Yesterday, 9 May 2020, American pianist-singer Little Richard passed away. In the mid-1950s, his dynamic songs like 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly' and his charismatic showmanship laid the foundation for rock and roll. He was one of the first crossover black artists, reaching audiences of all races. Little Richard was 87.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Int. Filmpers (I.F.P.), Amsterdam, no. 1525. Little Richard performs with his band as his saxophone player Grady Gaines stands on the piano in Mister Rock And Roll (Charles S. Dubin, 1957).
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3384. Photo: Paramount. Little Richard in Mister Rock and Roll (Charles S. Dubin, 1957).
Little Richard was born as Richard Wayne Penniman in 1932 in Macon, Georgia, USA. His mother was Leva Mae Penniman, and his father was Charles "Bud" Penniman, a church deacon and a brick mason, who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned a nightclub called the Tip In Inn. Richard was the third born child and had five sisters and six brothers.
Before entering the tenth grade, Penniman left his family home and joined Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show in 1949. His first recording session took place at WGST in Atlanta, Georgia. He was backed by a local band led by Billy Wright. This session produced a local hit called 'Every Hour'. Little Richard admitted to copying Wright's penchant for heavy makeup and wild stage theatrics.
With a public persona and personal life marked by sexual ambiguity, he would make his mark with later hits such as the suggestive 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly'. 'Tutti Frutti' (1955) became an instant hit, reaching no. 2 on Billboard magazine's Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart and crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and in Europe.
Richard's next hit single, 'Long Tall Sally' (1956), hit no. 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart. Like 'Tutti Frutti', it sold over a million copies. Overall, he would produce seven singles in the U.S. in 1956, including 'The Girl Can't Help It' and 'Lucille'. His performances during this period resulted in integration between whites and blacks in his audience.
He also appeared in such films as Don't Knock the Rock (Fred W. Sears, 1956) with Bill Haley, The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956) starring Jayne Mansfield, and Mister Rock And Roll (Charles S. Dubin, 1957).
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 1995.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 1996.
In October 1957, Little Richard embarked on a package tour in Australia with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. In his autobiography, he later wrote that during a flight from Melbourne to Sydney that his plane was experiencing some difficulty and he saw the plane's red hot engines and felt angels were "holding it up". At the end of his Sydney performance, Little Richard saw a bright red fireball flying across the sky above him and claimed he was "deeply shaken". He took it as a "sign from God" to repent from performing secular music and his wild lifestyle at the time.
Returning to the States ten days earlier than expected, he read news of his original flight having crashed into the Pacific Ocean as a further sign to "do as God wanted". After a "farewell performance" at the Apollo Theater and a "final" recording session with the Specialty label later that month, Richard Penniman enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, to study theology.
A month after his conversion, Penniman met Ernestine Harvin, a secretary from Washington, D.C., and the couple married in 1959. He ventured into gospel music, first recording for End Records, before signing with Mercury Records in 1961, where he eventually released 'King of the Gospel Singers', in 1962, produced by Quincy Jones, who later remarked that Penniman's vocals impressed him more than any other vocalist he had worked with.
In 1962, during a five-year period in which Little Richard abandoned rock and roll for born again Christianity, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded him to tour Europe. During this time, Arden had The Beatles open for Penniman on some tour dates. David Browne at Rolling Stone: "Although he never hit the Top 10 again after 1958, Little Richard’s influence was massive. The Beatles recorded several of his songs, including 'Long Tall Sally,' and Paul McCartney’s singing on those tracks – and the Beatles’ own 'I’m Down' – paid tribute to Little Richard’s shredded-throat style. His songs became part of the rock & roll canon, covered over the decades by everyone from the Everly Brothers, the Kinks, and Creedence Clearwater Revival to Elvis Costello and the Scorpions. "
Little Richard overcame a debilitating drug habit and eventually became an ordained minister. Beginning in the 1980s, he saw a resurgence in his popularity as he acquired small acting roles in such films as Down and Out in Beverly Hills (Paul Mazursky, 1986) in which he showed his comedic timing. As versatile and ageless as ever, Little Richard continued to delight fans the world over with his stage presence and flamboyant antics.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame. From 1959 till 1963, he was married to Ernestine Campbell, with whom he had a son, Danny Penniman. Little Richard passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 87. The cause of death was bone cancer.
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 2043. Little Richard in The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956).
Scenes from The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956) with Little Richard's recording of the title song. Source: SuperCanopus (YouTube).
Source: David Browne (Rolling Stone), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Int. Filmpers (I.F.P.), Amsterdam, no. 1525. Little Richard performs with his band as his saxophone player Grady Gaines stands on the piano in Mister Rock And Roll (Charles S. Dubin, 1957).
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3384. Photo: Paramount. Little Richard in Mister Rock and Roll (Charles S. Dubin, 1957).
The Girl Can't Help It
Little Richard was born as Richard Wayne Penniman in 1932 in Macon, Georgia, USA. His mother was Leva Mae Penniman, and his father was Charles "Bud" Penniman, a church deacon and a brick mason, who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned a nightclub called the Tip In Inn. Richard was the third born child and had five sisters and six brothers.
Before entering the tenth grade, Penniman left his family home and joined Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show in 1949. His first recording session took place at WGST in Atlanta, Georgia. He was backed by a local band led by Billy Wright. This session produced a local hit called 'Every Hour'. Little Richard admitted to copying Wright's penchant for heavy makeup and wild stage theatrics.
With a public persona and personal life marked by sexual ambiguity, he would make his mark with later hits such as the suggestive 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly'. 'Tutti Frutti' (1955) became an instant hit, reaching no. 2 on Billboard magazine's Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart and crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and in Europe.
Richard's next hit single, 'Long Tall Sally' (1956), hit no. 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart. Like 'Tutti Frutti', it sold over a million copies. Overall, he would produce seven singles in the U.S. in 1956, including 'The Girl Can't Help It' and 'Lucille'. His performances during this period resulted in integration between whites and blacks in his audience.
He also appeared in such films as Don't Knock the Rock (Fred W. Sears, 1956) with Bill Haley, The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956) starring Jayne Mansfield, and Mister Rock And Roll (Charles S. Dubin, 1957).
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 1995.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 1996.
Held up by angels
In October 1957, Little Richard embarked on a package tour in Australia with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. In his autobiography, he later wrote that during a flight from Melbourne to Sydney that his plane was experiencing some difficulty and he saw the plane's red hot engines and felt angels were "holding it up". At the end of his Sydney performance, Little Richard saw a bright red fireball flying across the sky above him and claimed he was "deeply shaken". He took it as a "sign from God" to repent from performing secular music and his wild lifestyle at the time.
Returning to the States ten days earlier than expected, he read news of his original flight having crashed into the Pacific Ocean as a further sign to "do as God wanted". After a "farewell performance" at the Apollo Theater and a "final" recording session with the Specialty label later that month, Richard Penniman enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, to study theology.
A month after his conversion, Penniman met Ernestine Harvin, a secretary from Washington, D.C., and the couple married in 1959. He ventured into gospel music, first recording for End Records, before signing with Mercury Records in 1961, where he eventually released 'King of the Gospel Singers', in 1962, produced by Quincy Jones, who later remarked that Penniman's vocals impressed him more than any other vocalist he had worked with.
In 1962, during a five-year period in which Little Richard abandoned rock and roll for born again Christianity, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded him to tour Europe. During this time, Arden had The Beatles open for Penniman on some tour dates. David Browne at Rolling Stone: "Although he never hit the Top 10 again after 1958, Little Richard’s influence was massive. The Beatles recorded several of his songs, including 'Long Tall Sally,' and Paul McCartney’s singing on those tracks – and the Beatles’ own 'I’m Down' – paid tribute to Little Richard’s shredded-throat style. His songs became part of the rock & roll canon, covered over the decades by everyone from the Everly Brothers, the Kinks, and Creedence Clearwater Revival to Elvis Costello and the Scorpions. "
Little Richard overcame a debilitating drug habit and eventually became an ordained minister. Beginning in the 1980s, he saw a resurgence in his popularity as he acquired small acting roles in such films as Down and Out in Beverly Hills (Paul Mazursky, 1986) in which he showed his comedic timing. As versatile and ageless as ever, Little Richard continued to delight fans the world over with his stage presence and flamboyant antics.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame. From 1959 till 1963, he was married to Ernestine Campbell, with whom he had a son, Danny Penniman. Little Richard passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 87. The cause of death was bone cancer.
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 2043. Little Richard in The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956).
Scenes from The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956) with Little Richard's recording of the title song. Source: SuperCanopus (YouTube).
Source: David Browne (Rolling Stone), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment