001 - Little Richard - 'Here's Little Richard' (1957)

1957

“Wop-bomp-a-loom-op-a-womp-bom-bom”: the world changed with this joyous, nonsensical scream by a black drag queen tortured by his own religious convictions. Although to this day Little Richard has never quite figured out if he’s a sexually promiscuous rock’n’roll star, a preacher, or both: Little Richard is the spirit of rock’n’roll. Elvis may’ve been the looks, Chuck Berry the songs, but Little Richard is its soul: driving, raw and crazy.

The twelve tracks of his debut hold a power of their own over 50 years later and were before the complications set in. Looking sharp with a mile-high quiff and zoot suit: to this day it rocks like little else has or will ever do. Musically, it’s classic rock’n’roll: every song is pretty much the same (a sped up blues jam), made individual by Richards relentless hammering of piano chords and his unique squeal of a voice. It’s a celebration of chaotic, confused, hyper youth: he screams, yells and hollers his way through twelve undeniable things: ‘Tutti Frutti’ (the original lyric was “A wop bop a loo mop, a good godamn! Tutti frutti, a loose booty. If it don’t fit, don’t force it, you can grease it, make it easy”), ‘Long Tall Sally’, “Slippin’ And Slidin’”, “She’s Got It”, “Jenny Jenny”.

By the time of his release rock’n’roll was just emerging out of the Southern US states, and it’s hard to specify what Richard did so differently from the pre-runners or his contemporaries, except that the unique appeal of his raw, gospel-driven, lunatic vocals and relentless, pounding, unyielding piano are a both powerhouse performances.

He only did two more albums like this – Little Richard and The Fabulous Little Richard – and then found God, but he was book at the keys soon enough, but never quite like this. The album’s a pure wheel of excitement:  pure, innocent, addictive - the original appeal still lingers. If you want to know where modern popular music really started, this isn’t a bad place to begin. He may’ve not been the first; the most musically proficent; the most successful, but it is the best.

Intro ...

It’s an old theme, and no doubt my choices will be much contested, but this is a positive spin on the do-this-before-you-die lists (‘before you die’ is so negative) and one that I hope is more diverse than most – incorporating not only the well known but also the very little known.

The twentieth century gave birth to the democratisation of art, and this is a celebration of that turning moment: when Jazz was incorporated and accepted by a ‘high-brow’ crowd (Gershwin, perhaps), and when rock’n’roll and the blues gave birth to almost everything we listen to today.

Music success seems so often to be to be based on how much money the record business gives an act to publicise itself: this doesn’t mean it’s good, it just means they’ve got some wallets behind them. However, it doesn’t mean it’s bad either. So, I’ll try to incorporate everything I know and learn about on the way with as little prejudice that I can muster.

Except for electronic music. Apart from Squarepusher.

This blog will take in pop music, rock’n’roll, grindcore, soul, rockabilly, funk, jazz, hard rock, heavy metal, hip hop, indie, country music, hardcore, bluegrass, punk, jazzcore,

Updated every Monday morning.

Yes, if anybody reads this: it is an ego trip.