Little Richard “Here’s Little Richard” 1957. Specialty Records. Today, December 5th, is Little Richard’s birthday (b. Richard Penniman, 1932). Legendary, influential, the definition of the word “flamboyant,” Richard solidified his upheaval of the rock-n-roll scene with his debut LP Here’s Little Richard, which hit #13 on the US album charts. Several singles released between ‘55 and ‘57 appear on the record and charted on the Billboard Top 100: “Tutti-Frutti” at #17, “Slippin’ and Slidin’” at #33, “Ready Teddy” at #44, “Rip It Up” at #17, “True Fine Mama” at #68, “Jenny Jenny” at #10 and “Long Tall Sally” at #6. “Long Tall Sally” is notable for being the first ever single to hit #1 on the R&B charts and cross over into the Top 10 during the  time of 1950′s racial segregation.  Little Richard broke down barriers during performances where he attracted audience members from all backgrounds. Musically he was equally revolutionary. The “architect of rock and roll,” Richards introduced a new rock sound, present on “Tutti Frutti,” which merged fiery gospel, loud volume, animated vocals and R&B rhythm, one that James Brown credited as “putting the funk in rhythm… that sparked the musical transition from 50′s rock and roll to 60′s funk.” “Tutti Frutti,” in fact, is cited by some music critics as being the birth of modern rock and roll and Rolling Stone declared that it “contains what has to be considered the most inspired rock lyric ever recorded: ‘A-wop-bom-a-loo-mop-a-lomp-bom-bom!!’”

We got to see the architect of rock and roll in concert back in 2003 at Summerfest in Milwaukee. After being unfortunately sidelined at a stage where emo-trash-core Alkaline Trio and Sum 41 were playing (we ran into some friends, listened for awhile and then fled after some asshole meathead punk-wannabes started acting up), we headed over to the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage. I think Little Richard was in purple and maybe a cape (probably not, but he SHOULD have been), and played a set of his classics interspersed with blues nuggets. During one number (can’t remember the song, maybe it was about big women), he invited some audience members up on stage, one of whom was an old neighbor of ours. She was a perfect choice: round and full of sass, she shimmied and boogied along with the rest of the crowd.