They Can't Hide Us Anymore [Paperback]

Richie Havens (Author), Steve Davidowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2000

How did it feel to walk out in front of hundreds of thousands of people and open the Woodstock festival? What kind of life journey led from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to that celebrated concert stage? And how can a man preserve the legacy of Woodstock and his own deeply held beliefs in an age of computers and instant communication? In this warm, highly personal narrative, Richie Havens answers those questions and more.

Richie Havens was one of the artists who helped bring lush poetry and a social conscience to popular music in the sixties. From his unique vantage point, we watch the emerging careers of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, and Lou Gossett Jr. (who cowrote one of Richie's most famous songs) and revisit underappreciated singer-songwriters, among them Fred Nell, Judy Henske, Tim Hardin, Dino Valenti, and Bruce Murdoch. From his unusual guitar style to the process of writing and interpreting songs, Richie relates both the triumphs and frustrations of the music business and invites you into the recording studio and on memorable backstage visits with the likes of Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

But music is only one side of Richie Havens. He also describes his nonprofit organization for marine study and conservation, the song that sent him on a Middle East peace mission, his work mobilizing schoolchildren as environmental activists, and the true legacy of the Woodstock generation. Here is a candid, compelling, exhilarating visit with a remarkable artist whose joy in living and faith in the human spirit are contagious.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's clear from reading this memoir by folksinger and social activist Richie Havens that this is one '60s survivor who hasn't become jaded. They Can't Hide Us Anymore (the title comes from a remark Havens made when he opened the Woodstock festival) traces Havens's journey from Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant district (where his musical skills aided him in staving off unwanted gang attention) to Greenwich Village at the cusp of the early-'60s folk boom. There, the positive-thinking artist/gadfly/aspiring entertainer crossed paths with everyone from Bob Dylan to Wilt Chamberlain. Then it was on to Woodstock and international (if fairly fleeting) fame. As befits an unapologetic counterculture adherent, Havens's memoir/life guide doesn't adhere to a tight structure. One minute he's offering a hasty guitar lesson, the next he's making passing reference to an encounter with the ghost of Aaron Burr at New York's Cafe Bizarre. He devotes as many words to unknown pals who've made a positive impression on him as he does to encounters with the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Some may find the fanciful flow of Havens's narrative disconcerting, but it's clearly the way the man has lived his life. It makes sense that he'd chronicle his experiences that way, too. --Steven Stolder --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The first time Havens played a "real" coffeehouse in Greenwich Village, he credited the best song in his repertoire to an unknown folksinger named Gene Michaels. Afterward, a young man came up to him in tears, congratulating him on his beautiful rendition of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." The tearful young man, it turned out, was Bob Dylan. Ever since he launched his career in Greenwich Village in the '60s, African-American/Native American folksinger Havens (a native Brooklynite) has assumed the role of the big-hearted ally of the underdog. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that much of his autobiography trumpets the talents of artists such as Fred Neil, the little-known singer/songwriter who scored his only hit with "Everybody's Talkin' at Me," penned for the film Midnight Cowboy. The tendency to focus on the obscure typifies the bookAand Havens, too. He denies any regrets that the highlight of his career came earlyAwhen he opened Woodstock in 1969Aclaiming that money and fame are secondary to him. Some readers may lament the absence of superstar gossip, particularly about Dylan, but these reminiscences, mostly of the '60s scene, steer clear of such things. He fondly remembers his heady Village days, describing endless all-night hootenannies and song-swapping sessions. Guitarists will especially appreciate the detailed description, with accompanying photographs, of Havens's unique open-tuning barre-chord method of playing. This is a generous book by an undeniably generous spirit.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (May 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038080378X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380803781
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,648,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A soothing book written from the heart, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: They Can't Hide Us Anymore (Hardcover)

This book reveals the inner thoughts of Richie Haven's genius. The stories behind his story, with credits to those individuals who helped shape the true music of the 60's and 70's, are wonderful. One finds that the kindness expressed in Richie Haven's music and wishes for a better world, are those which really exist in his mind and spirit. This is a great book for anyone who grew-up in the 60's, as well as for others who love contemporary folk music and/or Richie Havens...S. Winters

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE TITLE IS TELLING!, September 13, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (the good old USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Can't Hide Us Anymore (Hardcover)

"they can"t hide us anymore"...Richie you're right they can't hide the purity, the genuis, the humility of those whose heart prayer is to tell the truth as they see and live it. Your need to communicate has been and IS our blessing. Your gift, your offering is no less than inspiration. Bob Marley said, "Won't you help me sing the songs of freedom?" Everything that has held me prisoner (fears) to date...I step beyond and I now claim my stories, my songs, the music of my heart and WILL share also...I am enlisting myself in the army of THEY CAN'T HIDE US ANYMORE! An easy read, an incredible and inspiring book, I could not put it down!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Listening to a friend, August 5, 1999

By 

circleMstudios (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Can't Hide Us Anymore (Hardcover)

More like an easygoing conversation with an old friend than a traditional autobiography, "They Can't Hide Us Anymore" brings Richie Havens close to the reader. One can almost feel the deep resonating timbre that suffuses his music as Havens shares vivid memories of his adolescence in a boisterous but bucolic Brooklyn before ethnicity mattered; early adulthood in the Village when it was THE place to be and his globetrotting journey since those days.

Like his singing, some tales seem cyclic with hints of what is to come, only to be reprised on a later page. Others slowly reveal his many and varied interests beyond the stage - the visual arts, his profound belief in the power of children, and his commitment to safeguard this planet and its inhabitants. Havens' skill as a storyteller serves him well in this thoroughly enjoyable book. Whether a fan from years back or someone just discovering the wandering troubadour, this book will help you know and possibly even understand the man behind the music. Buy it, put on one of his CDs and read. It will be, as Havens is known to say, "Far out!"