This page is also for those that share Brother Richard's born again Christian faith, who wish to support him spiritually through prayer and encouraging, inspirational comments and/or wish to pray that this page continues to lead thousands of lost and struggling souls every month to hope and peace of mind through Jesus Christ.
The page developer is a rock n roll music researcher and historian, as well as a writer and evangelist, who led an effort to ensure that original artists, such as LITTLE RICHARD and BO DIDDLEY, would begin to get the credit they deserved in the major encyclopedias for starting new kinds of music in the 1950s. And with no fitting tribute on the largest networking server in the world - MYSPACE - the development of this page was essential.
TESTIMONIALS:
RAY CHARLES:
"I wanna introduce a man that started a kind of music that set the pace for a lot of what's happening today. Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't mind, here is my man, bless his little sweet heart, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Little Richard!" - 1989
DON COVAY:
"Little Richard represented what I wanted to be. He was, and still is, my idol."
JAMES BROWN (who claimed, according to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, that Little Richard was the first to put the FUNK in the Rock n Roll beat via his saxaphone studded mid-1950s road band):
"Little Richard is my idol."
ELVIS PRESLEY:
"Your music has inspired me - you are the greatest." - 1969
DICK CLARK:
"I'd like you to meet a man who was the model for almost every rock n roll performer of the (19)50s and years thereafter - a true rock n roll legend - Little Richard!"
"Once you have seen this man you know instantly that you have seen the greatest Rock n Roll legend of our time."
H.B. BARNUM:
"Richard opened the door. He brought the races together. When I first went on the road their were many segragated audiences. With Richard, although they still had the audiences segragated in the building, they were there TOGETHER. And most times before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together. Up until then, the audiences were either all black or all white and no one else could come in. His records weren't boy-meets-girl-girl-meets-boy things, they were FUN records, all fun. And they had a lot to say sociologically in our country and the world. The shot was fired here and heard around the world... When Richard opened his mouth, man, everyone could enjoy it. He's got a voice that would make 'em jump up and down... that's the first time I ever saw spotlights and flicker lights used at a concert show. It had all been used in show business but he brought it into our world."
OTIS REDDING:
"If it hadn't been for Little Richard, I would not be here. I entered the music business because of Richard - he is my inspiration. I used to sing like Little Richard, his Rock 'n' Roll stuff, you know. Richard has soul, too. My present music has a lot of him in it." - 1966
SAM COOKE:
"I love Little Richard. He is a great entertainer and he has done so much for our music." - 1962
SMOKEY ROBINSON:
"Little Richard was the beginning of that drivin', never-let-up, funky Rock 'n' Roll." (American Music Awards - 1997
JOHNNY 'GUITAR' WATSON:
"He is the King of Rock 'n' Roll."
PHIL EVERLY:
"Richard is an original, and the songs he's written and the songs he's done and made famous are just one of a kind."
PAUL McCARTNEY:
"I never thought I'd ever meet Little Richard. He was my idol at school. The first song I ever sang in public was 'Long Tall Sally,' at a Butlins holiday camp talent competion! I love his voice and I always wanted to sing like him."
GEORGE HARRISON:
"Thank you all very much, especially the rock 'n' rollers, an' Little Richard there (pointing to him) - it was all his fault really." - 1988 (At the Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)
MICK JAGGER:
"Little Richard is the originator and my first idol."
"Little Richard is King."
KIETH RICHARDS:
"The first time we realized we were on the same stage as Little Richard in 1963, that seemed like the top of the world for us. That's still as big a thrill as I've ever had."
"Hi, this is Kieth Richards, y'know. On behalf of the rest of the Stones, I guess, as well - hey, Little Richard, we were just a bar band, and our first tour - Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, and Little Richard, y'know. I probably learned more in that six weeks, in one period, the I ever have before or since. Uh, congratulations Little Richard, gimme a call man." (American Music Awards -1997)
JIMI HENDRIX:
"I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice." - 1966
REV. AL GREEN:
"I was a little kid when I heard Little Richard. He was playing piano and singing that song," recalls Green before breaking into the opening lines of Richard's "Jenny, Jenny." Even then, he continues, "I knew he was a classic, one-of-a-kind. I never heard (anyone) with that kind of enthusiasm."
MARTY BALIN:
"Little Richard, man, was the god! I grew up on Little Richard in the rocking 50's."
BOB DYLAN: From 'Bob Dylan's Jukebox - The Songs That Influenced The Bard'
“Those songs are my lexicon and prayer bookâ€, Bob Dylan told an interviewer in 1997: “You can find all my philosophy in those old songs “. Dylan was talking about how traditional songs had shaped both his life and his own music. Some might find it a little strange that one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century should rely so heavily on influences from a bygone age. “Strap yourself to a tree with roots†Dylan sang in 1967. After all, if you don’t know where you’re coming from how can you know where you’re going?... From as far back as his early teens it was inevitable that Dylan would become a musician and in his final school yearbook he declared his intention was “To join Little Richardâ€, which is where this Cd begins....
RY COODER:
"The first 45 I ever played was by Little Richard. Even today, I constantly listen to Little Richard."
JOHN FOGERTY (from the interview with Daniel Levitin - Audio magazine, January, 1998):
DL: "Paul McCartney said that he really only has two vocal sounds, and they're both based on trying to copy someone; he has his Elvis sound for the ballads and his Little Richard sound for the rockers. Is there a particular singer you emulate?" JF: "It's interesting that Paul would say that, because as rock and roll as he really is - well, number one, I wish he'd do Little Richard more..." DL: "In your flat-out rock and roll voice is there someone you're hearing in your head besides yourself?" JF: "Well I'd certainly have to have a tip of the hat to Little Richard. I'd say it's sort of a composite guy, because obviously I love Wilson Pickett, and there are a few guys who have that sort of high, edgy thing, Little Richard being the best and the most famous. Wilson even screamed in tune. My voice came out a certain way and I've learned to be that way."
JON LORD:
"There would have been no DEEP PURPLE if there had been no Little Richard."
BOB SEGER:
"Little Richard - he was the first one that really got to me. Little Richard and of course, Elvis Presley."
"I don't know if it was because of James Brown and Little Richard, I always preferred a high energy vocal, a hard full-force vocal. I liked Little Richard better than Elvis, and I liked James Brown better than the Beatles...but the Miracles were a heavy influence on me, too...[though] I always preferred the more energized vocals." (Late-1981 radio interview from segerfile.com)
PAUL SIMON:
"When I was in high school I wanted to be like Little Richard."
DAVID BOWIE:
"After hearing Little Richard on record, I bought a saxaphone and came into the music business. Little Richard was my inspiration."
"Thank you, Little Richard, for so many things... for erasing the word 'racemusic' and for giving us popular music. And for helping create rock music - the most important art form of the twentieth century." (American Music Awards - 1997)
WOLFMAN JACK:
"In the spiritual poll of Rock n Roll, Little Richard is a tried and true original. Since his beginning, all have picked up from his style and from his music, from the early Beatles to Mick Jagger today. At one time it was all Little Richard's original raving craving thing."
CHUCK BERRY:
"Little Richard is a great originator. He was right there at the start, a thrilling performer."
BO DIDDLEY:
"Little Richard was a one-of-a-kind show business genius. He influenced so many people in the business, I was afraid to follow him onstage."
JOHNNY OTIS:
"Little Richard is twice as valid artistically and important historically as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones put together."
LITTLE RICHARD (from the interview "Child Of God" with David Dalton -Rolling Stone 28 May 1970):
DD: "What inspired you to write 'Tutti Frutti'? Where did the style come from?" LR: "Well, you know I used to play piano for the church. You know that spiritual, 'Give Me that Old Time Religion', most churches just say, [sings] "Give me that old time religion" but I did, [sings] "Give me that old time, talkin' 'bout religion," you know I put that little thing in it you know, I always did have that thing but I didn't know what to do with the thing I had. So the style has always been with me... I always had my little thing I wanted to let the world hear, you know."
PAT BOONE:
"No on person has been imitated more than Little Richard."
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A BRIEF BIO OF LITTLE RICHARD - FROM ROCK AND ROLL TO THE ROCK OF AGES:
LITTLE RICHARD'S HIT SONGS OF THE MID-1950'S LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC AND INFLUENCED GENERATIONS OF RHYTHM & BLUES, ROCK AND SOUL MUSIC STARS. ACCORDING TO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME, JAMES BROWN AND OTHERS CLAIMED THAT LITTLE RICHARD WAS THE FIRST TO PUT THE FUNK IN THE ROCK N ROLL BEAT VIA HIS SAXAPHONE-STUDDED, MID-50'S ROAD BAND, THEREBY ALSO INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT GENRE OF MUSIC.
RICHARD PENNIMAN GREW UP IN A SPIRITUAL FAMILY, AMID POVERTY AND PREJUDICE, AND IT WAS SINGING THAT MADE HIS FAMILY FEEL CLOSER TO GOD. THEY SANG THEIR TRIALS AWAY, WHICH MADE THEIR BURDENS EASIER AND THEIR LOADS LIGHTER. HIS FAMILY HAD A SINGING GROUP CALLED THE PENNIMAN SINGERS, WHO WOULD TRAVEL AROUND AND SING IN ALL THE CHURCHES, ENTERING CONTESTS ON A REGULAR BASIS WITH OTHER SINGING FAMILIES. RICHARD'S SIBLINGS CALLED HIM "WAR HAWK" BECAUSE OF HIS LOUD, SCREAMING SINGING VOICE. HIS GRANDFATHER ON HIS FATHER'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY WAS A PREACHER, AND HIS FATHER'S FAMILY WERE MEMBERS OF AN AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL(AME) CHURCH IN MACON, GEORGIA. RICHARD'S GRANDMOTHER ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE WAS A MEMBER OF A BAPTIST CHURCH, ALSO IN MACON. RICHARD REGULARLY ATTENDED THE NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH IN MACON, WHERE HIS MOTHER WAS A MEMBER. HOWEVER, OF ALL THE CHURCHES HE FREQUENTED AS A CHILD, RICHARD'S FAVORITE WERE THE PENTACOSTAL CHURCHES BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC AND THE FUN THAT HE AND HIS FRIENDS WOULD HAVE DOING 'THE HOLY DANCE' AND TALKING IN TONGUES ALONG WITH MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION. WHEN HE WAS AS YOUNG AS TEN, HE WOULD GO AROUND AS A HEALER, SINGING GOSPEL SONGS AND TOUCHING PEOPLE, WHO WOULD TESTIFY THAT THEY FELT BETTER AFTER HE MINISTERED TO THEM. INSPIRED BY BROTHER JOE MAY, A SINGING EVANGELIST KNOWN AS "THE THUNDERBOLT OF THE WEST", RICHARD WANTED TO BECOME A PREACHER. IT WAS IN AND THROUGH THE CHURCH WHERE LITTLE RICHARD'S LIFE IN MUSIC ALL BEGAN.
NEARLY ALL OF LITTLE RICHARD'S DRAMATIC PHRASING AND SWIFT VOCAL TURNS WERE DERIVED FROM BLACK GOSPEL ARTISTS OF THE 1930's & 40's. HE REFERRED TO THE FIRST SUPERSTAR OF GOSPEL, SISTER ROSETTA THARPE, AS HIS FAVORITE SINGER WHEN HE WAS A CHILD. SISTER ROSETTA HAD INVITED HIM TO SING ONSTAGE WITH HER AT THE MACON CITY AUDITORIUM IN 1945, AFTER HEARING HIM SING ONE OF HER SONGS BEFORE THE CONCERT. THE CROWD APPLAUDED AND CHEERED AND SHE PAID HIM MORE MONEY THAN HE HAD EVER SEEN AFTER THE SHOW. HE WAS ALSO HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY MARION WILLIAMS, FROM WHOM HE GOT THE TRADEMARK "WHOOOOO!" IN HIS VOCAL, MAHALIA JACKSON, AND BROTHER JOE MAY. HE WAS ALSO INFLUENCED IN APPEARANCE (HAIR, CLOTHING, SHOES, MAKEUP, ETC.) AND SOUND BY LATE 1940's GOSPEL-STYLE, JUMP BLUES SHOUTER BILLY WRIGHT, AKA 'THE PRINCE OF THE BLUES', WITH WHOM HE DEVELOPED A FRIENDSHIP.
MODELED AFTER WRIGHT, LITTLE RICHARD BEGAN RECORDING FOR PEACOCK IN 1951 BUT DID NOT EXPERIENCE A SIGNIFICANT BREAKTHROUGH UNTIL HE SWITCHED TO SPECIALTY RECORDS IN 1955, WHEN ART RUPE HANDED HIS CAREER OVER TO ROBERT 'BUMPS' BLACKWELL. BUMPS ORIGINALLY PLANNED TO PIT LITTLE RICHARD AGAINST BLUES STARS RAY CHARLES AND B.B. KING, BUT DESTINY HAD ANOTHER PLAN.
AT A BREAK IN A RECORDING SESSION, RICHARD HAD BEGUN HOLLERING A SONG THAT HE WROTE AND HAD BEEN PEFORMING FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS IN CONCERT AND STARTED POUNDING OUT THE BOOGIE-WOOGIE ACCOMPANIMENT ON THE PIANO. BUMPS WAS KNOCKED OUT! CLEANING UP THE LYRICS, BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL LYRICS WERE TO FOUL FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION, "TUTTI FRUTTI", WITH IT'S SPINE-TINGLING "AWOP-BOP-A-LOO-MOP ALOP BAM BOOM!" ACAPELLA INTRO, EXPLODED INTO THE WORLD IN THE AUTUMN OF '55.
BETWEEN 1955 AND 1957, LITTLE RICHARD RECORDED A STUNNING SUCCESSION OF HIT RECORDINGS THAT WERE A MIX OF BOOGIE-WOOGIE AND R&B, HEAVILY STEEPED IN GOSPEL MUSIC, BUT WITH A HEAVILY ACCENTUATED BACK BEAT, FUNKY RHYTHM, RASPY-SHOUTED VOCALS, WILD SCREAMS BEFORE INSTRUMENTAL SOLOS, AND, AT TIMES, BREATHLESSLY DELIVERED LYRICS THAT, ALL COMBINED, MARKED A DECIDEDLY NEW KIND OF MUSIC.
THEN SUDDENLY, IN 1957, WHILE AT THE PINNACLE OF STARDOM, HE WOULD ABANDON ROCK AND ROLL AND HIS CLASSIC SONGS (REPORTED WORTH OVER $100 MILLION BY THE YEAR 2000) FOR THE BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANITY, WHICH LEARNED ABOUT AS A CHILD. ALTHOUGH HIS SECULAR STARDOM IN THE 1950s WAS BRIEF, HIS IMPACT ON TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC AND POP CULTURE IS INCALCULABLE.
WHILE LITTLE RICHARD'S CONVERSTION TO CHRISTIANITY RESULTED IN AN ABRUPT HALT TO THE RECORDING STYLE THAT MADE HIM FAMOUS, HE WAS IN AND OUT OF ROCK AND ROLL AND IN AND OUT OF THE MINISTRY FOR DECADES. HE CONTINUED TO RECORD EITHER GOSPEL OR SECULAR MUSIC - HIS PERSONAL/ SPIRITUAL CONVICTIONS CONSTANTLY CLASHING WITH THE TREMENDOUS DEMANDS ON HIM TO PERFORM AND RECORD SECULAR MATERIAL. THUS, HE HAS MOUNTED COMEBACKS WITH SECULAR AND INSPIRATIONAL MATERIAL IN EVERY DECADE SINCE. HE HAS ALSO REMAINED IN CONSTANT DEMAND TO RECORD INTO THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY.
LITTLE RICHARD GOT SAVED aka 'BORN AGAIN' (Read the Gospel According to John Chapter 3) IN 1957, WHILE ON TOUR IN AUSTRALIA, HE CLAIMED THAT HE HAD BEEN WARNED OF HIS OWN DAMNATION. HE REPENTED OF HIS 'WICKED WAYS', TOOK VOICE OF PROFECY COURSES, ATTENDED OAKWOOD COLLEGE IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, AND WAS ORDAINED A MINSTER IN THE CHURCH OF GOD OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. HIS STANCE AT THAT TIME OF HIS LIFE WAS THAT ROCK MUSIC WAS OF THE DEVIL AND THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO BE A ROCKER AND PLEASE GOD AT THE SAME TIME.
HE BEGAN PERFORMING GOSPEL MUSIC THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, OFTEN WITH GOSPEL ARTISTS THAT INSPIRED HIM AS A CHILD, SUCH AS SISTER ROSETTA THARPE AND MAHALIA JACKSON. WHILE HE MET SISTER ROSETTA IN THE DECADE PRIOR, HE DIDN'T MEET MAHALIA UNTIL THIS PERIOD IN LOS ANGELES, WHEN HE INVITED HER TO HEAR HIM SING AT THE MOUNT MARIA BAPTIST CHURCH. IN JULY OF 1959, HE MARRIED A GIRL NAMED ERNESTINE. THEY WERE MARRIED UNTIL THE SUMMER OF 1964.
WHILE HIS FORMER RECORD LABEL, SPECIALTY, RELEASED A FEW OF HIS SONGS BASED ON PAST RECORDING SESSIONS, RICHARD RECORDED ONLY GOSPEL MUSIC IN THE LATE 1950'S AND EARLY 1960'S, WHICH WON THE PRAISES OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. HE PERFORMED ONLY GOSPEL MUSIC ON THE GOSPEL CIRCUIT, REFUSING TO PERFORM HIS ROCK HITS, RESENTING THE SECULAR THEMES OF THE LYRICS.
IN LATE 1962, WHILE EMBARKING ON A GOSPEL MUSIC TOUR OF EUROPE WITH A TEENAGE BILLY PRESTON, LITTLE RICHARD ENTERED INTO A LENGTHLY PHASE OF HIS LIFE WHERE HE LARGELY IGNORED HIS CALLING AS AN EVANGELIST, AND BACKSLID INTO PERFORMING HIS OLD HITS AND RECORDING MORE SECULAR MATERIAL, AS WELL AS INTO SEX ORGIES AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE. HE TOURED EUROPE WITH SAM COOKE SECOND ON THE BILL, AND A THEN TOURED WITH AN UNKNOWN OPENING BAND CALLED 'THE BEATLES'. IN THE SUMMER OF 1963, HE RETURNED TO EUROPE WITH BO DIDDLEY AND A THEN UNKNOWN OPENING BAND CALLED THE ROLLING STONES.
IN 1964, LITTLE RICHARD HIRED A THEN UNKNOWN GUITARIST BY THE NAME OF JAMES MARSHALL HENDRIX, AS PART OF HIS ROAD BAND. JAMES, WHO BECAME KNOWN AS JIMI HENDRIX SAID, IN 1966, "I WANT TO DO WITH MY GUITAR WHAT LITTLE RICHARD DOES WITH HIS VOICE." THE SUMMER OF THAT SAME YEAR, LITTLE RICHARD'S MARRIAGE TO ERNESTINE ENDED IN DIVORCE.
LITTLE RICHARD PERFORMED ON THE ROCK REVIVAL CIRCUIT THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE 60'S AND DEEP INTO THE 1970'S. HE ALSO RECORDED LIVE AND STUDIO ALBUMS OVER THIS PERIOD OF TIME, WITH OLD FRIENDS SUCH AS JOHNNY 'GUITAR' WATSON AND LARRY WILLIAMS. HE EXPERIENCED MODERATE CHART SUCCESS ON OCCASION THROUGH THIS PERIOD. HOWEVER, HIS ADDICTIONS AND WILD LIVING WOULD COME CLOSE TO DESTROYING HIS LIFE.
IN 1977, LITTLE RICHARD HIT ROCK BOTTOM. FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF A CLOSE RELATIVE AND A VIOLENT CLASH WITH ONE OF HIS LONG-TIME BEST FRIENDS (LARRY WILLIAMS) OVER A DRUG DEBT, LITTLE RICHARD REPENTED AND RETURNED TO THE THE LORD. HE WENT BACK INTO THE MINISTRY, THIS TIME IN CONNECTION WITH THE UNIVERSAL REMNANT CHURCH OF GOD. WHILE HE ESCAPED DEATH AND LA'S SEEDY UNDERWORLD BY RETREATING TO THE LORD, HIS FRIEND LARRY WILLIAMS DID NOT. LARRY WAS FOUND SHOT TO DEATH IN LA A COUPLE YEARS LATER.
BROTHER RICHARD DEVOTED HIS TIME FROM THE LATE 1970S TO MID 1980'S TO TOURING AND EVANGELIZING TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND RECORDED MORE GOSPEL MUSIC. FOR A WHILE HE ALSO REPRESENTED MEMORIAL BIBLES INTERNATIONAL AND SOLD THE BLACK HERITAGE BIBLE, WHICH HIGHLIGHTED THE MANY PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE WHO WERE BLACK. IN HIS MANY SERMONS DURING THIS TIME, HE PROCLAIMED THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO PERFORM ROCK AND SERVE GOD AT THE SAME TIME.
IN 1984, THE WORLD'S ATTENTION WAS FOCUSED ON LITTLE RICHARD WITH THE RELEASE OF CHARLES WHITE'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, AUTHORIZED, AND BRUTALLY FRANK BIOGRAPHY 'THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LITTLE RICHARD' (WARNING - THE BIO IS FOR MATURE READERS ONLY, AS IT CONTAINS DETAIL THAT WAS BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME - IT MAY, HOWEVER, BE IDEAL FOR THOSE BOUND IN BISEXUAL OF HOMOSEXUAL SIN AND DRUG ADDICTION - AVAILABLE THROUGH www.amazon.com), IN WHICH RICHARD TESTIFIES ABOUT HIS CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY AND SUBSEQUENT DELIVERANCE. AMOUNG MANY TESTIMONIALS FROM RCOK N ROLL MUSIC LEGENDS, MICK JAGGER PROCLAIMED ON THE COVER, "LITTLE RICHARD IS KING." AND JAMES BROWN PROCLAIMED "LITTLE RICHARD IS MY IDOL."
ON THE HEELS OF THIS EVENT, COUPLED WITH THE OPENING OF THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND HIS INDUCTION INTO SAME, LITTLE RICHARD LAUNCHED ANOTHER COMEBACK IN MUSIC AND MOVIES, THIS TIME RECORDING AN ALBUM OF INSPIRATIONAL ROCK MUSIC. EVER SINCE, HE HAS ATTEMPTED TO RECONCILE HIS ROLE AS A ROCK AND ROLL STAR AND HIS ROLE AS A MINISTER.
AS DETAILED IN WHITE'S BIOGRAPHY (2003 revision, pg. 221), RICHARD'S DILEMMA - WHETHER TO BE A MINISTER OR TO SING ROCK AND ROLL - CAME TO A HEAD WHEN HE WAS WORKING ON THE FEATURE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE 1985 MOVIE "DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS" (IN WHICH HE ALSO CO-STARRED). HE ENROLLED HIS OLD FRIEND BILLY PRESTON TO HELP HIM WRITE A SONG WITH SPIRITUAL LYRICS THAT WOULD SOUND LIKE ROCK AND ROLL. THE RESULT WAS "GREAT GOD A'MIGHTY", WHICH HE CHANGED TO BE CALLED "IT'S A MATTER OF TIME", REFLECTING THE CONFLICT IN HIS MIND. HE SAID, "I BELIEVE THERE IS GOOD AND BAD IN EVERYTHING. I BELIEVE SOME ROCK 'N ROLL MUSIC IS REALLY BAD, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS SOME NOT AS BAD. I BELIEVE IF THE MESSAGE IS POSITIVE AND ELEVATING, AND WHOLESOME AND UPLIFTING, THIS MAKES YOU THINK CLEARLY. IF IT'S NOT, THEN IT IS NOT GOOD EVEN IN GOSPEL." THE TRACK BECAME HIS FIRST HIT IN OVER A DECADE AND PART OF A NEW 'MESSAGES IN RHYTHM' ALBUM PACKAGED BY WEA RECORDS UNDER THE TITLE "LIFETIME FRIEND" IN 1986.
LITTLE RICHARD CALLED HIS NEW MUSIC, "MESSAGE MUSIC," STATING, "MY MOTHER DIED NOT LONG AGO AND IT WAS ONLY A FEW MONTHS BEFORE SHE DIED THAT SHE MADE ME PROMISE THAT I'D STAY WITH THE LORD. I HAVE CONTENTMENT AND PEACE OF MIND, WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE. I AM GOING TO STAY WITH THE LORD AND JUST TRAVEL AROUND."
INDEED, LITTLE RICHARD IS DOING JUST THAT, TRAVELLING THE WORLD, RECORDING THE ODD TRACK NOW AND THEN (check out the amazing "GET RHYTHM" he recorded in 2002 for the Johnny Cash Tribute album 'Kindred Spirits' and the 2006 duet on Jerry Lee's 'Last Man Standing'), AND PERFORMING HIS CLASSIC R&B HITS, AS WELL AS GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL SONGS IN HIS ORIGINAL ROCKING STYLE.
PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL GUIDE AND DIRECT HIM IN HIS LIFE IN REGARD TO HIS CALLING. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN!!
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AWARDS/HONORS:
IN 1956, CASHBOX AWARDED LITTLE RICHARD THE CASHBOX TRIPLE CROWN AWARD FOR "LONG TALL SALLY."
IN 1986, LITTLE RICHARD WAS ONE OF THE FIRST GROUP OF INDUCTEES INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.
In 1990, LITTLE RICHARD WAS HONORED WITH A STAR ON HOLLYWOOD'S WALK OF FAME.
IN 1993, LITTLE RICHARD RECEIVED AN HONARARY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT GRAMMY FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS AND SCIENCES (NARAS).
IN 1994, LITTLE RICHARD WAS THE FOURTH RECORDING ARTIST (THE OTHERS BEING RAY CHARLES, ARETHA FRANKLIN AND JAMES BROWN) TO BE RECOGNIZED WITH THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PIONEER AWARD FROM THE RHYTHM AND BLUES FOUNDATION.
IN 1997, LITTLE RICHARD RECEIVED THE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS - LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD OF MERIT.
IN 2002, DURING BMI'S 50TH ANNUAL POP MUSIC AWARD CELEBRATION, LITTLE RICHARD, ALONG WITH BO DIDDLEY AND CHUCK BERRY, WERE AWARDED THE FIRST EVER BMI ICON AWARDS IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR "UNIQUE AND INDELIBLE INFLUENCE ON GENERATIONS OF MUSIC MAKERS."
IN 2002, LITTLE RICHARD WAS ALSO INDUCTED INTO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE (NAACP) HALL OF FAME FOR "HAVING DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF AS NOT ONLY AN UNPARALLELED MUSICAL GENIUS, BUT ALSO AS A UNIQUE AND INNOVATIVE PERFORMING ARTIST - FUSING PURE VOCAL TALENT WITH EXHILERATING SHOWMANSHIP."
IN 2003, LITTLE RICHARD WAS INDUCTED INTO THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME.
IN 2004, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE RANKED LITTLE RICHARD NUMBER 8 ON THEIR LIST OF THE GREATEST ARTISTS OF ALL TIME, ALTHOUGH AT LEAST SIX OF THE SEVEN ARTISTS WHO PRECEEDED HIM ON THE LIST WERE ALL INFLUENCED BY LITTLE RICHARD AND HIS MUSIC.
IN 2006, LITTLE RICHARD WAS INDUCTED INTO THE APOLLO LEGENDS HALL OF FAME, AT THE SAME TIME AS ELLA FITZGERALD AND GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS.
IN 2007, LITTLE RICHARD's 1955 ORIGINAL HIT 'TUTTI FRUTTI' TOPPED MOJO MAGAZINE'S POLL TO FIND THE 100 RECORDS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. THE RECORD, DUBBED "A TORRENT OF FILTH WAILED BY A BISEXUAL ALIEN," BEAT THE BEATLES' 'I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND' (2nd place) AND ELVIS PRESLEY'S 'HEARTBREAK HOTEL' (3rd place) TO CLAIM THE TOP SPOT. THE NEW LIST WAS COMPILED AND VOTED ON BY AN ECLECTIC PANEL OF SUPERSTARS, INCLUDING BJORK, TORI AMOS, TOM WAITS, BRIAN WILSON, PETE WENTZ AND STEVE EARL. AND MOJO EDITORS CLAIMED THAT THE 100 "ALBUMS, SINGLES, AND 78s" THAT MADE THE LIST MAKE UP "THE MOST INFLUENCIAL AND INSPIRATIONAL RECORDINGS EVER MADE." HAILING 'TUTTI FRUTTI' AS THE THE SOUND OF THE BIRTH OF ROCK 'N' ROLL, MOJO STATED, "ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW IT MUST'VE SOUNDED WHEN THE SONG EXPLODED ACROSS THE AIRWAVES." The top 10 on Mojo's 100 Records That Changed The World list is: 1. Tutti Frutti by Little Richard 2. I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles 3. Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley 4. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan 5. Autobahn by Kraftwerk 6. King of The Delta Blues Singers by Robert Johnson 7. The Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground + Nico 8. Anthology of American Folk Music (Various Artists) 9. What'd I Say by Ray Charles 10. God Save The Queen by Sex Pistols
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