Little Richard, Rock Icon, Founding Father, & Legend, Passes way AT 87 Years

vienna · 05-09-20, 11:29 AM

Little Richard, who was one of the greatest legends of early Rock & Roll passed away at the age of 87:

Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87 --

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...rd-dead-48505/

To say Richard was an influence on all who came after him would be an understatement of his musical and stylistic impact on Rock and other genres of music. He often referred to himself as "The Originator", a claim/boast few would challenge. The list of acts and performers who nicked bits and pieces of his style is long and varied; The Beatles openly and gratefully acknowledged the influence he had on their music (the head shaking, hair waving "Woo0"'s are direct clones of Richard) and Prince was an ongoing tribute to Little Richard. Almost without exception, acts and performers cited the debt they owed to Little Richard...

I saw him perform only once, in the late 70s, but I never forgot the great show he put on, even in his middle-aged years. The audience was a blend of young and old, all races, and all classes. He spoke to each of their sensibilities without having to alter who he was and and how he performed; the audience loved him for just being Little Richard...

He lived in Los Angeles off and on for several years and I would often see him here in Hollywood. He would go through periods of being devoutly religious and then being fervently secular. During his religious phases, he would go to testify on the streets of Hollywood; he was an actual ordained minister and he would seek out the street people and runaways and speak with them, not preach at them, and he always treated them with a respect they, in turn, gave to him. It was a true inspirational sight to behold...

He wrestled all his life with the dichotomy of faith and the secular and vacillated several times in his life between the two, but he was, at heart, a natural talent and a true showman. A while back, I was flipping through the TV channels and a couple of those talent/reality shows popped up in the mix and it made me think about how persons and acts on those shows are probably influenced by so many of the past legends of all kinds of music and, yet, if those same legends were to be up and coming artists today, they probably wouldn't even pass the auditions for those shows. True talent like Little Richard can't be manufactured and I think the music world, and the world in general , is better for that...

Here's Little Richard, in his mid-30s, at the height of the British Invasion and Beatlemania, doing a live show in Paris, for what appears to have been a TV show. Raw power, vast talent, and an ability to connect with the audience on a primal level: its all here:

I've got to give a tip of the hat to the sax player in the band, who compliments Little Richards fierce voice with his own fierceness...

RIP, Little Richard and rest you well. Thank you for all the great memories and music; the next time we hear thunder and lightning, maybe it will just be you and Chuck and Bo having a bit of a jam session...

<O>

05-09-20, 11:29 AM	#1
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,711 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Little Richard, Rock Icon, Founding Father, & Legend, Passes way AT 87 Years Little Richard, who was one of the greatest legends of early Rock & Roll passed away at the age of 87: Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87 -- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...rd-dead-48505/ To say Richard was an influence on all who came after him would be an understatement of his musical and stylistic impact on Rock and other genres of music. He often referred to himself as "The Originator", a claim/boast few would challenge. The list of acts and performers who nicked bits and pieces of his style is long and varied; The Beatles openly and gratefully acknowledged the influence he had on their music (the head shaking, hair waving "Woo0"'s are direct clones of Richard) and Prince was an ongoing tribute to Little Richard. Almost without exception, acts and performers cited the debt they owed to Little Richard... I saw him perform only once, in the late 70s, but I never forgot the great show he put on, even in his middle-aged years. The audience was a blend of young and old, all races, and all classes. He spoke to each of their sensibilities without having to alter who he was and and how he performed; the audience loved him for just being Little Richard... He lived in Los Angeles off and on for several years and I would often see him here in Hollywood. He would go through periods of being devoutly religious and then being fervently secular. During his religious phases, he would go to testify on the streets of Hollywood; he was an actual ordained minister and he would seek out the street people and runaways and speak with them, not preach at them, and he always treated them with a respect they, in turn, gave to him. It was a true inspirational sight to behold... He wrestled all his life with the dichotomy of faith and the secular and vacillated several times in his life between the two, but he was, at heart, a natural talent and a true showman. A while back, I was flipping through the TV channels and a couple of those talent/reality shows popped up in the mix and it made me think about how persons and acts on those shows are probably influenced by so many of the past legends of all kinds of music and, yet, if those same legends were to be up and coming artists today, they probably wouldn't even pass the auditions for those shows. True talent like Little Richard can't be manufactured and I think the music world, and the world in general , is better for that... Here's Little Richard, in his mid-30s, at the height of the British Invasion and Beatlemania, doing a live show in Paris, for what appears to have been a TV show. Raw power, vast talent, and an ability to connect with the audience on a primal level: its all here: I've got to give a tip of the hat to the sax player in the band, who compliments Little Richards fierce voice with his own fierceness... RIP, Little Richard and rest you well. Thank you for all the great memories and music; the next time we hear thunder and lightning, maybe it will just be you and Chuck and Bo having a bit of a jam session... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __