Richard Wayne Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Architect of Rock and Roll", Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding back beat and raspy shouted vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. Richard's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. He influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations.
Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues-rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previously played together in Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, during and after Clapton's brief tenure with Blind Faith. Dave Mason supplied additional lead guitar on early studio sessions and played at their first live gig. Another participant at their first session as a band was George Harrison, the recording for whose album All Things Must Pass marked the formation of Derek and the Dominos.
The Kings of Rhythm are an American rhythm and blues and soul group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone considerable line-up changes over time.
"Good Golly, Miss Molly" is a hit rock 'n' roll song first recorded in 1956 by the American musician Little Richard and released in January 1958 as Specialty single 624 and next in July 1958 on Little Richard. The song, a jump blues, was written by John Marascalco and producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell. Although it was first recorded by Little Richard, Blackwell produced another version by the Valiants, who imitated the fast first version recorded by Little Richard, not released at that time. Although the Valiants' version was released first, Little Richard had the hit, reaching #4. Like all his early hits, it quickly became a rock 'n' roll standard and has subsequently been recorded by hundreds of artists. The song is ranked #94 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Here's Little Richard is the debut album by American musician Little Richard, released on March 4, 1957. Promoted as "six of Little Richard's hits and six brand new songs of hit calibre", the album compiles many of the A-sides and B-sides from Richard's hit singles including the Billboard top 40 entries "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Rip It Up" and "Jenny, Jenny" and the top 10 Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers hits "Ready Teddy", "She's Got It" and "Miss Ann".
"Long Tall Sally", also known as "Long Tall Sally ", is a rock and roll song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March 1956, backed with "Slippin' and Slidin'".
"Tutti Frutti", sometimes styled as "Tutti-Frutti", is a song written by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie that was first recorded in 1955, becoming Little Richard's first major hit record. With its energetic refrain, often transcribed as "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!", and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also a model for rock and roll itself. The song introduced several of rock music's most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume, powerful vocal style, and distinctive beat and rhythm.
Eskew Reeder, Jr., usually known by the stage name Esquerita, and occasionally as S.Q. Reeder or The Magnificent Malochi, was an American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist, known for his frenetic performances. He has been credited with influencing rock and roll pioneer Little Richard.
The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters is a five-disc box set compilation of the complete known studio master recordings by American singer and musician Elvis Presley during the decade of the 1950s. Issued in 1992 by RCA Records, catalog number 66050-2, it was soon followed by similar box sets covering Presley's musical output in the 1960s and 1970s. This set's initial long-box release included a set of collectible stamps duplicating the record jackets from every Presley LP on RCA Victor, every single that had a picture sleeve, and most of his EP releases. The set includes a booklet with an extensive session list and discography, and a lengthy essay by Peter Guralnick. It peaked at #159 on the album chart and was certified a gold record on August 7, 1992, by the RIAA. Further certifications were for platinum on November 20, 1992, and for double platinum on July 30, 2002.
Little Richard's Greatest Hits - Recorded Live! is the second and last album by Little Richard for the Okeh label. A live album, it was recorded in the CBS Studios at Hollywood.
The Rill Thing is Little Richard's first album for Reprise Records, released in August 1970. It was considered a comeback album for Richard, following a three-year hiatus on new albums and an acclaimed performance at Atlantic City Pop Festival. The album utilizes a soul-influenced sound and contains Little Richard's biggest post-Specialty single in "Freedom Blues", which broke the Billboard top 50. The follow-up single, "Greenwood, Mississippi" made the top 100 and number 56 on Cashbox Black Singles. Despite the success of the singles, the album failed to chart.
The Second Coming was Little Richard's third album for Reprise Records, and saw him reunited with Robert "Bumps" Blackwell from his Specialty days, with them co-writing the majority of the album together. The concept was to unite the best rock studio musicians of the '50s with the best rock studio musicians of the '70s. Many fans were disappointed in the material and in the over-syncopated, over-produced tracks. The album again failed to chart.
Southern Child is an unreleased album by Little Richard, scheduled to be released in 1972 as his third album for Reprise Records. It was going to be Reprise RS 2097. For unconfirmed reasons the album was shelved in favour of The Second Coming, released in October. The tracks comprising the album were released in 2005 from Rhino Records as part of their Complete Reprise Recordings collection.
The Incredible Little Richard Sings His Greatest Hits – Live! is the first of two albums Little Richard made for the Modern Records label. A live recording from the Domino Club in Atlanta compiled from more than one concert, all the tracks on the album have overdubbed audience noises.
This page is a discography for American musician Little Richard. Described as "the architect of rock and roll", Little Richard was a pioneering singer-songwriter whose career also encompassed rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel. He began his recording career in 1951, signing to RCA Victor, releasing his first singles, and his first album in 1957, although he released his last album in 1992, he continued to tour into the 21st century. He attained international success after signing with Specialty Records in 1955.
Mr. Big, released in the middle of his Reprise Records period, was another compilation of Little Richard's mid-1960s recordings for Vee Jay Records, released on the UK Joy label. None of the tracks had previously been released on an album - many had been released on singles in 1965, the rest were previously unreleased. A later album with not only the same name, but also the same cover was released for the US market in 1974 with different tracks. . Another similar release came in the form of Talkin‘ ‘bout Soul, also in 1974, with one previously unreleased track and stereo versions of released single sides.
The Fabulous Little Richard was the third album from Little Richard, and the end of his rock and roll period. Released seventeen months after he had left the Specialty Records label, Richard had returned to religion and turned his back on the music that made him famous. Though he would briefly rescind that decision in 1962, and sporadically throughout his career, this album marked the end of his peak period. In order to make the record more accessible to listeners, over half of the tracks featured an overdubbed female backing group. The record was put together including out-takes and other leftover studio tracks, which saw Richard in a somewhat more mellow styling.
Lifetime Friend is an album by Little Richard, released in 1986 and his first since the release of God's Beautiful City in 1979. Following that album's release and some 1981 recordings, backing tracks of which were used for TV appearances, Richard had made no recordings while he continued his career in the ministry. Following the release of his autobiography, The Quasar of Rock and Roll, in 1984, Richard reemerged in the public eye and had begun to be recognized for his contributions to popular music as one of the founders of rock and roll music.
"Jenny, Jenny" is a 1957 song written by American musician Little Richard and Enotris Johnson and recorded and released by Little Richard. It was featured on Penniman's debut album, Here's Little Richard and peaked at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached number two on the Hot Rhythm and Blues Singles chart.
The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists is a double album by Jerry Lee Lewis released on Mercury Records in 1973. It was recorded in London and features Lewis teaming up with British musicians, including Peter Frampton and Albert Lee.
