The Gospel of Richie Havens redeemed a capacity crowd at the Discovery Theatre on Sunday night. We all saw the light. Havens, who celebrated his 68th birthday on Jan. 21, was calm, soft-spoken and radiated a deep, spiritual sensuality throughout the evening.

Slipping into Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" like his favorite jacket, Havens shared life lessons that he says have revealed themselves at strange and unexpected times throughout his life.

One of those awakenings took us back to the 1950s and George Reeves' "Adventures of Superman" television show. With cape and wind effects, hands on hips, Havens led the audience by the nose through the show's intro, reciting, "Faster than a ..." and having the crowd finish the line, roaring, "... a speeding bullet." "More powerful than ... Able to leap ..." etc.

Then he repeated the line about "truth, justice and the American way" several times until he broke off and observed, "I thought truth and justice WAS the American way. You see how they fool us."

Beautifully accompanied by the lead and atmospheric guitar work of Walter Parks, Havens continued belting out more gems: "If I," "Say It Isn't So" and "One More Day," all from his latest release, "Nobody Left to Crown." His rhythmic skills are still on fire and his trademark altered tunings are beautiful to behold.

He performed Jackson Browne's "Lives in the Balance" and George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun." I was surprised by the retooling of Gary Wright's "My Love is Alive," a song so pop in its original version that I never gave it a second thought. In the hands of a master like Havens, however, the heartfelt meaning of the lyrics was revealed.

Let's face it, Richie Havens could read the ingredients off the back of a shampoo bottle and enrich all of our lives.

Havens continued to knock out the crowd with The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," encoring with "Freedom/Motherless Child" and "Nobody Left to Crown." When he returned for his third encore, the crowd, in the tow of great reverence, joined in to sing along with Billy Preston's "You are So Beautiful." It was pure magic.

Icons are just characters on a desktop. But Havens embodies a living treasure of America's cultural heritage. Every day he serves as a global ambassador for art, music and a simplicity that commands the notion that -- come what may -- we must not abandon the true peaceful nature that lies at the core of who we are as nurturing artists and gentle human beings, and that we must maintain an ongoing appreciation for handcrafted art.

Sounds Woodstocky -- and with good reason. On Aug. 15, it will be 40 years since Havens stepped on that stage. Happy anniversary, Richie.

Acoustic songwriter Kris Delmhorst opened the show with gorgeous ballads put to the lyrics of dead poets, as she described it. I believe under the surface there is the voice of a true Streisand. It may take time to coax it out, but if Kris would belt out Ronstadt's "You're No Good," history will take care of itself. Kris is appearing this coming weekend; check with Whistling Swan for details.

Leland Smith picks up his guitar and plays right here in Anchorage.

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