Born and raised in Macon, Georgia, later home to such musical giants as Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers, Richard Penniman sang from a early age in church, but was kicked out of his home as a young teen by his father for “being gay”, as Richard told it.

         Inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ike Turner, and a host of other R&B artists, he toiled in musical obscurity in the early ’50s before a racy tune about “good booty” broke through in 1955. With cleaned up lyrics and Little Richard’s insistent, singing-shouting style, “Tutti Frutti” became one of the early hits of the rock & roll era. With his trademark falsetto “woooo” and his piano pounding triplets, Richard said it was “just rhythm and blues played fast.” More hits followed- “Long Tall Sally”, “Rip It Up”, “Lucille”, “Good Golly, Miss Molly”.  He was a sensation, appealing to black and white audiences, outrageous in his high pompadour, makeup, and flamboyant costumes.

         And then he quit, turning his back on pop music to go into ministry, even cutting a series of superb gospel records (e.g., “Do Lord Remember Me”). In a few years he was back to rock & roll, but he struggled for much of his life to reconcile the two worlds- the excessive, “sex, drugs and rock & roll” lifestyle of a pop musician and the engaged Christian gospel path of a minister and true spiritual seeker.

         On a personal note, I was present in August 1969 at the Woodstock forerunner, The Atlantic City Pop Festival, when Richard had the dubious task of closing the 3-day affair, following Santana, Joe Cocker, and Janis Joplin. He was simply magnificent. All the greats, from Elvis to James Brown, from The Beatles to Bob Dylan, have acknowledged their gratitude and debt to Little Richard. 

         -Steve Williams (6/8/23) – Greatest Recording Artists Blog Post #17