One of the last remaining pioneers of rock and roll, Little Richard, has died of cancer at the age of 87. Richard Penniman was born in Macon, GA on December 5, 1932. After an unhappy childhood, he began performing as a cross dresser in the Atlanta area at the age of 16. His singing and performing style was heavily influenced by gay Georgia rhythm and blues artists Billy Wright and Esquirita.
His recording career began with eight songs for RCA Victor in 1951. He also laid down eight tracks, backed by the Johnny Otis band, for the Peacock label in 1953. However, his career took off after he traveled to Cosimo Matissa’s J&M Studio in New Orleans in September 1955. There he recorded his first hit, “Tutti Frutti,” for Specialty Records, accompanied by the same local musicians who typically backed artists such as Fats Domino and Lloyd Price. Other hits followed, including “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up,” “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” “Send Me Some Lovin’,” and “Keep a-Knockin’.” Richard was one of the first R&B artists to cross over to the pop music charts. He, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry all had their first pop hits in 1955.
In 1957, at the height of his career, he announced that he was quitting show business to become a minister and would record only gospel music. For the next several decades, he vacillated between religion and rock and roll. Richard was known for his flamboyant, bizarre and exotic live performances. Calling himself, “the king of rock and roll—and the queen as well,” he variously described himself as gay, bisexual and “omnisexual.” He was a survivor of alcohol and cocaine abuse.
Of his later recordings, I recommend two albums he made for Reprise Records, The Rill Thing (1970) and The King of Rock and Roll (1971). Richard was a member of the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Hame and was also inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Below are two back-to-back clips of his first two hits, “Long Tall Sally” and “Tutti Frutti,” from the 1956 film Don’t Knock the Rock. Unfortunately, they are lip syncs of the records, but they show what a typical live performance during his early years looked like. He is introduced by another member of that first Hall of Fame class, disc jockey Alan Freed.
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