He’s Frail, but Still Rocking and Preening
New York Times
January 17,2007
A Little Richard show includes a lot of talking and a lot of fascinating, ephemeral fuss; a couple of songs with the power of mule kicks; and a fair percentage of music that seems to have been created in an Anytown sports bar. But the subtext, now, is the limitations of the body. Age really has no business advancing on this singer, born Richard Penniman, and so what you remember is the disjunction between his lovely, widened, overexcited eyes and the frailty of his joints.
At the piano bench he dabbed at his makeup with a tissue, taking in screams of approval. He identified what he heard, as if it were bird song. “White ladies say ‘Aaaaa!’ ” he noted. “Black ladies say ‘Uuuuh!’ ”
Someone mentioned James Brown. “I’m so sorry about my friend James,” he said, making his face into a moue. “He loved me so much. He said, ‘Oh, you got some pretty skin.’ ”
The band — big enough to suggest the Mack-truck vibe of his best music, with two drummers, four horn players, an organist, a bassist and two guitarists — started with “Good Golly, Miss Molly.” Little Richard sang casually, not really ready, unable to deliver his falsetto shrieks. The song ended quickly.
“It’s so nice just sitting here, being beautiful,” he said. “I feel so unnecessary.” Someone yelled. “Shaddup,” he shot back.
Ruminative, he started pounding the triplets of Fats Domino’s “Every Night About This Time,” and sang a few of its sad verses, then shut down the band entirely. “My mama had 12 children, and we were pretty but we were poor,” he regaled. “All that beauty, and wasn’t nobody on duty. All that honey and no money.” He started the song again in the middle.
Little Richard is wary of photography. During “Blueberry Hill,” he noticed a lot of digital cameras. “Nobody do no video,” he ordered. “I ain’t hired you. Ain’t nothing going on unnoticed on this planet. The angels keep a record. You can take my money, but your child may get killed.” Quite a few people in the crowd drew a sharp breath at that.
“Could I get two black ladies to dance?” he ventured. “I’d like to have two fat white ladies, too. Juicy ones. And two Mexicans.”
Most of his order was shortly processed, and he enjoyed himself, smiling broadly, as the band played “Bama Lama Bama Loo”:
Got a gal named Lucinda, we call her the great pretender.
Got a gal named Lucinda, we call her the great pretender.
’Cause when she talks, she says bama lama loo.
During “Tutti Frutti,” Little Richard asked his trumpeter to sing the first verse — as if anyone wanted to hear somebody else sing it. But he didn’t care. He unzipped one of his jewel-encrusted boots, and placed it on the piano for the room to admire, deeply pleased by the sight himself. By “Lucille,” he was beginning to get warm, sliding up to a scream.
Finally the sky opened up, in the slow blues “Directly From My Heart to You,” (which he dedicated to the pianist Allen Toussaint, who was in the audience). Over the guitarist’s initial riff, he muttered: “Baby? Baby? Oh, baby.” He hoisted himself up, leaning against the piano, and sang the song seriously. During the guitar solo, he ordered a lemon and sucked it, spitting out the seeds in front of the stage monitors.
The two drummers were playing a simple synchronized groove, but Little Richard pushed for even simpler. “Relax, relax,” he said. “No fancy stuff.” He saved that for the next number, a version of Mr. Brown’s “I Feel Good,” featuring the singing of James Brown’s nephew Earl Swindell, a spaghetti-limbed man with an unruly voice.
A few false endings later — including a version of Hank Williams’s “I Saw the Light,” and about five minutes of signing LP covers — and he was done.
“Was you glad to see me?” he asked, tenderly. “If any of you can help Earl get a recording deal, give me your number and I’ll give it to him. And remember, the Lord is coming soon. Never put a question mark where God has put a period.”
17th January 2007 02:05 PM
pdog
he proved you don't have to be straight to rock...
Oooooh Lawdy!
17th January 2007 02:06 PM
Saint Sway
quote:pdog wrote:
he proved you don't have to be straight to rock...
Oooooh Lawdy!
bring on the Diamond Dave pics!
17th January 2007 02:08 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
quote:pdog wrote:
he proved you don't have to be straight to rock...
Oooooh Lawdy!
Don't have to be sane either.
17th January 2007 02:09 PM
pdog
quote:Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
Don't have to be sane either.
Gay and crazy makes for a great performer...
17th January 2007 02:11 PM
Saint Sway
quote:pdog wrote:
Gay and crazy makes for a great performer...
CUE THE DIAMOND DAVE PICS!!!
17th January 2007 02:16 PM
Saint Sway
quote:pdog wrote:
he proved you don't have to be straight to rock...
Oooooh Lawdy!
17th January 2007 02:18 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
I don't think Little Richard is gay though.
17th January 2007 02:19 PM
Saint Sway
quote:pdog wrote:
Gay and crazy makes for a great performer...
17th January 2007 02:23 PM
pdog
quote:Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
I don't think Little Richard is gay though.
or Liberace!
17th January 2007 02:26 PM
glencar
quote:pdog wrote:
Gay and crazy makes for a great performer...
That's why Melissa Etheridge is so fucking boring!
17th January 2007 02:29 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
quote:pdog wrote:
or Liberace!
Well it's pretty much common knowledge that Liberace was gay. But as far as I know there's never been any external documentation or confirmation that Little Richard is gay. Unlike GW Bush I want accurate information, references and sound advice before I draw a conclusion.
17th January 2007 02:33 PM
glencar
Are you a moron?
17th January 2007 02:42 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
quote:glencar wrote:
Are you a moron?
That all depends on what you mean by "moron" I suppose. I do prefer facts over fantasies though. It's just that if one wants to make a valid arguement one needs to be able to back it up with facts. It really doesn't matter that much if you're talking rock stars on a messenge board or arguing politics at home with relatives.
17th January 2007 02:50 PM
TampabayStone
quote:Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
That all depends on what you mean by "moron" I suppose. I do prefer facts over fantasies though. It's just that if one wants to make a valid arguement one needs to be able to back it up with facts. It really doesn't matter that much if you're talking rock stars on a messenge board or arguing politics at home with relatives.
I thought it was common knowledge that Richard is gay too.
From Wikipedia
Sexuality
Little Richard highlights in detail his personal struggles with homosexuality and subsequent conversion to born again Christianity in the authorized biography by Charles White.[3]
17th January 2007 02:51 PM
glencar
That's not enough for some idiots.
17th January 2007 02:54 PM
Bloozehound
oh boy...
17th January 2007 02:56 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
>Little Richard highlights in detail his personal struggles with homosexuality and subsequent conversion to born again Christianity in the authorized biography by Charles White.<
OK.
17th January 2007 03:05 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
quote:glencar wrote:
That's not enough for some idiots.
Back to the attack the messenger trick. It works but only for so long. Not a good debate technique for any length of time though. Too transparent and Rovian.
17th January 2007 03:06 PM
glencar
I'm attacking the douchebag. at this point you're making Joey look like Churchill.
17th January 2007 03:10 PM
TampabayStone
quote:Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
>Little Richard highlights in detail his personal struggles with homosexuality and subsequent conversion to born again Christianity in the authorized biography by Charles White.<
OK.
Well if your going to beleive a one line entry on Wikipedia, why is it so hard to beleive that the US received intel from both England and Russia that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. It seems like common knowledge that they did too.
17th January 2007 03:17 PM
Ten Thousand Motels
>Well if your going to beleive a one line entry on Wikipedia<
Who said I believed it???? I'll check the book.
17th January 2007 04:06 PM
Nellcote
But, this is a great commercial!
17th January 2007 04:24 PM
TampabayStone
quote:Nellcote wrote:
But, this is a great commercial!
Yeah, the one with Peter Graves is funny as hell too.
17th January 2007 07:12 PM
PeerQueer
Lil' Richard leans gay, but has fucked all kinds.
Like many black musicians, he is also partial to big fat white women. (See: Chuck B.)
As great as Prince is, he really should be sending Richard 5% of every dollar he makes as he has borrowed heavily from Richard's schtick.
(though unlike Richard's, Prince is a confirmed lover of the snatch...)
17th January 2007 11:34 PM
stonedinaustralia
i saw little richard in 1973 - a 2,000 seater - it was, without doubt, the wildest rock and roll show i have ever seen (and that includes Radio Birdman shows back in the '70's) - the crowd went completely nuts - women in the audience taking their clothes off - general pandemonium (sp?)...amazing so much energy could come out of one person
he whooped and hollered and he had a big band backing him - horn section... the works... they rocked,they rolled, they burned baby
18th January 2007 12:45 AM
Kilroy
GAY OR NOT GAY RICHARD ROCKS NOT THAT THERES ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. I LOVE YOU LITTLE RICHARD.
Search for information in the wet page, the archives and this board:
The Rolling Stones World Tour 2005 Rolling Stones Bigger Bang Tour 2005 2006 Rolling Stones Forum - Rolling Stones Message Board - Mick Jagger - Keith Richards - Brian Jones - Charlie Watts - Ian Stewart - Stu - Bill Wyman - Mick Taylor - Ronnie Wood - Ron Wood - Rolling Stones 2005 Tour - Farewell Tour - Rolling Stones: Onstage World Tour A Bigger Bang US Tour
NEW: SEARCH ZONE:
Search for goods, you'll find the impossible collector's item!!!
