Album: Richie Havens, My Own Way (Wienerworld)

Before the Woodstock film brought him iconic status, Richie Havens was a distinctive presence on the Greenwich Village folk scene.

He was a dramatic interpreter of both soul material ("Down in the Valley", "Drown in My Own Tears") and modern folk songs, as confirmed by the covers of Dylan's "Oxford Town" and "Boots of Spanish Leather" included on this batch of early folk-rock recordings – the former song haunted by harmonica and Jew's harp, the latter plumbing depths of oceanic sadness.

Download: CC Rider; Boots of Spanish Leather; 3.10 to Yuma; Oxford Town