Born as Richard Wayne Penniman in 1932 in Macon, Georgia, Little Richard was a music icon. Along with artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Elvis Presley, he was one of the founding and pioneering musicians that preached rock and roll music. Also known as “The Architect of Rock and Roll,” Little Richard’s combination of rowdy energy, driving piano rhythms, outrageous, gender bending stage presence and often sexually charged lyrics would go on to set a new standard in music. Combining elements of gospel, R&B, boogie-woogie and blues, Little Richard came up with his own brand of music. His raw, unfiltered music appealed to both black and white audiences, which was also something new at the time.
Little Richard had a string of unstoppable hits starting with “Tutti Fruitti” in 1955, but Richard had recorded singles for RCA Victor and Peacock Records prior to this single. His first single in 1951, “Taxi Blues” is considerably tame compared to the power of his early rock singles that were recorded from about 1955 to 1957 and put out on Specialty Records. Interest generated in Richard when he provided a demo of “Tutti Fruitti” to Specialty Records in 1955. The song combined elements of gospel, boogie and blues music. The nonsensical lyrics “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom” were apparently made up while Richard was washing dishes at a job he working at. He also came up with lyrics to the song “Good Golly Miss Molly” this way too. In a 1999 interview with MOJO Magazine, Richard stated: “The effects and rhythms you hear on my songs, I got ’em from the trains that passed by my house. Like ‘Lucille’ came from a train – Dadas-dada-dada-dada, I got that from the train.” If you listen to those early driving rhythms you can hear it. Songs such as “Long Tall Sally”, “Rip It Up”, “The Girl Can’t Help It”, “Jenny Jenny”, “Lucille” and “Keep-A-Knockin’” followed in this 1950s period of songs that Richard released. But towards the end of the 1950s, Little Richard stopped playing rock music and studied to be a preacher. Richard also switched his musical focus to gospel music. He recorded several gospel records, including 1961’s The King of Gospel Singers, which was produced by Quincy Jones.
Little Richard returned to rock music in 1964 with the album Little Richard Is Back (And There's A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On!). He crossed paths with a young Jimi Hendrix at this time, who would become part of his touring band. He is also featured on some recordings with Richard, but not many. Hendrix would go out on his own not too long after this. Although Richard would not have the same charting successes as his early 1950s singles, he continued to record music and tour successfully. He would appear in popular culture throughout the decades that followed, whether in film, TV or in music. His influence on music was enormous. His songs have been covered by many artists that he would also go on to influence such as Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie to name a few. His stage presence and energy would also go on to influence how rock music was presented to audiences. His energetic, flashy presence that would captivate audiences would go on to influence everyone from James Brown to Prince and others. To say that Little Richard was an influence on rock music is an understatement. The music that Little Richard created broke down barriers in music. The scream and howl heard in his music helped to give birth to rock and roll and it continues to be heard all over.
Show # 829 Playlist (Little Richard, Run Coyote, Jon McKiel, Dead Ghosts):
1. Little Richard - It Ain't Whatcha Do (It's The Way How You Do It)
2. Little Richard - I Don't Know What You Got (But It's Got Me)
3. Little Richard - Bama Lama Bama Loo
4. Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It
5. Little Richard - Ready Teddy (Takes 2 & 3)
6. Little Richard - Taxi Blues
7. Little Richard - Little Richard Boogie
8. Little Richard - Long Tall Sally (Live)
9. Little Richard - Jenny Jenny
10. Little Richard - Ohh My Soul
11. Little Richard - Kansas City
12. The Beatles - Lucille (BBC 1963)
13. The Kinks - Long Tall Sally
14. The MC5 - Tutti Fruitti
15. The Marksmen - Scratch
16. Kid Congo Powers - Peanuts
17. Chad VanGaalen - Reformat (Egypto)
18. Mount Eerie - Cooking Pt. 2
19. Numbing - Body
20. Jon McKiel - Mourning Dove
21. Run Coyote - Private Eye
22. The Squires - Aurora
23. The Northwest Company - Get Away From It All
24. Scorpio Tube - Yellow Listen
25. Dead Ghosts - Freak
26. Matt Ellis - My Neighbourhood Is A Dump
27. Matt Ellis - Missing You
28. Chance & Jackie - Dark Spots
29. Dead Ghosts - Merle
30. The Pack AD - Gas Station Food
31. Lie - All Night Long
32. X - I See Red
33. X - Delta 88 Nightmare
34. Bob Dylan - False Prophet
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for May 16.
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