Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom…
Who doesn’t know these immortal words, the beginning of perhaps the ultimate Rock & Roll song; Tutti Frutti
I remember when I got a bunch of 45s with my first record player which included this classic, probably worn the grooves out of that poor piece of vinyl.
Later I got some albums, one of them being Little Richard's Greatest Hits - Recorded Live! from 1967.
But after that he sort of fell off my preferred artists list, also my musical horizon expanded, there was (much) more than 50s R&R…
Over the years Little Richard popped up here and there, whether in a duet with Canned Heat or as a rapping preacher for Living Colour.
He passed away almost 5 years ago, but I didn’t feel inclined to start looking more seriously at his legacy.
So what triggered this now?
Believe it or not, it was the review of Elton John’s latest album with Brandi Carlile: Who Believes In Angels?
It includes a song called Little Richard’s Bible and I must admit it’s pretty good!
Out of curiosity I started surfing the internet for more Little Richard related songs and found plenty of cool tracks.
Most of his songs got rereleased on CDs and the number of compilations listed on Discogs is staggering, the fact that he re-recorded his hits several times didn’t help.
Worse, there isn’t anything covering his whole career, just endless repackaged/re-recorded hits, live recordings of at times dubious quality, his very early pre-Specialty work, the Specialty hits, gospel recordings, VeeJay Records, Okey Records, Reprise Records, etc.
This seemed a perfect opportunity for Jokonky to step in and rectify this dreadful situation!
As a result we proudly present this compilation covering the beginning (1951’s Taxi Blues) to the (more or less) end (2008’s I Ain’t Never) + Little Richard’s Bible thrown in as it’s a great tribute!
Of course this is a single CD general overview and as a result some of YOUR favorites might be missing, too bad, but by all means let us know which track(s) should have been included!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: When was the first time you heard Tutti Frutti?
Link: https://mega.nz/file/3BVwEb7D#xjc2b-C6obItwolkrjUeDy7tJNS_UiVkOT0QFOWXp0Y
I don't remember when I first heard it, but I do remember that my first purchase was the Grooviest 17 Original Hits album from 1968. My brother and I played a really atrocious version of "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" but we enjoyed ourselves. It's hard to believe that there hasn't been an officially released Little Richard career overview.
DeleteBrandi Carlile has done some really interesting things. I see that her new record with Elton John also includes a song about Laura Nyro!
Thank You, deep bows for you and The KIng & Queen, The Lord Almighty, The Supreme, The Highest, The Meanest, The Honest to God and Struggling with Men, His Goodness, His Gracious that is Little Richard Penniman, Thank You and Amen.
ReplyDeleteThe First Time Ever I Heard His Voice, I must be three, or four, definitely something from all my life. Soon after I got my first recordplayer, I got hold of a 78 rpm on Ronnex. That beat the shit out of every version ever. Later, when someone came round, and after half an evening with all their groovy musics, and trying to convince me that someone else was best, I'd play a few things to get the mood mellow, and after a few odd attempts, bring on this old shellac. You can hardly compare art from different eras. But this one blew anyone always.
What is my favorite? From the ones not here? Land Of A Thousand Dances. Just for sentimentality.
He is the Nucleus, The Originator, The Creator, The Visionary, The Revolutionary, Stylist And Traditionalist.
He IS Rock and Roll
Amen to that Richard!
Delete"Slippin' and Slidin'" b/w "Long Tall Sally" - from a shellac Specialty 78 rpm in my Mom's box of records she let me play when I was nine or ten. I couldn't understand half the words, but the feeling was there. I been told/baby you been bold/I won't be yo fool no mo - aaaaoooooww!
ReplyDeleteSounds familiar! As a very young Dutch kid my English comprehension was probably zero, but God, he sounded so exciting...
DeleteI'm gonna give this a listen, Koen. I swear with my hand on Little Richard’s Bible!
ReplyDeleteI have the Little Richard Specialty Records box set, which is pretty great, and there was one set of re-recorded material worth having.
Little Richard's Greatest Hits Recorded Live was recorded before a live audience at "Club OKeh" in Hollywood.with a band lead by Larry Williams. By the time it was recorded in 1967, Richard had already re-recorded his original Specialty Records hits for Vee-Jay, & Modern Records, & he did so again when he signed to OKeh. Ten years later, Larry Williams threatened Little Richard with a gun over a drug debt.
Most people only remember half of Lord Acton's quote: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Similarly, the expression: "Don't do drugs," was originally "Don't do drugs with Larry Williams."
Ha! One of Jon Tiven's stories is that he was a guitarist on a Don Covay session. There was a discussion in the studio about how to achieve a certain sound, and Jon made a suggestion. Don Covay calmly laid a gun on the mixing board and said, "You are here to play, not to talk."
DeleteI will check it later Stinky! Thanks for the background story, love those tidbits.
DeleteThere's an interesting article in The Oxford American which describes how Esquerita and Little Richard influenced each other. The two met in the early 1950's, and Little Richard has always given Esquerita credit for teaching Richard how to play in the style that made him famous. Here's an interesting excerpt from the article:
ReplyDelete"In 1958, Paul Peek, a member of Gene Vincent’s rockabilly band the Blue Caps, [visited the Owl Club in Greenville SC] and saw Professor Eskew Reeder. It was an opportune moment. Specialty had just released “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” a huge hit. Little Richard was one of the biggest stars in the world—but he had quit music and enrolled in a theological college in Alabama. “If you want to live with the Lord, you can’t rock & roll too. God doesn’t like it,” he told the audience of what he said would be his final show, in 1957.
"Little Richard was touring with the Blue Caps when God told him to quit showbiz. All of his spectacular outfits fell to [Gene] Vincent, who loved Little Richard’s act. So when Peek saw Reeder, he thought the piano player might be able to fill the void left by Little Richard’s conversion. Vincent gave Penniman’s wardrobe to Reeder, and Reeder settled on the multilingual, gender-bending form of his name: Esquerita."
Great to see Esquerita's "Dew Drop Inn" on Koen's compilation! Here's the article: https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-107/esquerita-and-the-voola
Thanks Jonder for this, Oxford American is a wonderful magazine with loads of good stuff as well as CDs!
DeleteGosh was it on Happy Days? No that would have been Fats Domino as their cherished rock 'n' roller. Speaking of which, I was informed by my old record store clerk that the first 12 vinyl from Fats is worth getting as EVERY SONG on them is good. That is the kind of stuff I'm talkin' 'bout!!!! As consolation I will share a list from one of our MN local cable access comedians & celebrities about Little Richard: Fancy Ray's Top 10 Favorite Little Richard Songs
ReplyDeleteLittle Richard is The Originator and The Architect of Rock and Roll.
He's Entertaiment DNA can be seen and heard on The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Otis Redding, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Prince and countless others.
Here are 10 songs I LOVE:
Get Down With It
The theme song of my Cable-Access TV show and my life!
Northern Soul Foot stomper. This song is a Musical Energy Drink!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSmnPV7bbS4
I Don't Know What You've Got (but it's got me)
Written by Don Covay (who sings back up), Jimi Hendrix on guitar and Billy Preston on organ - it's been called the Mount Rushmore of Soul. The song is about pain and confusion of love with a Gospel vibe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Avy3pheNQ0
3. Lucille
This is the song that made me a Fan!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ydBkmgJi-g
4. Without Love
Beautiful Ballad. Without doubt one of Little Richard's finest vocal performances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DHVVu1H6DE
5. Long Tall Sally
This was Little Richard's biggest hit and the template of Rock & Roll. Often imitated, but never duplicated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E68N5E1d0_M
6. No Place Like Home
This Country Music Ballad was on Little Richard's "Live" in Concert Set List for years, but he never recorded a s studio version of this song. It's a tear-jerker, he pays homage to his mother, father and childhood.
I LOVE this song (I sing it whenever I'm on the road).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYjbB5JLIxc
7. Freedom Blues
This Southern Rock tune charted in 1970. A song of Love, Hope and Freedom (Co-written by Esquerita).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRNLyACJcSk
8. Don't Deceive Me
Beautiful Blues Ballad by Chuck Willis given the Little Richard Treatment (I won many Lip-sync Contest with this song).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfTnjU7WWdc
9. I Saw Her Standing There
The Beatles updated Little Richard's sound/feel with this tune, and he covered their song - OUTSTANDING!!!
Recorded at Muscle Shoals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZDBh9C1pFg
10. Tutti Frutti
His most famous song and the song that started everything. Covered by Pat Boone and Elvis (both had bigger hits with this song than The Originator), but his version has stood the test of Time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_C9q4tuwXI
Hope you enjoyed this and be sure to check out the new Documentary,
"Little Richard I Am Everything" on Prime Video.
Peace & Love, Fancy Ray McCloney
Thanks for your recommended list and documentary.
DeleteOn a similar note I found a Little Richard fan on YouTube who posted a massive amount of live concerts, some even of decent quality:
https://www.youtube.com/@littlerichardthebest
in this germanized version i could understand the messge:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzhegYW6TNE
ich traf ein mädchen, die hiess Renate, das war ja so eine granate, das war ne ganz schön harte
und als es dann los ging da merkte ich eins
sie war gar keins - sie hiess Karl-Heinz
met a girl called Renade - she was a hot granade - oh she was tough
and when it started i noticed at once - t'was not a girl and was called Karl-Heinz
that's from "Lindenbergs Rock-Revue" where "the pioneer of german rock" tranlated some oldies.
Danke, Hermann! I looked up that song and noticed that in the second verse the singer meets a man (Peter) who turns out to be a woman (Petra).
DeletePeter is a wasserbettvertreter = does that mean waterbed salesman? I'm sure the word was chosen for its rapid staccato rhythm.
It was over four decades ago that I studied German, but I can tell those lyrics are not the "textbook" German grammar that we learned in school!
you got it right
DeleteI gotta say that no Little Richard comp seems complete without his version of "Keep A-Knocking'" which is a total killer.
ReplyDeleteThis looks very interesting, though, with tons of stuff I don't know...
Keep A-Knocking is an absolute classic, but also overly familiar... On purpose I didn't include Long Tall Sally, Good Golly Miss Molly, and quite a few other classics either. But I hope you will find some new cool tracks here!
Deletehttps://youtu.be/eNS0APTzKbY?si=V_ikT19nj_mhWj6F
ReplyDelete