Rock Royalty: Little Richard

December 8, 2021
craigr244

The Guys Who Gave Us Rock and Roll

Nearly every one of them have left us now. It’s sort of hard to accept that we are living in this world without the rock and roll pioneers.

Here is a quick snippet of their debut recording, their chart success numbers, their signature recording, their final known recording and a link (when there is one) to what I may have posted previously.

Little Richard

Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman in 1932 in Macon, Georgia.

For a more comprehensive Little Richard biography click here.

To visit Little Richard’s performance on the U.S. and U.K. charts, click the image below

Debut Single:

RCA Victor – Taxi Blues b/w Every Hour – November, 1951

First Record To Chart:

Specialty – Tutti-Frutti – Number 2 R&B – Number 17 Hot 100 – November, 1955

Number of Charting Singles All Charts:

36 Singles Charting

Highest Charting Single R&B Charts:

Specialty – Long Tall Sally – Number 1 for 8 Weeks

Highest Charting Single Hot 100 Charts:

Specialty – Long Tall Sally – Number 6

Number of Long Plays Charting:

Three – Highest Charting Here’s Little Richard Number 13 Hot LP Charts

MY LITTLE RICHARD BIOGRAPHY WEB PAGE

MY LITTLE RICHARD COMPREHENSIVE DISCOGRAPHY PAGE HERE

Little Richard Recognition

1956: Cashbox Magazine “Triple Crown Award: for “Long Tall Sally”
1984: Inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame
1886: Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1990: Recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1994: Recipient of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
1997: Recipient of the American Music Award of Merit
2002: Inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame
2003: Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

2006: Inducted into the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame
2008: Recipient of a star on the Nashville Music City Walk of Fame

2009: Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
2015: Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
2015: Inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame
2015: Recipient of the Rhapsody & Rhythm Award National Museum of African American Music
2019: Recipient of the Distinguished Artist Award at the Tennessee Governor’s Arts Awards
Tutti-Frutti was named No. 1 on “Mojo’s The Top 100 Records That Changed The World”
Rolling Stone named Tutti-Frutti “The Most Inspired Rock Lyric On Record”
Tutti-Frutti was inducted in 2020 into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry

Time Magazine named the LP “Here’s Little Richard” No. 50 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time“
Time Magazine named Little Richard No. 8 on the list of “The Greatest Artists Of All Time”
“The Girl Can’t Help It”, “Long Tall Sally” and “Tutti-Frutti” were all listed on Rolling Stones’ “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named “Good Golly Miss Molly” on its listing of the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”
UK Magazine GQ name Little Richard “Man of the Year” in 2010
He received an honorary degree in 2013 from Mercer University in his hometown
One of his childhood homes in Macon, Georgia was named an historic site in 2013

In the later years, Little Richard’s songs would be covered by several country artists.

Little Richard passed away on May 9th, 2020 in Oklahoma.

Little Richard Selected Discography

Includes some of Richard’s compositions recorded by others that reached the charts

78 – Specialty 561 – Tutti Frutti b/w I’m Just a Lonely Guy – #17 Hot 100 – #2 R&B – January, 1956

45 – Pat Boone – Tutti-Frutti – #12 Hot 100 – January, 1956

78 Specialty 572 – Long Tall Sally b/w Slippin’ and Slidin’ – #6/#33 Hot 100 – #1/#2 R&B – April, 1956

45 – Pat Boone – Long Tall Sally – #8 Hot 100 – Number 12 UK – April, 1956

78 Specialty 579 – Rip It Up b/w Ready Teddy – #44 Hot 100 – #1/#8 R&B – July, 1956

78 Specialty 584 – Heeby-Jeebies b/w She’s Got It – #7/#9 R&B – March, 1957

78 Specialty 591 – The Girl Can’t Help It b/w All Around the World – #49 Hot 100 – #7/#13 R&B – January, 1957

78 Specialty 598 – Lucille b/w Send Me Some Lovin’ – #1/#3 R&B – #21/#54 Hot 100 – March, 1957

78 Specialty 606 – Jenny, Jenny b/w Miss Ann – #10/#56 Hot 100 – #2/#6 R&B – June, 1957

LP – Specialty 2100 – Here’s Little Richard – #13 Hot LP Charts – August, 1957

78 Specialty 611 – Keep A Knockin – #8 Hot 100 – #2 R&B – September, 1957

78 Specialty 624 – Good Golly, Miss Molly – #10 Hot 100 – #4 R&B – February, 1958

45 Specialty 633 – True Fine Mama b/w Oooh! My Soul – #31/#68 Hot 100 – #15/#31 R&B – May, 1958

45 – Specialty 645 – Baby Face – Number 12 R&B – Number 41 Hot 100 – September, 1958

45 – Specialty 664 – Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey – Number 95 R&B – May, 1959

45 – The Everly Brothers – Lucille – #21 Hot 100 – #4 UK – September, 1960

45 – Mercury 71884 – He’s Not Just A Soldier – No. 113 Bubbling Under – December, 1961

45 – Mercury 71965 – He Got What He Wanted – #123 Music Vendor/Record World – June, 1962

45 – Atlantic 2181 – Crying In the Chapel – #119 Bubbling Under – April, 1963

45 – Jim and Monica – Slippin’ and Slidin’ – #96 Hot 100 – January, 1964

“Jim” and Monica are both unknown but speculation is that Jim is Jimmy Gilmer – oh well

45 – Specialty 692 – Bama Lama Bama Loo b/w Annie Is Back – #82 Hot 100 – June, 1964

45 – Vee Jay 612 – Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On b/w Goodnight Irene – #42 R&B – #128 Bubbling Under – September, 1964

45 – Kinks – Long Tall Sally – #129 Bubbling Under – January, 1965

45 – Vee Jay VJ-698 – I Don’t Know What You’ve Got But It’s Got Me – Part 1 b/w I Don’t Know What You’ve Got But It’s Got Me – Part 2 – #92 Hot 100 – #12 R&B – November, 1965

45 – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels – Jenny Takes A Ride – #10 Hot 100 – #33 UK – December, 1965

45 – Okeh 4-7251 – Poor Dog (Who Can’t Wag His Own Tail) b/w Well – #92 Hot 100 – #41 R&B – July, 1966

45 – Willie Mitchell – Slippin’ & Slidin’ – #96 Hot 100 – July, 1967

LP – OKeh 14121 – Little Richard’s Greatest Hits – #184 Hot LPs – August, 1967

45 – Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys – Good Old Rock and Roll (medley) with Long Tall Sally – #21 Hot 100 – June, 1969

45 – Reprise 0907 – Freedom Blues – #47 Hot 100 – #38 R&B – May, 1970

45 – Reprise 0942 – Greenwood Mississippi b/w I Saw Her Standing There – #85 Hot 100 – September, 1970

45 – Specialty 699 – Poor Boy Paul – #144 – November, 1970

LP – Reprise 6462 – King of Rock and Roll – #193 Hot LPs – November, 1971

45 – Canned Heat – Rockin’ With the King – #88 Hot 100 – March. 1972

45 – Ike & Tina Turner – Early One Morning – #47 R&B – April, 1973

Billy “Crash” Craddock – Slippin’ and Slidin’ – #14 Country – May, 1973

45 – Manticore 7007 – Call My Name – Number 106 Bubbling Under – January, 1976

45 – Stephanie Winslow – Slippin & Slidin’ – #43 Country – May, 1982

45 – Waylon Jennings – Lucille (You Won’t Do Your Daddy’s Will) – #1 Country – March, 1983

45 – MCA 52780 – Great Gosh A’Mighty (Theme Song from ‘Down and Out In Beverly Hills’) b/w The Ride (by Charlie Midnight) – #42 Hot 100 – March, 1988

Little Richard’s final charting single in the U.S.

Riding the Roller Coaster with “The Quasar of Rock”

December 12, 2016
craigr244

Little Richard Penniman

For most rock and rollers, the doors of recording success open and generally not long after, slam terminly shut.

For Richard Penniman, the doors opened very wide in early 1956, and from a recording “success” standpoint, closed a short time later in 1957. But while although Little Richard’s legacy would be strongly defined by his raucous brand of rock ‘n’ roll, his true legacy would distinguish him possibly as the greatest live rock and roll performer who has ever taken the stage.

Born to Rock

I have just completed the very entertaining, a slightly disturbing “The Life and Times of Little Richard by British author Charles White. The book first appeared in 1984. From his initial “emergence” in the fall of 1951, when he laid down his first blues oriented tracks for RCA Victor, up until the time of this book’s publication, Little Richard gyrated between the life of a no-holds-barred rocker to that of a re-missive “sinner” and devout religious minister.

The rise to rock and hall fame wasn’t an overnight phenomenon as it seldom is. Early on Richard stepped into the life of a spirited performer. He quick stepped through stints in the deep South first with Doctor Nobilio, the “Macon Profit”, next Dr. Hudson’s “Medicine Show” dancing – singing in a minstrel fashion. Then it was on to fill-in performances with a B. Brown and his Orchestra at the Winsetta Patio in Fitzgerald, Georgia, (Brown was a musician of some notoriety, with a following and recording success on a small scale), followed by a stint with “Sugarfoot Sam” out of Alabama in a Vaudeville style act.

Rocking Prodigy

In rapid succession: The Jolly Steppers, The L. J. Heath Show, early recording sessions (late 1940’s) backed by blues musician Billy Wright (Savoy Records recording artist,) and Percy Welch & His Orchestra; He performed with many blues singers including Marian Henderson, Baby Rose, Gladys Williams, Hamp Swain and so on – all while still a teenager.

Eskew Reeder Jr.

In 1951 Richard would make the acquaintance of a piano playing musician, Eskew Reeder, Jr., who was passing through Macon, Georgia. Little Richard first spotted him at a local Greyhound bus station in the company of a lady preacher, Sister Rosa. Little Richard would befriend the performer who went by the name “Esquerita”who would become his mentor on the keyboards, and from whom Richard would begin to adopt what would be his own rocking and very unique explosive piano style which would mark his performances as unmatched by any other rocker.

Early Mentor – Esquerita

Lloyd Price & Specialty Records

Little Richard’s first releases came on the RCA Victor label, recorded in October of 1951. He would cut a total of eight tracks for RCA before moving on to Peacock in early 1953 where he would record another eight tracks all in the classic blues style. There would be no further recording sessions for Little Richard for nearly two years. Then, in 1955 Little Richard would meet the Specialty Record Label star, Lloyd Price who had hit it big with a million selling single, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” (#1 for 7 weeks on the R&B charts in 1952.

Lloyd Price

Price and Little Richard would become friends, and Lloyd would put Richard in-touch with Art Rube at Specialty Records. Little Richard sent Specialty (based in California) with a two track audition tape (“Wonderin'” & “He’s My Star”). He wouldn’t hear back from the label for many months, nearly a year. But when he did, things would dramatically change. “Wonderin” would be released on Specialty 660 in 1959 and would go nowhere and would appear years later on Specialty, coupled with “Poor Boy Paul”, in 1970 as a last ditch effort to rekindle the Little Richard Magic. “He’s My Star” did not see the light of day or the starlight of night.

New Orleans’ Session that Changed the World

Specialty Records’ producer “Bumps” Blackwell made the journey from California to New Orleans where he would set-up a makeshift studio for Little Richard’s debut recording session. Bumps would bring in a “who’s-who” lineup of New Orleans session men for what would be a two-day session which began on September 13th, 1955. The session men included Frank Fields on bass, Alven “Red” Tyler and Lee Allen on saxophones, Justin Adams on guitar, Melvin Dowden on piano, the great Earl Palmer on drums, and for at least a few tracks, Huey “Piano” Smith.

“Bumps” Blackwell

(Earl Palmer – Huey Piano Smith – Lee Allen – 1st Little Richard Session)

Dorothy & the Dew Drop Inn

The session proceeded well enough with the regular blues offerings, but Bumps felt that something lacking. He called for a lunch break for the session and accompanied Richard to a nearby cafe, the “Dew Drop Inn”. They walked in the door and Richard, spotting a piano in the corner, casually walked up to the keyboard. Rock and Roll History changed at that moment. Richard began pounding the keys and then belted out a nonsensical refrain. It was a ditty that Richard employed regularly in his juke joint stands. Bumps Blackwell listened dumbstruck. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The song was rough, the lyrics were more than suggestive, the tempo was savage…. all the elements were in place.

Dorothy La Bostrie – Cleaning up the Lyrics

A young lady musical acquaintance was summed immediately by Blackwell – a youngster, Dorothy La Bostrie, known in local circles for her knack for tricky lyric. The clean-up was quickly completed (Richard’s lyrics could never have received air-play). From the Dew Drop it was back to the makeshift studio.

Twelve tracks were cut on the 13th and 14th of September – One track would quickly take first, the South by storm, and then the country – “Tutti Frutti” would hit the R&B charts would top out at number 2 (for six weeks) paralleled by a rise to number 17 on the Billboard pop charts in November of 1955. Little Richard would churn out a string of the greats rockers ever during his nine Specialty recording sessions from his first to his last in October, 1957, many future classic rock anthems, and most either composed alone by himself or sometimes co-composed.

Interestingly, in 2002, ‘Rock n Rhythm’ Records would release a tribute to this historic occasion, “Dew Drop Inn”.

Little Richard would hit the road with his Specialty sessions under way.

1957 – Richard Goes to Church

And as suddenly as it all began, Richard would walk away from Specialty and recording altogether. The label was frantic and so they back tracked, releasing anything they could locate in the “can” putting out a steady stream of tracks into the early 1960’s long after Richard had departed, even to the extreme of releasing Richard’s two audition tape tracks – “Wonderin'” and “Poor Boy Paul”13 years later, in 1970.

Spreadin’ the World

Little Richard would not enter the recording studio again until September of 1959, where he would lay down dozens of gospel oriented tracks for George Goldner who owned the Gone and End labels (and many more). In April of 1963 Richard returned to Specialty for a “comeback” attempt. He cut five tracks – all rock – only one of which – “Bama Lama Bama Loo” would chart – at a meager number 84 in the summer of 1964. The song hit number 20 in Great Britain. But while the hit record days were over for Little Richard, his touring days still had a full head of steam.

Richard’s legacy of “hit” records, while impressive, was a distant second to his live appearances. No other act could follow the wild man with his group, The Upsetters, who were possibly the best rock and roll band to ever take to the stage.

All of these fine musicians were fully capable of not only spontaneous and instinctive delivery, but all could read music as well. In 1960 Richard would enter an obscure studio in New York and record four rock tracks released on the little known “Little Star” label, his first rock and roll since departing Specialty. Following this, Little Richard stuck with gospel, recording into 1963 for many labels including Atlantic.

Little Richard with His Upsetters (Included Chuck Connors – Lee Diamond – Grady Gaines – Clifford Burks – Sammy Parker – Olsie Robinson and Nathaniel Douglas

Over the years, Little Richard’s struggle with morality, his “call” to God, and a never ending pull from doing live Rock and Roll, would rise to peaks and fall to low level valleys. But once on the stage, he simply had no rivals. His concerts sold out around the world, sometimes drawing 30, 40 even 50 thousand hysterical fans. His popularity in live concert would continue for years, even when he retired a second time to return to his ministry.

Richard finally was able to reconcile within himself, his dual calling to Rock and Roll and his ministry. He returned to the stage where he would rock on as hard as ever, and would use the moments in-between songs to witness his beliefs before turning the venue upside down with Rock and Roll as only Little Richard could.

“The Life and Times of Little Richard” is a very entertaining read. All along the way it seems that the moment when he would finally and fatally crash would happen and it just never did.

In his words “I am an artist. I am a star and a creator. I am the originator of this music and these songs are classics. I am sure they were hoping that I would be dead by now, but God gives me longevity, thank and praise His holy name.”

And keep and rockin’….. Little Richard.