Richie Havens Richard P. Havens, 1983

The first Richie Havens album released in the wake of the folk singer's star turn at Woodstock, RICHARD P. HAVENS, 1983 (no, we don't understand the title either), was originally a two-LP set, and it's a bold production that builds on Havens' earlier, more sparse work by throwing a wide variety of instrumental textures into the arrangements. Havens is typically revelatory in his reinvention of well known tunes by the Beatles and others, but there are also some intriguing original songs here, and the set is divided between studio and live recordings, thus achieving a nice contrast.