(Can’t You Hear) Zeus’s Anger Roar” CHRISTIAN KIEFER
