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to New York and I found out that Richie Havens was looking for a guitar player. Somebody

recommended me to Richie. I showed up for the audition. Richie didn’t know me by name, but when
I showed up to the audition, he was like, oh my god. I know who you are. Yes sure. So it was great.
It was a great way to break the ice, so to speak. Richie felt very comfortable with me because we
had worked together. We had seen each other all the time, even though he hadn’t remembered my
name after opening for him so many times, but that’s alright. It didn’t matter. But that’s how I got

the gig. I used to open for Richie and some people recommended me because I had played on their
albums and that’s how it works in New York City. You come to that area. You move around and play
as many performance opportunities as you can and people get used to your style and when they
learn of a need for
your style, they
recommend you,
but you have to

keep things moving
around. Have to
constantly hustle.
You have to play
every night and it’s

exhausting, but it
paid off for me.

BiTS: You were
with Richie for ten
years, I believe.
What did you

actually learn from
the experience?
Walter Parks & Richie Havens
WP: The most
important thing I learned, Ian, from the experience of playing with Richie, is that if you do not have
a true concern for humanity and a true concern for the well-being of other people, obviously the
people who are listening to your music, that you really need to look at yourself and say, hmm,

maybe I’m in the wrong profession and Richie really cared about people. I witnessed a human being
travelling and making his living from people that he really, really cared about and he was with his
audience and his fan base 100% and he gave 100% of undivided attention to them when he was on
stage and when he was off stage.

BiTS: That’s wonderful. I guess around about that time or shortly after you left Richie Havens, you
formed "Swamp Cabbage". Would that be right?

WP: Yes, it is right. Ian, my role with Richie, it’s important for me to say that Richie felt best when

I was kind of threading myself into his music. The only musical direction he ever gave me was,
Walter, I want our guitars — my guitar and your guitar to sound like one guitar. I had to figure a
way to do that, Ian, and survive on that gig and keep that gig because again, in New York City,
musicians grow on trees. If I falter for one gig and as a sideman, then there’s somebody right in line
ready to take my place so that imperative, that competitive imperative, is actually very constructive

in a certain sense. It can be a little fearful. It can be a little awesome in a sense or threatening, but
if you take it positively, as I did, you will survive. Now here’s what I’m getting to. In order to