My latest post for Tuneage is on Richie Havens’ 1980 track “Going Back to My Roots” which I have been seriously obsessed with this past week. Okay, just listen to this while walking home from work as the sun is setting. It is the perfect walking jam. In my mind, I am gallivanting down the street triumphantly during the last five minutes of my heartfelt coming-of-age/twentysomething angsty film.
(via tuneage)
Richie Havens - “Going Back to My Roots”
After conducting a little research, what is most surprising about this classic 80s club track is the fact that Richie Havens is better known as a folk musician. In fact, he opened Woodstock
One of the noticeable, and perhaps embarassing, trends of the late 70s and early 80s was the influx of rock musicians crossing over to the disco realm. The popularity of the genre seemed ubiquitous and neverending, and so it came as no surprise that many musicians attempted to transform at least one of their songs into something that would translate to the dancefloor.
What makes “Going Back to My Roots” (from Havens’ 1980 LP Connections) so fun and classic is the instrumentation and Havens’ voice. That repetitive piano chord that serves as the foundation of the song is fundamental to many contemporary house and post-punk musicians’ aesthetic. Immediately, tracks by LCD Soundsystem and The Juan MacLean, especially, have roots instead of just an overarching idea of “re-appropriation.” And Havens’ voice, surprisingly lush and warm, makes the track powerful and uplifting.
I’m more into the original version by Lamont Dozier — check it out here.
