Posted By: Turnbull
Little Richard dead - 05/11/20 03:21 AM
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/little-richard-dead-48505/
Little Richard Penniman, one of the founders of rock 'n roll, died of bone cancer. He was 87.
I was a HUGE Richard fan when I was young. You'd be listening to the radio, hearing "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window," or "When the Moon HIts Your Eye Like a Big-a Pizza Pie that's Amore," and practically dying of boredom. Then, suddenly, you'd hear, "Uh Wop Bop-a-Lu-Bop-Bam Boom" and Little Richard would go tearing into "Tutti Frutti" or "Long Tall Sally"--and you'd know the dog days were over. Richard was outlandish, outrageous, uninhibited--and one of the greatest performers in US music history. And, underneath the glitz, he was a first-class musician and songwriter, deeply rooted in R&B and gospel.
I saw him live at the Alan Freed R&R show at the Brooklyn Paramount over the Labor Day weekend in 1957. He was the most performer I've ever seen, backed by a big, talented band, wearing incredible glitzy clothes, jumping on his piano, and whipping all of us kids into a wild frenzy. He could have led us out of the Paramount, up Flatbush Avenue and over the side of the Manhattan Bridge after that performance--and we'd have leaped into the East River still shakin' and swayin'. I'll never forget him. RIP.
Little Richard Penniman, one of the founders of rock 'n roll, died of bone cancer. He was 87.
I was a HUGE Richard fan when I was young. You'd be listening to the radio, hearing "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window," or "When the Moon HIts Your Eye Like a Big-a Pizza Pie that's Amore," and practically dying of boredom. Then, suddenly, you'd hear, "Uh Wop Bop-a-Lu-Bop-Bam Boom" and Little Richard would go tearing into "Tutti Frutti" or "Long Tall Sally"--and you'd know the dog days were over. Richard was outlandish, outrageous, uninhibited--and one of the greatest performers in US music history. And, underneath the glitz, he was a first-class musician and songwriter, deeply rooted in R&B and gospel.
I saw him live at the Alan Freed R&R show at the Brooklyn Paramount over the Labor Day weekend in 1957. He was the most performer I've ever seen, backed by a big, talented band, wearing incredible glitzy clothes, jumping on his piano, and whipping all of us kids into a wild frenzy. He could have led us out of the Paramount, up Flatbush Avenue and over the side of the Manhattan Bridge after that performance--and we'd have leaped into the East River still shakin' and swayin'. I'll never forget him. RIP.