Music

The rambunctious kid born in Macon, Georgia, in 1932, whose real name was Richard Wayne Penniman, paved the way for black artists in the world of rock.
 
As the third of twelve children and under the strict authority of a father who swore by religion, little Richard had to fight not only to make his attraction (seen as “diabolical”) to rock music understood, but even more to have his latent homosexuality accepted. This was never to be the case within his family. At one point he dubbed himself “The King And Queen Of Rock'n Roll”, but he didn't always assume it either...

He soon left this unwelcoming cocoon to do what he did best: sing at the top of his lungs, sometimes screaming, rhythm'n blues as if his life depended on it. Little Richard never spared his energy, and was quick to pay particular attention to his often extravagant stage outfits. Perhaps Elton John was inspired by him?

In the early '50s, he was already working on what were then known as “jump blues”, bouncy, jerky blues such as “Get Rich Quick”, in which we can already detect a penchant for the first jolts of rock'n'roll. During a break in a recording session in New Orleans in 1955, he hummed the outline of “Tutti Frutti”. His producer Robert Blackwell immediately saw its potential. Refined and reworked, the final version of “Tutti Futti” saw the light of day in no time at all. With a running time of 2 minutes 25 seconds and, of course, the unforgettable “top bop aloobop galop bam boom” (or something to that effect), the song quickly became an early rock classic. Jordan Bassett of the English weekly “New Musical Express” saw it as the “big band that set rock'n'roll on fire”, enabling Elvis Presley (who gave his version of the classic on his first album) and even the Beatles to follow suit. Listening to it today, it's hard to imagine the extent to which this song triggered such a tsunami. And yet it did!


Little Richard was one of the first black artists to appeal to a white audience in a country where some states were still racially segregated. Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Fats Domino also jumped on the bandwagon. But it would be reductive to sum up Little Richard's career in terms of a single song. He also composed and interpreted with his unique ardor such tunes as “Long Tall Sally”, “Lucille”, “Rip It Up”, “Ready Teddy”, “Keep A Knockin'” or, for example, “Good Golly, Miss Molly”. Not great literature, of course, but dynamite for the time - and even now!  
 
With such a track record, it's easy to forgive Little Richard for hoarding his own legacy and, from the mid-80s onwards, preferring fleeting film appearances - often in his own role - alongside Bette Midler and Nick Nolte in “Down And Out In Beverly Hills” in 1986. He also spiced up an episode of the famous TV series “Columbo”, playing the part of the detective with the chewed cigar, crumpled raincoat and Peugeot 403.

A devout believer, the singer has regularly described his own behavior as “satanic”, before admitting, in a moody interview with “Penthouse” magazine (more sought-after for its nude girls than for its music column), that he had “been gay all his life”. Before denying it again towards the end of his life. In the end, his exact sexual orientation was of little importance, given his legendary repertoire. Little Richard passed away on May 9, 2020, after a long battle with bone cancer.
  

(MH with AK - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)


Photo: Little Richard on stage at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp (Belgium) for the Diamond Awards in December 1986.