NFL
By: Greg Rector
CNN will be showing a documentary on Richard Wayne Penniman who was alive from (December 5th,1932 to May 9th,2020) I also was born on December 5th and have known about “Little Richard” my whole life. I have loved “Little Richard” and his music for that entire time.
I also followed “Little Richard” and his career outside of just his massive musical talent. Whether he was acting or being an evangelist.
Anything that Little Richard did I followed along with. One of the most influential starters of what we now call “Rock and Roll” is being honored in death far more than he ever was in his life by most people. It was truly maddening to me when his sexuality was more important to people that his genuine talent as a musician.
I saw the man I have dubbed the ‘Real King of Rock Music.” Sorry, Elvis Presley fans out there perform three times in my life. All three shows were phenomenal and Little Richard entertained millions and millions of people all over the globe.
Why Little Richard?
Little Richard when he played the piano was electrifying to listen to. Then when you heard those lyrics you knew something special was going on. I knew who Little Richard was of course thanks to my parents but more importantly thanks to the Johnson family I grew up with as well. The Johnson family was black and because of that fact, I learned about how and why black artists like Richard Penniman and Chuck Berry were treated so badly even though “Rock and Roll” was really started by black musicians.
When I was a young man and learned I shared my birthday with Little Richard I was intrigued even more. You see I had also known that the most famous politician that was also born on December 5th was Senator Strom Thurmond the noted racist from South Carolina. So I leaned away from that fact and proudly would say whenever we discussed who we shared birthdays with I would say Little Richard and declared him to be the “Real King of Rock and Roll.”
Now that caused a few discussions over the years with many other white folks who were all in on Elvis Presley being the King. While Elvis was the white person’s version of being the King of Rock and Roll, there was never a doubt for most black people I grew up with that it was Little Richard or Chuck Berry. While I loved Chuck Berry and his “Duck Walk” and playing his guitar, Little Richard and his piano playing won my heart.
His Influence On Musicians
Ask the legends in rock music and you’ll hear how and why Little Richard was so important to them and their development as musicians. He is known as the “Architect of Rock and Roll” by so many others in the music business. Richard’s hits of the mid-1950s, such as “Tutti Frutti”, and “Long Tall Sally”, left John Lennon of the Beatles to be silent for hours just listening to the song repeatedly “Keep A-Knockin'” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly”, were generally characterized by playful lyrics with sexually suggestive connotations. All those classic songs can be sung by me word for word and by millions of others.
Ray Charles introduced Little Richard to an audience in 1988 “As the man who set the stage for the music we are hearing today.”
“Little Richard was always my main man. How hard must it have been for him: gay, black, and singing in the South? But his records are a joyous good time from beginning to end.”Those words came from “Lemmy” Kilmister the late great singer from Motorhead.
No matter the musician you hear from Little Richard goes down as a man who influenced them either with his music or his lyrics and singing wise Ike Turner claimed that Tina Turner was heavily to sing as close to what Little Richard was doing.
Years after his success even Little Richard and his androgynous stage clothing was copied by Prince as was his songwriting along with the singing.
Richard Penniman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its very first class in 1986 rightfully so.
I am so looking forward to seeing the “Little Richard – I Am Everything” special on Labor Day.
