The AKA
Blues Connection
Documenting Rock 'n'
Roll's Roots in the Blues
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Featuring
Blues Connection
Copyright © 2002-2004 |
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The Blues and Rock 'n' Roll Connections of Little Richard
Little Richard, one of rock 'n' roll's early giants, was deeply influenced by two relatively obscure R& B artists, a blues shouter named Billy Wright and a rock 'n' roll wildman named Eskew Reeder who was better known as Esquerita. Wright and Esquerita were just as flamboyant and untamed as Richard himself. They influenced his pounding piano playing , manic singing style, and outrageous appearance, including the mascara and pancake makeup. As a youngster, Richard sang gospel in a church choir. During his teens, he traveled around and sang in Sugar Foot Sam's Minstrel Show and Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show. He also toured the nightclubs of the south for several years. Upon the suggestion of Lloyd Price, Little Richard sent a demo tape to Art Rupe at Specialty Records. Rupe signed him to the label and right out of the box Richard recorded the incredible "Tutti Frutti", which was a big hit on both the R&B and pop charts in 1955. A long string of hits quickly followed including "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Lucille", "Rip It Up", and "long Tall Sally". Before the end of 1957, Richard found God and gave up rock 'n' roll to become a minister. He returned to rock in 1962, and since then has divided his time between playing rock 'n' roll and preaching the gospel. Richard's music has had a huge impact on the development of rock 'n' roll. His records have been covered by many of rock's greatest musicians including the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly. In an All Music Guide review of Richard's recording of "Lucille", music writer and musician Cub Coda wrote that this particular record established the standard 4/4 rock 'n' roll beat, replacing the swing beat and rockabilly two beat which were used on most earlier rock records. Also, Coda pointed out that "Lucille" employed a riff which was a seminal influence on the guitar riffs employed in 1960s rock 'n' roll and heavy metal. Little Richard has delighted audiences with his explosive music and exciting personality for many years. To borrow from some words that Benjamin Franklin once wrote in praise of beer, the fact that the world has Little Richard's music to enjoy is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Long live Little Richard and long live his music !
More of Little Richard's rock 'n' roll and blues connections: Little Richard records which have been covered by rock, soul, and R&B musicians and bands are listed below. "Tutti Frutti" - Fleetwood Mac, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Swingin' Blue Jeans, Rufus Thomas, Gene Vincent "Lucille" - The Animals, The Beatles, Otis Redding, The Everly Brothers, Deep
Purple, Bill Haley & His Comets, The Hollies, Jerry Lee Lewis, "Long Tall Sally" - Beatles, Eddie Cochran, The Isley Brothers, The Kinks, Molly Hatchet, Elvis Presley, Swingin' Blue Jeans, Gene Vincent "Good Golly Miss Molly" - Jerry Lee Lewis, The Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Swingin' Blue Jeans, Gene Vincent "Slippin' and Slidin" - Buddy Holly, Wanda Jackson, John Lennon, Carl
Perkins, Billy Preston, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Johnny Winter, "Rip It Up" - Chuck Berry, Commander Cody, The Everly Brothers, Gerry & the
Pacemakers, Bill Haley & His Comets, Roy Orbison, "Jenny Jenny" - Fleetwood Mac, Bill Haley & His Comets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Mitch Ryder "Keep a Knockin'" - The Everly Brothers, The Flamin' Groovies, Fleetwood Mac,
Bobby Fuller, Suzi Quatro, Wet Willie, Chuck Willis, "The Girl Can't Help It" - The Animals, The Everly Brothers, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, Bobby Vee
The Little Richard--Beatles Connection The Beatles were big fans of Little Richard and met him for the first time at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany in 1962. That same year, The Beatles served as Richard's backup band for a show at Liverpool's Empire Theatre. Paul McCartney was an especially big fan of Richard and they developed a great friendship. McCartney handled the vocals on the Beatles fantastic recording of Richard's "Long Tall Sally", a song which often served as the Finale for Beatles concerts. After the Beatles broke up, McCartney went on to record Little Richard's "Lucille" and John Lennon covered "Slippin' and Slidin'" Billy Preston, Little Richard's keyboard player, also developed a friendship with the band and recorded with them for a time, contributing to records such as "Get Back", "Let It Be", and "One after 909".
The Little Richard--Mitch Ryder--Bruce Springsteen Connection Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels made two legendary records in the mid-1960s which were based on two of Little Richard's hits. First, they had a top 10 hit in 1965 with the wild "Jenny Take a Ride", a medley which teamed Richard's "Jenny, Jenny" with Ma Rainey's blues classic "See See Rider (a.k.a. "C.C. Rider"). The following year, they had a monster hit with another medley "Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly". Again, the band mixed a Little Richard hit ("Good Golly Miss Molly") with a blues tune (Shorty Long's "Devil With a Blue Dress On"). Decades later, Bruce Springsteen combined the material from both of Ryder's records into one incredible show-stopping medley which he performed regularly in concert. Return to Musician Index
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