Live At the Cellar Door and the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium

Richie Havens' artistry is so organic and urgent in its nature that—despite having made some stellar studio recordings—he's often best represented by live performances. His iconic appearance at Woodstock is a perfect example, and so is this concert recording, capturing not only a 1970 set at Washington, D.C.'s storied Cellar Door but also some tunes from a 1972 show in Santa Monica, Calif. Havens had fully developed and defined his intense but free-flowing style by the early '70s. In this stripped-down setting (accompanied only by acoustic guitars, bass, and percussion), he's in peak form. Of course, the key to Havens' success had always been his interpretive powers, and toward that end, he reinvents both the hits of the era (The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," James Taylor's "Fire and Rain") and standards like "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and "God Bless the Child," leaning into each with his soulful, gravelly tones and über-rhythmic, rapid-fire acoustic strumming. Along the way, his endearingly hippie-ish stage patter adds some engaging period flavor.