Little Richard

This is as serious as rock and roll gets. Little Richard was the guy who let out all the stops, who eschewed subtlety, who put it all out there, perversion and all - one of the great architects of rock and roll.

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On comes from some anonymous collection, but the rest is Little Richard’s 18 Greatest Hits, which I have on a CD. It’s decent, but I would have dropped two of Heeby-Jeebies, She’s Got It, All Around The World and included Baby Face and True, Fine Mama.

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Little Richard:

• Tutti Frutti – There isn’t much one can say about this song that would make much sense, because the song itself doesn’t make much sense, but it doesn’t have to; it’s an expression of such unmitigated rock and roll joy that words are useless. It was Little Richard’s first hit, that was in the winter of 1956, and it kicked off a series of similar jubilant but slightly off centre outbursts that formed one of the foundation repertoires of rock and roll. It was covered, incompetently, by Pat Boone.
• Long Tall Sally – A favourite among cover artists. Elvis did it, and left the lyrics alone. The Beatles did it, and changed “bald headed Sally” to the safer “Long Tall Sally.” The Kinks covered it too. Bald headed Sally?  This is from the spring of 1956.
• Slippin’ And Slidin’- The flip side of Long Tall Sally, it was a hit in the summer of ’56. The cover of my CD says “Sliddin’”.
• Rip It Up – A great Saturday night let’s-go-out-and-get-ripped song. From the summer of ’56. Bill Haley & His Comets covered this, and so did Elvis, and so did John Lennon
• Ready Teddy – The flip of Rip It Up, also a hit in the summer of ’56. Another party song.
• Heeby-Jeebies – Woman as spell caster. She put the jinx on me. Covered by The Fourmost
• She’s Got It – Sometimes there’s just no better way to describe it. This and Heeby-Jeebies were two sides of a single, released in October, 1956.
• The Girl Can’t Help It – She can’t help it if she was born to please. Richard has a major crush on her. From the winter of 1957. This was the title track to the movie, about a has-been talent agent trying to create a new Julie London. Bobby Vee covered this.
• All Around The World – The flip of The Girl Can’t Help It. A song about rock and roll.
• Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On – How it was meant to be done. A hit for Jerry Lee Lewis but I do believe that Little Richard did it first.
• Lucille – This one digs a groove so deep you can get lost in it. From the spring of 1957, and it’s amazing, given the totally (I mean totally) perverted lyrics, that it made the charts at all. The Everly Brothers put it back on the charts, but they changed “sister” to “daddy” (you don’t do your daddy’s will).
• Send Me Some Lovin’ – The flip side of Lucille, also a hit in spring 1957. This is what Little Richard sounds like doing a ballad, and he pulls it off. Sam Cooke did this also.
• Jenny Jenny – An invitation. Won’t you come along with me, sounds innocent enough. "Spinnin’ like a spinnin’ top." Wha? From the summer of 1957. Covered by Mitch Rider & The Detroit Wheels, as Jenny Take A Ride.
• Miss Ann – From the summer of 1957, the flip of Jenny Jenny. A little slower, more like Fats Domino.
• Keep A-Knockin’ – Well... Fats Domino did I Hear You Knockin’, but what Fats did was put his feet up, sit back, shake his head, and say “sorry babe,” Little Richard jumps up and down, shakes his fist, screams his head off, and generally carries on. Different styles. From the fall of 1957.
• Good Golly Miss Molly – Can’t mistake the meaning here, “sure like to ball.” Ok. This was a top 10 hit in the late winter of 1958. I guess “ball” could mean party. So many people covered this: The Swinging Blue Jeans put it on the UK charts in 1964. Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels did it as part of a medley with Shorty Long’s Devil With A Blue Dress. CCR covered it on their second album.
• Ooh! My Soul – Just more ranting and raving, from the summer of 1958. Richie Valens spoofed it with Ooh! My Head.
• Kansas City – A song originally called KC Lovin’, and a number 1 hit for Wilbert Harrison in spring of 1959. This version was a hit at the same time. The CD label says Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey. Little Richard recorded his own version of Leiber & Stoller’s Kansas City, and he recorded his own Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey and he recorded a medley of both. The Beatles covered the medley on their Beatles For Sale album in 1965 (Beatles VI in North America) but the record cover identified the song as Kansas City, which did not credit Richard as songwriter. They corrected it when the CD was issued in 1987. This CD features just Kansas City, but it is labelled Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey, a wonderful example of historical overcorrection. Anyway, Richard does Kansas City as it was meant to be done, kicks (Wilbert) Harrison’s ass from here to Cleveland. Only Paul McCartney could match him…
• Bama Lama, Bama Loo – What I like is meaningful lyrics, and it is doesn’t get less meaningful than this. This is from the summer of ’64, after Little Richard had disappeared and had now come back, having been brought back to life by the English groups like The Beatles and The Swinging Blue Jeans who were covering his songs en mass.