little richard - C or D?

Couldn't see the tub on my phone.

Big fan of "Southern Child"

Please everyone hit me up with the best Little Richard videos you have to hand

I always like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUvHBirr1PI

I'm sure I wasn't the only person who posted this on FB today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZBLt_rcehE

I am watching this and it lives up to the hype

Little Richard has died, aged 87. BBC Archive will never tire of his incredible 1972 interview on Late Night Line-Up. pic.twitter.com/PRbuDSZB1H

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) May 9, 2020

Not big on posting RIP tweets, but I'll make an exception for this one.

I just heard the news about Little Richard and I’m so grieved. He was my shining star and guiding light back when I was only a little boy. His was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do.

— Bob Dylan (@bobdylan) May 9, 2020

RIP, you wonderful man.

Love this performance recorded for British TV in 1963. Also features The Shirelles (fabulous in their own right) - they join him on his gospel song "Joy Joy Joy (Down In My Heart)":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG_lsulgLGU

This earlier upload of the special appears to be a different edit.

i love this 72 interview

you can see the influence he had not just musically but in terms of how to be a Celebrity; be your *own* star, create your own reality: the attitude, the clothes, being in on your own joke & letting everyone else catch up - he was lightyears ahead of what the stars of the day were doing

ugh

link: https://youtu.be/R-Z2rQZeoWk

:-(

I love the '66-67 stuff collected on Get Down With It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzBUxt_aIDU

Anyone else just the right age to have first learned of him from Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme?

the god. got to see him live in 2011; he had bad sciatica and didn't jump around at all but he sounded fucking great!

fwiw john marascalco, who co-wrote a bunch of the big hits, is apparently still alive at age 89 if any of you writers wanna try

Love this, obviously

https://youtu.be/B5mkN45juhs

Fantastic 70s track

https://youtu.be/dlAtjRYvFIY

And wow

https://youtu.be/JpgPS1vMpd0

An amazing FB post from Derrick Martin, who played drums for Little Richard from 1995 till the end:

I’ve had a few requests to tell the story of how I became a member of Little Richard’s band, so here ya go!

It was 1995 and I was in my junior year at Jackson State University majoring in music education. I had sat out for a time after my sophomore year because all I really wanted to do was play music, make records, become rich and famous, you know the drill. I was a member of a really hot band called Infinity which was comprised of myself, Darryl Pete, Tommie “S’VON” Ringo, Gary Scott, Ezra Brown & Robert Lampkin. This unit was amazing! We played around town and were cutting out teeth as song writers and producers. The biggest gig in the city, at the time, was the Jubilee Jamn and man we wanted to get booked on that stage. Linda Jacobs worked for the festival and helped bring big named acts to the festival, one of which was Little Richard. Linda and I were extended family members and she really believed in me and our band. She offered to help us get gigs and offer advice and guidance. She developed a great relationship with Little Richard after he played the festival and they stayed in touch. One day they were having a conversation about his band and Richard was saying that he wanted go back to having two drummers like he did in years past and asked Linda if she knew of a young black drummer that could fill the seat. Well, wouldn’t you know it, she recomended me! So I’m home one morning and I get a call from Linda telling me that Little Richard was looking for a drummer and she gave me a number to call to inquire about the audition. So I called the number expecting to be speaking to a manager or some kind of representative, but low and behold, it was Little Richard himself! He seemed really nice and asked if I had his Specialty Records Greatest Hits record and I told him I didn’t but I could run to the record store to pick it up. He said ok go get it then call me back after you’ve listened to it. So I bought the record, listened and called him back. He asked if I could play this music and of course I said, “Yes sir!”. He said ok I’ll call you back this afternoon. This was on a Monday to Tuesday I think. Later that evening he called back and told me that he had booked me a ticket to fly to Los Angeles on Thursday. It was all set! I was excited and a bit afraid because I didn’t know what to expect but Linda Jacobs never wavered, she was so supportive and encouraging that it helped ease my nerves a bit. The next day I went to school to discuss this opportunity with my professors. Now keep in mind that leaving school for a gig was the cardinal sin but I felt like this was something I had to do and I trusted my teachers and I wanted to hear their input. Once I told them who it was, they all said you have to GO! You can’t miss out on this opportunity, just make sure you have a round trip ticket in case something goes wrong. So with that I was on my way.

On Thursday I arrived at LAX and Richard’s son Danny met me at baggage claim and escorted me outside to a stretch limo with Richard sitting inside. Man you should have seen my face! This was my first official limo ride! Upon first meeting him, I was taken aback by the enormity of his presence and personality, he was a STAR in every since of the word. He held court on the ride to the hotel and told me about himself and his humble begginings in Macon, Georgia. We arrived at the Hyatt on Sunset in West Hollywood and I checked in. This is where he lived! Yes! He lived in a hotel full time! He had the three corner rooms at the end of the third floor. Once we checked in, he took me out for dinner and asked about my family, my life and so forth. he was sizing me up I guess. I stayed for almost a week but we never talked about music or when I was to audition. He took me to a few shows at The House Of Blues, I attended church with him and ran errands. After about a week of this, he said that we were going to go the SIR rehearsal studios for my audition. But in what I would come to know as classic Little Richard fashion, we arrived to late to SIR and missed our time and had to reschedule. Legendary Upsetters guitarist, Roy Gaines, met us there and since we missed our slot, we went to his club on Crenshaw. We go inside and there’s a small stage with a honky tonk piano, guitar amps and an old, old drum set, I mean barely standing. So Richard and Roy began to tell stories and reminisce. During this time we are all sitting at our instruments and we just start to jam as they would tell stories about the good old days. Oh yeah, Charles Glenn was also there too. He was Richard’s bass player and he had played with Ozone, Billy Preston, Sammy Davis Jr. And Debarge, just to name a few. So we are just jamning on tunes, playing nothing but the blues. Now I’m not realizing that THIS is my actual audition. I’m super relaxed, cracking jokes with them and just being my crazy self, I mean wide open. After about an hour or so, Richard says ok I’m getting hungry, lets go. He looks at me and says, “Baby, that’s great! We open for The Temptations next week in Cerritos.” And of course I’m baffled. I asked him what just happened and Charles shakes my hand and says, “Welcome to the band!” I stop Richard and I’m like hey but we didn’t play any of your music. He then turns to me and says, “Baby you know how to play the blues, you have a good foot, a strong back beat and you love your momma I’ll teach you the rest.” I was blown away! He later explained to me that no one could come to his gig knowing what he wanted. He would always have to teach people what he wanted them to do. My true audition began the moment I stepped into the limo. He interacted with me for a week to be sure I was “teachable”. And this was just the beggining of a 17 year ride that taught me so much about everything. I became a man and a better musician under Richard’s watch but not just him, Wayne Chaney, Chalmers Davis, Jesse Boyce, John Helms, Kelvin Holly, Kenny Walker, Harvey Thompson, Charles Glenn, Mark Doyle, Mark Holland, Kenny Ford, Andre Swift, Big Jaye & Guy Higginbotham made up this amazing band and they all were selfless when it came to teaching and helping me grow. So this is the story of how I joined the Little Richard Band. May he Rest in Love & Peace.

Anyone else just the right age to have first learned of him from Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme?

― last updated a group of five done twelve times ago (geoffreyess), Saturday, May 9, 2020 11:04 PM (yesterday)

me! i also remember seeing him sing "itsy bitsy spider" on the disney channel around this time.

i'm bummed about this, richard was my favorite of the original rock-and-rollers by a very long way, and i loved that he was still standing after all these decades.

Anyone else just the right age to have first learned of him from Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme?

I first learned of him from Disney benefit album, For Our Children, was from about the same time as Mother Goose Rock n Rhyme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVZXAXFXHF0

That album was my first exposure to a lot of big classic artists, which in some cases gave me a very strange first impressions since it had stuff like Sting doing a Georgie folk song, Elton John doing an instrumental synth tune and Brian Wilson doing country.

I don't know how to embed a Facebook post, but Bob Dylan expanded a bit on his tweet already posted above:

I just heard the news about Little Richard and I’m so grieved. He was my shining star and guiding light back when I was only a little boy. His was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do. I played some shows with him in Europe in the early nineties and got to hang out in his dressing room a lot. He was always generous, kind and humble. And still dynamite as a performer and a musician and you could still learn plenty from him. In his presence he was always the same Little Richard that I first heard and was awed by growing up and I always was the same little boy. Of course he’ll live forever. But it’s like a part of your life is gone.

Has anyone seen the fake ten year old Little Richard video popping up in their social media feed?

He's in fucking outer space in that 1972 interview, I love it

I realize this is very obvious, but watching some of the videos that have been going around has made it clearer than ever how much Prince and Morris Day lifted from Little Richard, image-wise.

Also fine form in A Film About Jimi Hendrix and Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll: Bo Diddly wonders how come some things kept going strange back in the day---Richard: "You was black!" Bo hesitates to respond---Richard: "You was black!" Chuck: "Aw tell him again, he still didn't get it."

<3

I love love love his early 60’s gospel

His voice is so pure, and when he hits the high notes he sounds like Jackie Wilson it’s breathtaking

https://youtu.be/jQxU7gQqar4

Rolling Stone has various tributes. One from John Fogerty is pretty good, one from John Waters is outstanding.

This is the time Waters met Richard

https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2010/nov/28/john-waters-met-little-richard

Thanks, good stuff.

^^^

Little Richard, C or D?
SHUT UP!
― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Thursday, June 3, 2004 6:51 AM (fifteen years ago)

Not seeing it online today, but somewhere I read an interview w Sonny Sharrock: asked about punk, he replies, "I saw Little Richard at the Apollo in 1955." (Or '56?) "You can't get more punk rock than that."

Also, it's a good thing I don't have my copy of Mystery Train at hand---"Why, never in the history!"---or I'd be transcribing the entire saga of his talk show appearance in the crucial first pages---can search for HE GOT WHAT HE WANTED AND LOST WHAT HE HAD, which will take you to Google Books---and YouTube...

Speaking of which, Marcus's Grooviest 17 Original Hits! entry in the Stranded discography is one of my favourites: "Anarchy in the U.S.A., about the time the Sex Pistols were born. This was some kind of unhinged New Orleans R&B, at first anyway, but even Fats Domino must have wondered what the hell was going on."

That Mystery Train transcription took a lot of liberties to say the least, but print the legend, I guess.

Blasting him this morning (I love it when my teenagers yell at me to turn down my music) and "Green Power" came on. Pure funk with Little Richard singing? Amazing! I'm not familiar with this period, I want more!

The Reprise compilation is a great source for that era LR. Funk, country, gospel, funky gospel country. Juicy.

I first read MYSTERY TRAIN forty years ago and I can’t think of anything else burned into my head as permanently as the first three pages. #RIPLittleRichard pic.twitter.com/dRJVYlVXjg

— Chris Barrus (@quartzcity) May 9, 2020

Burned in my brain too, but seems like most of that all-caps part was interpolated from somewhere else.

Here is the more recent John Waters piece: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/john-waters-little-richard-996961/

Operation Powder Room in operation!

My favorite new-to-me trivia

1) as an ordained minister, Little Richard officiated many weddings including (but not limited to)
Demi Moore & Bruce Willis in 1987
Cyndi Lauper & David Thornton in 1991
Tom Petty and Dana York in 2001

2) He lived at the Hyatt on Sunset in the 80’s and 90’s: loads of celebs have posted about brief encounters, everyone from Johnny Knoxville to Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub & Victor deLorenzo of Violent Femmes

Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry circa 1987 from Berry’s documentary. Little Richard telling the truth about why Black artists couldn’t perform like they wanted to on American Bandstand. Whole lotta legendary energy and Black Excellence in this conversation. pic.twitter.com/gVxPie5Rwa

— The Funky Educator (@MrKinetik) May 9, 2020

Great scene from a great movie.

Former Chicago Reader critic Bill Wyman wrote an extensive obituary for NY Magazine, and it's the best one published because it doesn't hold ANYTHING back. The direct quotes from the authorized biography alone are pretty stunning:

https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/little-richard-put-wild-sex-into-the-top-40-for-good.html#_ga=2.224055324.603100358.1589089370-1881858677.1492321179

From that piece:

Richard abandoned his band — and headed south. (The band, left stranded, improvised by hiring another wild Georgia singer with a high pompadour, a man who had just been released from prison, to step in and bill himself as Little Richard. His name was James Brown. Amazingly, the group would later use Otis Redding, another Georgia singer, for the same role.)

Killed me when they finally got to the one physical activity that repulsed him and how John Lennon was its worst perpetrator.

his bowels ferried yields for richard

Any views on his early 70s Reprise recordings? Him trying to update his sound further etc.
I see that they've recently been reissued in expanded editions and had an earlier 3lps on 2cds version through BGO. I hadn't payed attention to that later era material by him before.
I know taht the Bo Diddley stuff from the same era has some interesting takes.

Do love the 50s material by him.

The good bits on those records are fantastic, but there are quite a few big misses as well. One of my projects is to cherry pick them and make one excellent album.

Good day for a revive of a Georgia native son.

Looking back on this thread, I'm surprised to realize it was only earlier in 2020 when he died. Feels like years ago.

yeah the reprise albums are all worth a listen. you can tell he was trying to go for something and didnt quite figure it out, but lots of hidden gems spread across those. i posted it somewhere else recently but one of my faves from that bunch is his soulful version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" from the King of Rock and Roll LP.