Little Richard
b. Richard Wayne Penniman, 5 December 1935, Macon, Georgia, USA. The wildest and arguably the greatest and most influential of the '50s rock ‘n’ roll singers and songwriters. He first recorded in late 1951 in Atlanta for RCA, cutting eight urban blues tracks with his mentor Billy Wright's Orchestra; Taxi Blues being the first of four unsuccessful single releases on the label. He moved to Houston, Texas in 1953 and with the Tempo Toppers (vocals) and the Duces of Rhythm (backing) recorded four R&B tracks including Ain't That Good News. Eight months later he recorded another four with Johnny Otis' Orchestra but none of these were released at the time. In February 1955, at the suggestion of Lloyd Price, he sent a demo to Specialty Records who realized his potential and in September, under the guidance of producer Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell, recorded a dozen tracks in New Orleans. The classic Tutti Frutti, which was amongst them gave him his first R&B and pop hit in the USA. The follow-up Long Tall Sally topped the R&B chart and was the first of his three US Top 10 hits, despite being covered by Pat Boone whose previous record, a cover of Tutti Frutti, was still charting. Richard's string of Top 20 hits continued with the double-sider Rip It Up/Ready Teddy, the former being his first UK release and chart entry in late 1956. Richard's frantic, no-holds barred performance of his first two hits Long Tall Sally and Tutti Frutti in the film Don't Knock The Rock undoubtedly helped push his next UK single, which coupled the tracks, into the Top 3. 
His next film and single was he Girl Can't Help It which missed the US Top 40 but together with its b-side She's Got It (a re-working of his earlier track I Got It) gave him two more UK Top 20 hits. The remainder of 1957 saw him notch up three more huge transatlantic hits with the rock ‘n’ roll classics Lucille, Keep A Knockin' (he featured both in the movie Mr. Rock & Roll) and Jenny Jenny and a Top 20 album with HERE'S LITTLE RICHARD. At the very height of his career, the man with the highest pompadour in the business, shocked the rock world by announcing, during an Australian tour, that he was quitting music to go into a theological college. In 1958, previously recorded material like the transatlantic Top 10 hit Good Golly Miss Molly kept his name on the chart and a year later he had his biggest UK hit with a 1956 recording of the oldie Baby Face which reached number 2. Between 1958 and 1962 Richard recorded only gospel music for Gone, Mercury (with producer Quincy Jones) and Atlantic. In late 1962, Richard toured the UK for the first time and the now short-haired wild-man who pounded pianos and pierced eardrums with his manic falsetto was a huge success. In 1963, he worked in Europe with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, who were both great admirers of his music. His first rock recordings in the '60s were made back at Speciality and resulted in the UK Top 20 hit Bama Lama Bama Loo. In 1964, he signed with VeeJay where he re-recorded all his hits, revived a few oldies and cut some new rockers—but the sales were unimpressive. In the mid-'60s, soul music was taking hold worldwide and Richard's soulful VeeJay tracks, I Don't Know What You've Got But It's Got Me (which included Jimi Hendrix on guitar) and Without Love, although not pop hits, were among the best recordings of the genre. For the rest of the '60s he continued to pack in the crowds singing his old hits and in the studios mixed '50s rock and '60s soul for Modern in 1965, OKeh a year later and Brunswick in 1967. The best of these were his OKeh tracks which included Poor Dog, Hurry Sundown and the UK recorded Get Down With It (which gave Slade their first hit in the '70s). 
Reprise Records, whom he joined in 1970, tried very hard to get him back at the top and under the expertise of producer Richard Perry he managed minor US hits Freedom Blues and Greenwood, Mississippi but his three albums sold poorly. The rest of the '70s was spent jumping from label to label, recording in supergroup-type projects and playing oldies shows. When he desired, he could still ‘out rock’ anyone, but often there was too much Las Vegas glitter, excessive posturing and an element of self-parody. In 1976, he re-joined the church and for the next decade preached throughout America. In 1986, Richard was among the first artists inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and he successfully acted in the film Down And Out In Beverly Hills which included the rocking Great Gosh A'Mighty, which just missed the US Top 40. Renewed interest, spurred WEA to sign him and release, LIFETIME FRIEND, which included the chart record Operator. Since the mid-'80s he has become a frequent visitor on chat shows, an in-demand guest on other artist's records and an often seen face on videos (of acts ranging from Hank Williams Jnr. to Living Colour to Cinderella), He even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a boulevard named after him in his hometown. Nowadays a regular presenter of music awards, he has also been the star of Jive Bunny hits. The leader of rebellious '50s rock ‘n’ roll, the man who shook up the music business and the parents of the period, is now a much-loved personality accepted by all age groups.