That jackhammering piano. Those WHOOO-OOOOOHHHs. I would say rest easy, Richard Wayne Penniman, but that's just not your style. Heaven just got a helluva lot more interesting.
The Specialty recordings of 1955-57 form a slim body of utterly essential work that has echoed down the years to influence everyone from Dylan to The Beatles, Hendrix, Prince and far, far beyond. A massively important figure has gone, leaving Jerry Lee as the last of the line.
Swede, Not to say there weren't other great songs in his canon, but if I came up with a top 10 for Little Richard, every one of them would all be from the Specialty years.
Without him, we might never have had Prince.
ReplyDeleteRIP.
The Specialty recordings of 1955-57 form a slim body of utterly essential work that has echoed down the years to influence everyone from Dylan to The Beatles, Hendrix, Prince and far, far beyond. A massively important figure has gone, leaving Jerry Lee as the last of the line.
ReplyDelete"Heaven just got a helluva lot more interesting" What a perfect tribute to the legendary man.
ReplyDeleteApt words, Rol.
ReplyDeleteSwede, Not to say there weren't other great songs in his canon, but if I came up with a top 10 for Little Richard, every one of them would all be from the Specialty years.
C, And that came from an agnostic!
This was great to readd
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