Early R&B Influences
Little Richard
The King or Rocking & Rolling and Rhythm & Blues Soulin’
Little Richard – (inspired Otis Redding) – One of the architects of Rock and Roll, he is also an influence on soul music as well. A Pentecostal enthusiast, Little Richard, was literally bombastic. His influence to soul music is unmistakable on songs like “Lucille” a R&B number one and Pop #21 and it’s B-side “Send Me Some Lovin'” a US #54, R&B #3.
Early Life
Richard Wayne Penniman known as Little Richard is one of the Architects of Rock & Roll and also helped R&B crossover to the white audience in the mid-fifties. He also was a major influence in the genres of Soul and Funk in the sixties. He began singing in church (Baptist & Pentecostal) as a child in Macon, GA. and learned the saxophone and later boogie-woogie piano. He was mostly influenced by Gospel artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe (who gave him his first gig), Mahalia Jackson, Marion Williams and Brother Joe May who encouraged him to become a preacher. Throughout his life, he would temporarily retreat from Rock & Roll to devote time as a preacher first starting in 1958.
At age 15, Little Richard left school and joined Dr. Hudson’s Medicine Show in 1948 where he performed in full time in traveling show where he first learned and performed “Caldonia” (made famous by Louis Jordan). His family was strictly religious and did not allow him to listen to the “devil music” of R&B. He then joined several bands and vaudevillian acts sometimes performing in drag (dressed as a woman) and toured the Chitlin Circuit. He became a fan of R&B music influenced by Roy Brown and Billy Wright who he emulated, with his high energy shows and eventually met and joined Wright’s band.
In 1951, Little Richard signed on with RCA records and recorded 8 sides including the Atlanta regional hit “Every Hour”. He then toured with several bands in the Blues circuits and signed and recorded more sides with a minor label. Little Richard fell on hard times after his disillusionment with the music business and after his father was killed outside his own club.
Architect of Rock & Roll
He soon bounced back with a new band called the Upsetters where he achieved fame with his signature crossover song “Tutti Frutti’ which went to #17 on the Mainstream charts and #2 on the R&B charts late in 1955, ushering in the Rock & Roll craze.
He went on to have a very successful career with many hits including the crossover hits “Long Tall Sally”, (#6 and R&B #1), “Rip It Up” (a #17 also an R&B #1), and the title song from the movie “The Girl Can’t Help It” starring Jane Mansfield, in 1956; “Lucille” #21 and R&B #1, “Jenny Jenny” a pop hit #10 and R&B #2, “Keep On Knocking” from the movie Mr. Rock & Roll starring Alan Freed (a #8, R&B #2), in 1957; and “Good Golly Miss Molly” another #10 pop hit and #4 R&B in 1958.
Little Richard’s shows were filled with energy and enthusiasm and helped hype up R&B as the supposed “new” genre of Rock & Roll. His reputation helped the notoriety and outrageousness of Rock & Roll which caused a lot of controversies, especially with the parents of white teenagers and young adults who flocked to the excitement of his shows and recordings.
God & Gospel Music
After several incidents on tour with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, Little Richard decided to give up Rock & Roll and become a minister. The incidents that led him to the decision was that first, he became nervous about the “red hot engines” of his airplane while flying to Australia; he witnessed a “red hot ball of fire” in the sky during the performance (which may have been the launch of the Russian spacecraft Sputnik 1); and discovering the his return flight (which he missed) crashed into the Indian Ocean. He also felt that he was cheated out of money by his record company Specialty and ended his contract while giving up his royalties to Specialty.
He then studied theology and began preaching with his ministry (1958 to 1961) while occasionally performing and recording Gospel music, where he had some success in England.
60s Comeback
He returned to secular music in 1962 when he toured the U.K. with Sam Cooke opening for him. At first, he wanted to only play Gospel music which gave him a tempered response from the audience. Then on the second show after an enthusiastic response to Sam Cooke as the opening act, he broke into “Long Tall Sally” (with Billy Preston on organ) and the crowd went wild. The rest of the tour was filled with hysteria as he returned to his old hits.
Little Richard then began headlining tours with The Beatles and the Rolling Stones who he befriended and mentored in 1963 and 1964. He starred in his own TV show called the “Little Richard Spectacular” He then returned back to recording and performing in the states where he recruited Jimi Hendrix into his band along with Billy Preston. He released “Bama Lama Bama Loo” in 1964 and “I Don’t Know What You’ve Got But It’s Got Me” an R&B #12 hit featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar.