Little Richard's Greatest Hits

Little Richard's Greatest Hits
UK album cover
Studio album by Little Richard
Released	January 1965 (1965-01)
Recorded	Nashville & New York City, November–December 1964
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	27:54
Label	Vee-Jay
Producer	Joe Fields, Olsie Richard Robinson
Little Richard chronology
Little Richard Is Back (And There's A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On!) (1964) Little Richard's Greatest Hits (1965) The Incredible Little Richard Sings His Greatest Hits – Live! (1966)

Little Richard's Greatest Hits (with various titles and cover art) is an album of Little Richard songs re-recorded in 1964 and first released in the US by Vee-Jay Records in January 1965. ^[1] It features updated versions of twelve of his best-known songs originally recorded in the 1950s for Specialty Records. ^[2] Some of these re-recordings use different musical arrangements, including unusual syncopation, tambourine and jazz horns.

Background

Little Richard recorded forty-six songs for Vee-Jay Records, but nearly half of them were unreleased when the company filed for bankruptcy in January 1966. ^[3] Eventually, they were compiled onto albums, such as: Mr. Big (1971), Rip It Up (1973) and Talkin' 'Bout Soul (1974).

During the brief time Jimi Hendrix toured with Richard, he recorded at least twelve songs: “I Don't Know What You Got (But It's Got Me)” , “Dancing All Around the World” (aka “Dance A Go Go”) and “You Better Stop”, are perhaps the only ones beyond a December, 1964 session of remakes. ^{[4] [5]} Claims have been made over the years that Hendrix played on more Richard recordings. ^[5] One substantiated claim is that Hendrix and childhood mentor Esquerita played on the recut sessions in New York. The latter in “Good Golly, Miss Molly” and “Slippin' and Slidin'”.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Record Mirror	[6]

According to Little Richard biographer Charles White, both the recordings and Richard's erratic persona of the time are regarded as low points in his career: "blinded by commercial considerations, they [Vee-Jay] rushed the session without concern for quality. The result was dreadful." ^[7] AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann noted "Little Richard is in much rougher voice than he was when he did the originals, but he remains a spirited performer. Just don't buy this album thinking you are getting the hit versions of these songs!" ^[2]

Track listing

1. "Good Golly, Miss Molly" (John Marascalco, Robert Blackwell) (2:07)
2. "Baby Face" (Harry Akst, Benny Davis (2:33)
3. "Tutti Frutti" (Dorothy LaBostrie, Richard Penniman a.k.a. Little Richard) (2:24)
4. "Send Me Some Lovin'" (Marascalco, Leo Price) (2:19)
5. "The Girl Can't Help It" (Bobby Troup) (3:02)
6. "Lucille" (Al Collins, Penniman) (2:16)
7. "Slippin' and Slidin'" (Penniman) (2:26)
8. "Keep A Knockin'" (Penniman) (2:15)
9. "Rip It Up" (Marascalco, Blackwell) (2:02)
10. "She's Got It" (Marascalco, Penniman) (2:11)
11. "Ooh! My Soul" (Penniman) (2:17)
12. "Long Tall Sally" (Earl Johnson, Blackwell, Penniman) (2:03)

References

1. "Vee-Jay advertisement". Billboard . January 23, 1965. p.  41.
2. Ruhlmann, William. "Little Richard: His Greatest Hits[Vee-Jay] – Review". AllMusic . Retrieved September 30, 2014.
3. White, Charles (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press. p. 134.
4. McDermott, John (2010). West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (CD set booklet). Jimi Hendrix. Legacy. p. 7. 88697769272.
5. Shapiro, Harry; Glebbeek, Cesar (1990). Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy . St. Martin's Press. pp.  574–575. ISBN   0-312-05861-6.
6. Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (26 March 1966). "Little Richard: Great Hits" (PDF). Record Mirror . No. 263. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
7. White, Charles (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press. p. 127.