Little Richard

So energetic and overwhelming area his performances, Little Richard seems less a musician than a veritable force of nature. His pounding piano coupled with the rhythmic propulsion of his rhythm section made for a beat that was irresistible. Rock & roll was, in his hands, a sound of pure ecstatic joy, and his songs were tributes to the pleasures of letting the good times roll.

Although Richard had cut tracks on two earlier occasions, it was his trip to New Orleans in February of 1955 that transformed his career. Spurred on by Lloyd Price, he had sent a demo to Specialty Records, who teamed him up with producer Robert “Bumps” Blackwell. At this session, he performed, almost on the spur of the moment, a song he was working on, “Tutti Frutti.” The suggestive lyrics required some doctoring for public consumption, but the tune went on to make Richard a legend. He followed it up with “Long Tall Sally” as a sequence of disks flew up the charts. Other notable hits in the Richard catalog include “Slippin’ and SlidinҔ, “Lucille” and “Jenny Jenny”.