Handsome Johnny

Annotation

American folk singer and guitarist, Richie Havens, born on 21 January 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, USA (he died on 22 April 2013 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA) wrote the anti-war song "Handsome Johnny" (Verve Forecast # FTS-3006) which looked at how different weapons had been used throughout the history of modern warfare, from the musket in Concord, the flintlock in Gettysburg, the carbine used during the Second World War, and to "an M15, marching to the Vietnam War". It also looked at the Civil Rights movement: "marching to the fields of Birmingham", and ended with the hydrogen bomb and precision guided missiles. Havens, the first person to take the stage at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, played a three hour set, with this song appearing in the 1970 film Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs

American folk singer and guitarist, Richie Havens, born on 21 January 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, USA (he died on 22 April 2013 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA) wrote the anti-war song "Handsome Johnny" (Verve Forecast # FTS-3006) which looked at how different weapons had been used throughout the history of modern warfare, from the musket in Concord, the flintlock in Gettysburg, the carbine used during the Second World War, and to "an M15, marching to the Vietnam War". It ends with the hydrogen bomb and precision guided missiles. Havens, the first person to take the stage at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, played a three hour set, with this song appearing in the 1970 film Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

American folk singer, born 21 January 1941 in Brooklyn, New York ('Handsome Johnny'); died 22 April 2013 in Jersey City, New Jersey. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Anti-War · WW2 · Korea · Civil Rights

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs