On May 9, 2020, we lost another musical giant – Little Richard. Nicknamed “The Innovator, The Originator, and The Architect of Rock and Roll”, Richard’s most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s. Even though Little Richard was quite active off and on from the 1960s into the 2000s, young adults are only familiar with him because of his iconic place in music. Perhaps not aware of the impact he had on the music we hear today. Those nicknames mentioned at the top of this post were not given to him for nothing. He earned each one of them for his original take on music. A style that was duplicated greatly through the years. A post for Little Richard could take up a book of information. However, we will limit this post to the gratitude owed the Rock n Roll giant. Let’s start at the beginning.
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, on December 5, 1932, the third of twelve children of Leva Mae (née Stewart) and Charles “Bud” Penniman. His father was a church deacon and a brick mason, who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned a nightclub called the Tip In Inn. His mother was a member of Macon’s New Hope Baptist Church. Initially, his first name was supposed to have been “Ricardo”, but an error resulted in “Richard” instead. The Penniman children were raised in a neighborhood of Macon called Pleasant Hill. In childhood, he was nicknamed “Lil’ Richard” by his family because of his small and skinny frame. A mischievous child who played pranks on neighbors, he began singing in church at a young age. Possibly as a result of complications at birth, he had a slight deformity that left one of his legs shorter than the other. This produced an unusual gait, and he was mocked for his allegedly effeminate appearance.
His family was very religious and joined various A.M.E., Baptist, and Pentecostal churches, with some family members becoming ministers. He enjoyed the Pentecostal churches the most, because of their charismatic worship and live music. Growing up I had several friends who frequently went to Pentecostal churches with their parents. I was always amazed because they spoke about the length of the services, sometimes going on through the night until the early morning hours. Some enjoyed it, some did not. However, most mentioned the music as being a staple of the services. Little Richard later recalled that people in his neighborhood sang gospel songs throughout the day during segregation to keep a positive outlook, because “there was so much poverty, so much prejudice in those days”. He had observed that people sang “to feel their connection with God” and to wash their trials and burdens away.
His initial musical influences were gospel performers such as Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson, and Marion Williams. May, a singing evangelist who was known as “the Thunderbolt of the Middle West” because of his phenomenal range and vocal power, inspired Richard to become a preacher. He credited the Clara Ward Singers for one of his distinctive holler. Richard learned to play the alto saxophone and joined his school marching band.
In October 1947, Sister Rosetta Tharpe overheard the fourteen-year-old Richard singing her songs before a performance at the Macon City Auditorium. She invited him to open her show. After the show, Tharpe paid him, inspiring him to become a professional performer. In 1949, he began performing in Doctor Nubillo’s traveling show. Richard was inspired to wear turbans and capes in his career by Nubillo. He told Richard he was “gonna be famous” but that he would have to “go where the grass is greener.”
Before entering the tenth grade, Richard left his family home and joined Hudson’s Medicine Show in 1949, performing Louis Jordan’s “Caldonia”. Richard also performed in drag during this time, performing under the name “Princess LaVonne”. In 1950, Richard joined his first musical band, Buster Brown’s Orchestra, where Brown gave him the name Little Richard. Performing in the minstrel show circuit, Richard, in and out of drag, performed for various vaudeville acts such as Sugarfoot Sam from Alabam, the Tidy Jolly Steppers, the King Brothers Circus and Broadway Follies. Having settled in Atlanta, Georgia at this point, Richard began listening to rhythm and blues and frequented Atlanta clubs, including the Harlem Theater and the Royal Peacock where he saw performers such as Roy Brown and Billy Wright onstage. Richard was further influenced by Brown’s and Wright’s flashy style of showmanship and was even more influenced by Wright’s flamboyant persona and showmanship. Inspired by Brown and Wright, he decided to become a rhythm-and-blues singer and after befriending Wright, began to learn how to be an entertainer from him, and began adapting a pompadour hairdo similar to Wright’s, as well as styling a pencil mustache, using Wright’s brand of facial pancake makeup and wearing flashier clothes.
Thus the Little Richard that we knew so well was born. Now the music would come next. In the fall of 1955 he ended up working with producer Robert “Bumps” Blackwell in New Orleans. Initially, Richard’s recordings that month failed to produce much inspiration or interest. Frustrated, Blackwell and Richard went to relax at the Dew Drop Inn nightclub. According to Blackwell, Richard then launched into a risqué dirty blues he titled “Tutti Frutti”. Blackwell said he felt the song had hit potential and hired songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to replace some of Richard’s sexual lyrics with less controversial words. Recorded in three takes in September 1955, “Tutti Frutti” was released as a single that November.
“Tutti Frutti” became an instant hit, reaching No. 2 on Billboard magazine’s Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart and crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and overseas in the United Kingdom. It reached No. 21 on the Billboard Top 100 in America and No. 29 on the British singles chart, eventually selling a million copies. Richard’s next hit single, “Long Tall Sally” (1956), hit number one on the R&B chart and number thirteen on the Top 100 while reaching the top ten in Britain. Like “Tutti Frutti”, it sold over a million copies.
Richard’s performances, like most early rock and roll shows, resulted in integrated audience reaction during an era where public places were divided into “white” and “colored” domains. In these package tours, Richard and other artists such as Fats Domino and Chuck Berry would enable audiences of both races to enter the building, albeit still segregated (e.g. blacks on the balcony and whites on the main floor). The social implications of Little Richard’s shows were starting to become apparent. Richard’s popularity was helping to shatter the myth that black performers could not successfully perform at “white-only venues,” especially in the South where racism was most overt. Richard’s high-energy antics included lifting his leg while playing the piano, climbing on top of his piano, running on and off the stage and throwing his souvenirs to the audience. He also began using capes and suits studded with multi-colored precious stones and sequins.
In the 1970s Little Richard performances began to suffer due to vocal problems. He also admitted to heavy addictions to drugs and alcohol that led him to quit rock and roll and return to evangelism.
In 1984, Richard filed a $112 million lawsuit against Specialty Records; Art Rupe and his publishing company, Venice Music; and ATV Music for not paying royalties to him after he left the label in 1959. The suit was settled out of court in 1986. In September, 1984 Charles White released the singer’s authorized biography, Quasar of Rock: The Life and Times of Little Richard, which returned Richard to the spotlight. Richard returned to show business in what Rolling Stone would refer to as a “formidable comeback” following the book’s release. Little Richard was introduced to a new audience of young people at this time. After accepting a role in the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Richard and Billy Preston penned the faith-based rock and roll song “Great Gosh A’Mighty” for its soundtrack. Richard won critical acclaim for his film role, and the song found success on the American and British charts. The hit led to the release of the album Lifetime Friend (1986) on Warner Bros. Records, with songs deemed “messages in rhythm”, including a gospel rap track. In addition to a version of “Great Gosh A’Mighty”, cut in England, the album featured two singles that charted in the UK, “Somebody’s Comin'” and “Operator”. Richard spent much of the rest of the decade as a guest on television shows and appearing in films, winning new fans with what was referred to as his “unique comedic timing”.
Of course, much of the jokes centered around Little Richard not getting credit for what he brought to rock and roll. Folks laughed, however his words rang very true. Finally people began to notice and understand the place Little Richard has in music history. He left us at the age of 87, but the music and performance style lives and will continue to live for years to come. We can sum up Little Richard’s career with two words for him – Thank you.