Richard Penniman (better known as Little Richard) was an original; there’s no denying that. He was the originator. He was the innovator. He was the emancipator, the architect, the inventor of rock’n’roll. Don’t take my word for it. This all is straight from Richard’s mouth.
Little Richard mentored James Brown (before the “hardest working man in show business” had his first hit record, Please, Please, Please); hired a young Jimi Hendrix (then calling himself Jimmy James) as his guitar player in the early 60’s; toured the UK and Europe in 1962 with the then unknown Beatles, who idolized him, as his opening act.
His contemporaries in the mid 1950s – people like Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis – recognizing how cool and exciting these new songs were and not wanting to miss out, recorded their own versions of his hits. There was also a racial motive: Black singers were not supposed to cross over to white audiences. So their records were relegated to the category of race records aimed at the ”negro” audience; and white artists were encouraged to appropriate (re-record) popular songs by black artists for dissemination to the white audience - a much larger group. Elvis Presley put out a cover version of Tutti Frutti, Little Richard’s first hit single, and ultra-clean-cut Pat Boone did too. (In fact, Elvis covered four Little Richard songs on his first two albums.) Released as singles and played on top-40 stations, these two Tutti Frutti covers each sold more copies than Richard’s original, a big hit itself (initially only played on black rhythm and blues stations). Neither of these “white” recordings could hold a candle to the original – a propulsive, get-up-and-boogie jolt of adrenaline-fused rock’n’roll that is still exciting sixty-seven years after it was recorded – if you listen with fresh ears.
The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, were greatly influenced by Richard’s rock’n’roll style - covering several of his songs in their own early recordings and using a very Richard-esque sound in a number of their early self-penned hits: listen to the falsetto in She Loves You and From Me to You, for example, or the Little Richard scream in Can’t Buy Me Love.
Little Richard complained a lot (probably too much) about the lack of respect he got for his massive contributions to rock’n’roll; but now we have the wonderful new documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything, which goes a long way toward remedying that situation. Produced and directed by Lisa Cortes - perhaps best known as producer of the Oscar-winning Precious (2009) and the documentary feature Apollo (2019) - Little Richard: I Am Everything is a first-class production providing a comprehensive and sympathetic look at Richard Penniman’s complicated life and outsize influence.
Born in 1932 Macon Georgia, the third of twelve (12!) children, Richard Penniman grew up with gospel music. His father was a church deacon (AME), a nightclub owner and a moonshiner; and his mother was a devout Baptist. He began singing in church as a young boy, and gospel singers became a prime influence. He was slight of build and some found him effeminate; for some shows, he wore his mother’s jewelry and makeup. His father disowned him as a “sissy’. But Richard was encouraged by others, such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Music was calling, and Richard quit high school to travel the “chitlin circuit”, which included gay male entertainers performing in drag. Richard enjoyed this flamboyance and sometimes did so himself.
In the early fifties he formed his own band, Little Richard and the Upsetters. In gay clubs, they’d perform bawdy, naughty songs one of which was called
Tutti Frutti, a number that Richard performed very fast with a strong backbeat. The lyric started “Tutti frutti, good booty,” and got more explicit from there. But it was apparently quite a toe tapper, and when Richard got noticed and signed to a recording contract (Specialty Records), the words got cleaned up and a surprising megahit was born in late 1955.
Tutti Frutti sold over a million copies.
Long Tall Sally followed, and it too sold more than a million records. Little Richard’s career exploded. He began touring with packaged rock & roll tours with talents like Chuck Berry, Bobby Bland, Etta James, and Fats Domino. Usually, he was the headliner. Seven Little Richard singles were released in 1956 alone, most of which became hits.
Mid-fifties rock’n’roll was wild and contagious. Teenagers, black and white, were eating this stuff up, and the crowds that came to see and dance to this music were mixed. But looking back, what’s astonishing is that Little Richard was so out there! He was Black. But he wasn’t “safe” or reassuring to the white establishment, like so many early black performers. He didn’t sit at the piano and smile sweetly like, for example, Fats Domino. He pounded those keys and played hot. He jumped around, sometimes singing from the top of his piano. He was no crooner, he shouted and screamed. Not only was he gay, but on top of that he wore heavy makeup, wild clothes and big hair so he even
looked queer. His songs were full of double entendres (
Good Golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball), and the beat was anything but sedate. He sometimes took his shirt off !!! (This was the mid-1950s, I remind you. Nobody was doing this.)
As you’d imagine, there was a lot of backlash from the white establishment, especially, but not exclusively, in the American South. His shows sometimes got busted up. He was arrested several times. But Richard was ambitious and loved the spotlight, so he persevered - backed by the record industry and his promoters, who were making a lot of money off him.
Still, while Little Richard was a show business revolutionary, inside he was tormented. He still harbored that old-time god-fearing religion instilled in him by his family and the church. Yet here he was playing and spreading the devil’s music. After a brush with death in 1957, Richard decided to change course and give up the degenerate secular music and lifestyle. He enrolled in a seminary to study theology. He wanted to be a preacher and sing God’s music: gospel. He did that for a while, but …well … truth was, he missed the celebrity and the thrill of performance, not to mention the good money he had been earning. Meanwhile, several more singles were released by his record company, among them
Good Golly Miss Molly,
Jenny Jenny and
Oooh, My Soul.What happened then? Quite a bit, actually. But you don’t want to get this stuff from me. Check out
Little Richard: I Am Everything to get the whole story – much of it direct from the man himself. This excellent documentary features excerpts from several Little Richard interviews - as well as commentary from several people who knew him, worked with him, and/or were influenced by him; along with scholars of music history. Needless to say, there’s a lot of music too – although it would have been nice to see a song or two played all the way through. Apparently, there’s not a lot of film or video of mid 1950s Little Richard in performance.
Richard was irrepressible. For example, there is a wonderful clip of him as a presenter (along with Buster Poindexter) at the 1988 Grammy awards show. After naming the nominees, Richard came to the defining moment thusly: “…
and the best new artist is … [looking at the envelope] …
ME! I ain’t never received nothing; y’all never gave me no Grammy and I’ve been singing for years!” He received a standing ovation.
Little Richard was a pioneering creative talent. While Little Richard: I Am Everything breaks no new creative ground visually or structurally, there is no need for artifice – its subject is flamboyant and plenty dynamic enough on his own. The film recounts his roller coaster life in a way that’s both thrilling and touching. Lou Reed called Little Richard “a soulful, primal source”. Mick Jagger cited him as an inspiration and “my first idol”. Otis Redding idolized him too (Richard returned the favor, inducting Redding into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame.)
My own idol, Bob Dylan, calls Little Richard “a giant”, featuring two Little Richard hits –
Tutti Frutti and
Long Tall Sally - among the 66 songs he discusses in his 2022 book
The Philosophy of Modern Song. He says: “
Little Richard was speaking in tongues across the airwaves long before anybody knew what was happening. He took speaking in tongues right out of the canvas tent and put it on the mainstream radio, even screamed like a holy preacher- which is what he was.”
Amen.
1 hour 38 minutes
Grade: A-
A special theatrical streaming begins April 11, 2023. For theater listings click “get tickets” HERE.
Available digitally beginning April 21 on most streaming platforms , including AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Microsoft, and many more.
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