Goodbye, Little Richard

By: Juliana Bernal Barbosa (Musical Roots: An Exploration elective)

Imagine being so amazing that just by being yourself and expressing your personality you manage to create a new music genre. This was what Little Richard did; he started as a nobody and finished as one of the most important artists of all times considered the “Architect of Rock and Roll”. I think there is no soul in this world that can’t recognize “Tutti Frutti”, one of his most famous songs, but sadly his name is not as well spread as his song, at least not within the people of my generation and Latin America. I myself didn’t know him until this year. This is why I thought about writing this article in his memory.

Little Richard was not only the architect of Rock and Roll but influenced another new music genre that is Rock. Without both these music genres, I believe, none of our lives would be the same. Little Richard influenced The Rolling Stones and The Beatles and not just with his incredible talent and ingenuity but also with his amazing personality: Paul McCartney even considered him as a friend. His song “Long Tall Sally” has its own Beatles version but its story is much more interesting.

As you can imagine, Little Richard’s life was never easy, especially at the beginning. Always discriminated for being black in a world in which the system was afraid of black men getting power, money and fame. US records, radios and even people preferred to plagiarise a good song created by a black man, and that is what they did with “Long Tall Sally”. This is just an example of what hatred and ignorance can do in a society, but it was not the only bad experience Little Richard had. He was always in the shadow of white artists performing the genre he created and who also took all the fame and worldwide recognition such as Elvis Presley, whom I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of. Little Richard was condemned to fight the scorn of a system that wasn’t ready for him, as it wasn't for many other black artists.

Nevertheless, with time, Little Richard obtained lots of prizes and titles that most musicians can only dream of. He was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, he won a Grammy and had also won lots of other recognition. Additionally, he fought hard to stop racial divisions in the music lists. In the end, there is no doubt he was an extraordinary man, with an amazing talent but also an advocate for black rights.

Goodbye Little Richard, and thank you.