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.
