With a single incomprehensible scream, Little Richard catapulted the music world into rock’n’roll 65 years ago: “A wop bop a loo lop a lop bam boo”, the musician called in 1955 when recording his long-legendary song “Tutti Frutti” into a microphone in a recording studio in New Orleans. The idea for the exclamation had come to him on stage shortly before, and a drum rhythm had inspired him. “Tutti Frutti” climbed the charts and the previously unknown musician became a superstar. The song had “ushered in a new era of music”, it is said in the US National Library that recorded the song.
«God was good to me»
Little Richard invented rock’n’roll and laid the foundation for funk and soul. Most recently, however, the musician was in poor health and lived in seclusion in the US state of Tennessee.
The church played the main role in his life, as he said in an interview. «God was good to me. I go to church every Saturday, every Saturday, I never miss that. And on Fridays I open the Sabbath day. » Little Richard died on Saturday at the age of 87, according to the magazine “Rolling Stone” and the US news agency AP, citing family and close friends.
Grew up in the slums
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in 1932 in extremely poor conditions to an African-American family in the southern US state of Georgia – right in the middle of the brutal separation of white and black people.
“I come from the slums – you will never forget that,” said the musician, who was very small as a child and therefore called “Little Richard”. His father was a smuggler and was murdered when Little Richard – the third child among twelve siblings – was 19 years old. “Everything in me collapsed then.” But the experience also gave him strength, “and the conviction and persistence to know that one day I would make it.”
Back then, black people in Georgia only lived in the unbearably noisy areas right next to the train tracks, as the multiple award-winning artist recalled. «The trains shook their houses at night. As a child, I heard that and thought: ‘At some point I’ll make a song that sounds exactly like it.’ ”
From gospel appearances to the first record deal
Little Richard struggles with odd jobs, starts with gospel, sings from performance to performance and finally gets his first record deal. In addition to “Tutti Frutti”, he released songs like “Good Golly, Miss Molly” and “Lucille” in the years that followed, which were covered and developed by stars like Elvis Presley – the rock’n’roll was born.
The song “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard was a huge hit and is still very well known today. (Video: Youtube / Little Richard)
Little Richard has been swimming on the wave of success for almost three years, touring the United States and openly celebrating wild bisexual parties with men, women and alcohol. His concerts, in which the musician, often celebrated as the “god of rock’n’roll”, with a thin mustache, high-topped hair, bright make-up, false eyelashes and wild costumes, brought together whites and blacks in the midst of racial segregation – to radical horror- conservative politicians and associations.
But then suddenly it’s over. On a concert tour to Australia in 1957, Little Richard spontaneously decided to give up the music and become a priest. Since then, the shrill artist has lived between two worlds – the church and music.
Touring the Rolling Stones
He starts comeback attempts again and again, fights against the ebbing interest in rock’n’roll, helps young Jimi Hendrix to start his career, tours Europe with the Rolling Stones, still largely unknown at the time, tries his hand at acting and publishes basic radio and radio Soul albums. But he always retreats to his religious world and the gospel.
Stars from Elvis Presley to Otis Redding, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tina Turner, Prince, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Freddie Mercury to Bruno Mars cite Little Richard as their musical idol . But after the foundation stone was laid for rock’n’roll, others came to the fore. None of Little Richard’s songs could follow on from the world success of “Tutti Frutti” – but maybe it wasn’t necessary. “I always thought,” Bob Dylan once wrote, “that ‘A wop bop a loo lop a lop bam boo’ said it all.”
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