| The King of the Gospel Singers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | c. November 1961 | |||
| Recorded | c. June 1961 | |||
| Genre | Gospel | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Quincy Jones | |||
| Little Richard chronology | ||||
| ||||
The King of the Gospel Singers is the sixth studio album by Little Richard. A gospel album from sessions he recorded for the Mercury Records label, it is generally regarded as being a better recording than his two albums with the Goldner label. [1]
The tracks making up the album were recorded in New York City with an approximate recording date of June 1961. Recalling the sessions, producer Quincy Jones noted: "I had the pleasure to record with Little Richard "Joy Joy Joy" and "He's Not Just A Soldier" for his albums [...] It was truly a joy working with Little Richard in New York; though he was still very religious I noticed that he never lost his feeling for Rock 'n' Soul." [2]
A further twelve gospel tracks were recorded for the Mercury label at an unknown location in March 1962. Of these additional tracks, only two were released at the time, with "Change Your Ways"/"He Got What He Wanted" an April 1962 single, which scored in Europe. The remaining tracks were issued on a bootleg around 1980; then issued on an overseas CD around 2014, of undetermined provenance .
After this period Richard continued his commitment to gospel, recording eleven tracks for Atlantic Records between June 1962 and April 1963. Finally, he was enticed back into the rock 'n' roll genre full-time, during a tour of the UK. Soon after returning from that European tour , 24 November 1962, he cut six secular numbers for the Little Star label , under his band’s name. He cut five or six tracks for Specialty Records between March and April 1964.
The King of the Gospel Singers would indirectly lead to the resurrection of Richard's rock 'n' roll career, as the touring schedule saw him sharing bills with The Beatles and become inspired by his old sound. Richard himself observed of the album that it was "the thing that really put me back in business. It was just the kind of music I had always wanted to record. After it was released the offers for gospel concerts started pouring in." [1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It's Real" | Homer L. Cox | 3:17 |
| 2. | "Joy Joy Joy (Down in My Heart)" | Charles Hutchison Gabriel | 2:17 |
| 3. | "Do You Care" | Wailin' Bill Dell | 2:48 |
| 4. | "The Captain Calls for You" | A.W. Spaulding, Harold A. Miller | 2:19 |
| 5. | "In Times Like These" | Ruth Caye Jones | 3:26 |
| 6. | "Do Lord, Remember Me" | Quincy Jones, Richard Penniman | 2:33 |
| 7. | "Ride On, King Jesus" | Quincy Jones, Richard Penniman | 2:53 |
| 8. | "(There Will Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)" | Thomas A. Dorsey | 2:55 |
| 9. | "He's Not Just a Soldier" | Richard Penniman, William Pitt | 2:36 |
| 10. | "My Desire" | Thomas A. Dorsey | 3:00 |
| 11. | "He's My Star" | Richard Penniman | 3:22 |
| 12. | "It Takes Everything to Serve The Lord" | Marshall Kelly, Samuel Bond | 2:55 |
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the Killer, he has been described as "rock n' roll's first great wild man and one of the most influential pianists of the twentieth century." A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis. "Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the South, but it was his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that shot Lewis to fame worldwide. He followed this with the major hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", and "High School Confidential". However, his rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin.
Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Nicknamed "The Innovator, The Originator, and 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.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar that was extremely important to the origins of rock and roll. She was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock and roll". She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s.
"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.
"Sh-Boom" is an early doo-wop song by the R&B vocal group The Chords. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and William Edwards, members of The Chords, and published in 1954. It was a U.S. top-10 hit that year for both the Chords and The Crew-Cuts.
"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.
Robert Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell was an American bandleader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, best known for his work overseeing the early hits of Little Richard, as well as grooming Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, Lloyd Price, Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert, Larry Williams, and Sly and the Family Stone at the start of their music careers.
George Jones, also titled George Jones was the 1972 country music studio album released by George Jones in April 1972. The release was Jones' 46th studio album release since a debut from 16 years previous. Also as a highlight in his career, it was the first release made on Jones' new label, Epic Records.
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 King of Rock and Roll is an album by Little Richard, released in 1971. It was his second album for Reprise Records. It was rereleased as part of the King of Rock and Roll: The Complete Reprise Recordings set.
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.
Little Richard Is Back is Little Richard's first album of rock and roll songs for Vee-Jay Records. The label went out of business and its records were not accurate, leaving many to speculate about the recording details. Despite claims to the contrary, Jimi Hendrix does not play on any of the album's songs.
K-tel Presents Little Richard Live! 20 Super Hits is Little Richard's first album of new material since 1974, and the first album he had recorded since 1973. Recorded at the Jack Clement Studio in Nashville, the album featured remakes of twenty of his Specialty Records tracks. If you count live takes, this was actually the fifth or sixth time that Richard had recorded his classic mid-1950s hits. Despite the album's title, the tracks are studio recordings, not live performances. These August 1976 sessions and an early 1990s set with Japanese guitarist, Masayoshi Takanakka, are the last times that Penniman would re-record his mid-1950s hits for a studio album before Penniman's death in May 2020. Alternate takes from these sessions are found on a full stereo "Audiophile" album from 1980.
This page is a discography for musician Little Richard. Little Richard was a pioneer rock n roll singer-songwriter in the pre-Beatles era, whose career also encompassed R 'n' B, 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.
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.
Pray Along with Little Richard is the fourth studio album, and first gospel album, by Little Richard. It was recorded during the period when he had renounced rock and roll and left the Specialty Records label.
Pray Along with Little Richard Volume 2 was the second gospel album by Little Richard, and his fifth album overall, discounting compilations.
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.