Little Richard

One of the original rock & roll greats, Little Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman, Dec. 5, 1932) merged the fire of gospel with New Orleans R&B, pounding the piano and wailing with gleeful abandon. While numerous other R&B greats of the early '50s had been moving in a similar direction, none matched the sheer electricity of Richard's vocals. With bullet-speed deliveries, ecstatic trills, and the overjoyed force of personality in his singing, he was crucial in upping the voltage from high-powered R&B into the similar, yet different, guise of rock & roll. Although he was only a hitmaker for a couple of years or so, his influence upon both the soul and British Invasion stars of the 1960s was vast, and his early hits remain core classics of the rock repertoire. Heavily steeped in gospel music while growing up in Georgia, he began recording in the early '50s playing unexceptional jump blues/R&B. In 1955, Richard sent a demo tape to Specialty Records, who were impressed enough to sign him and arrange a session for him in New Orleans. That session, however, didn't get off the ground until Richard began fooling around with a slightly obscene ditty during a break. With slightly cleaned-up lyrics, "Tutti Frutti" was the record that gave birth to Little Richard as he is now known — the gleeful "woo!"s, the furious piano playing, the exciting sax-driven, pedal-to-the-metal rhythm section. It was also his first hit. Richard was at the height of his commercial and artistic powers when he suddenly quit the business during an Australian tour in late 1957, enrolling in a Bible college in Alabama shortly after returning to the States. By 1962, though, Richard had returned to rock & roll, touring Britain to an enthusiastic reception. It was the rock & roll revival of the late '60s and early '70s that really saved Richard's career, enabling him to play on the nostalgia circuit with great success. Yet by the late '70s, he'd returned to the church again. Somewhat predictably, he eased back into rock and show business by the mid-'80s. He remains one of rock & roll's most colorful icons and is still capable of turning on the charm and charisma in his infrequent appearances in the limelight. Find out more at: www.littlerichard.com

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