Legends of Rock & Roll: Little Richard

Before there was Prince, before there was Michael Jackson, before even the Beatles there was Little Richard, a true Rock and Roll trailblazer.

It seems like everybody in Rock and Roll has a title. James Brown is called the Godfather of Soul. Elvis, of course, is the King. In the Legends of Rock & Roll: Chuck Berry book, we learned that Chuck Berry is the Father of Rock and Roll. Little Richard called himself the “Architect of Rock and Roll”. As we learn more about his life and music, I think you’ll agree that Little Richard, like others, had a lot to do with the shaping of the music and laying the foundation for Rock and Roll with his explosive music and charismatic personality.

Along with Elvis Presley, Little Richard helped define the wild side of early rock and roll with sexualized songs and outrageous behavior on stage.

This is a thumbnail sketch of the life of Little Richard Penniman. The good and the not so good. I write about the music and the events in the artist's life that are responsible for some of the greatest music this world has ever known. This is not an exhaustive biography, you can get those elsewhere. This is a summary of the events in the life of Little Richard that resulted in the music that he created. Music, we still listen to today, over 50 years later.

The topics covered are:

Introduction
Early Influences
Creating the Little Richard Persona
First Recordings
“Tutti Frutti”
Rock and Roll is Evil?
Giving Up Rock and Roll
Back to the Old Life
Trying to Make a Comeback
The Seventies
Faith Inspired Rock and Roll
Keeping Busy
Legacy
Selected Discography
Afterword