Richie Havens - Mixed Bag

Released in 1966 on Verve Folkways (a partnership between Verve Records and Moses Asch's Folkways Records), Mixed Bag was Richie Havens’ official debut album and tackles a variety of song styles, hence its title. Among its highlights are Havens’ readings of Bob Dylan's “Just Like a Woman” and The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”. The album received a ****½ AllMusic rating, with reviewer Jim Newsom stating that, “Richie Havens' finest recording, Mixed Bag captures the essence of his music and presents it in an attractive package that has held up well. It's the sound of Havens' distinctive voice coupled with his unusual open-E guitar tuning, rather than the specific lyrical content of the songs, that pulls the listener in. ‘Handsome Johnny,’ one of Havens' best known songs as a result of the Woodstock film, is a classic anti-war ballad, stoked by the singer's unmistakable thumb-chorded guitar strumming.” 

Tracklist:

SIDE 1:

1. HIGH FLYIN’ BIRD (Billy Edd Wheeler) —3:34
2. I CAN’T MAKE IT ANYMORE (Gordon Lightfoot) —2:47
3. MORNING, MORNING (Tuli Kupferberg) —2:17
4. ADAM (Richie Havens) —3:34  
5. FOLLOW (Jerry Merrick) —6:20

SIDE 2:

1. THREE DAY ETERNITY (Richie Havens) —2:14
2. SANDY (Jean Pierre Cousineau) —3:10
3. HANDSOME JOHNNY (Louis Gossett, Jr.-Richie Havens) —3:52
4. SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES (Jesse Fuller) —2:30
5. LIKE A WOMAN (Bob Dylan) —4:45
6. ELEANOR RIGBY (John Lennon-Paul McCartney) —2:39

Personnel:

(Except for "I Can't Make It Anymore" and "Morning, Morning") 

Piano, Organ & Electric Piano: Paul Harris 

Bass: Harvey Brooks 

Drums: Bill LaVorgna 

2nd Guitar: Howard Collins 

Tabla Drum ("Adam" only): Joe Price 

Amp. acoustical guitar ("Follow" only): Paul Williams 

"I Can't Make It Anymore": arr. by Bruce Langhorne 

"Morning, Morning": arr. by Felix Pappalardi 

Cover Photograph: Barry Feinstein 

Director of Engineering: Val Valentin 

Produced by Groscourt Productions Inc. 

Production Supervisor: Jerry Schoenbaum