Little Richard, the electrifying and dazzling rock and roll pioneer, has died at the age of 87. The flamboyantly-dressed, soulful singer who mixed shouts, wails and whoops with fiery piano playing recorded some of the most foundational popular songs of the 20th century, including “Tutti Frutti,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Lucille,” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.” His passing was confirmed by his son, Danny Penniman. The cause of death remains unknown.
Little Richard was born Richard Penniman in 1932, in Macon, Georgia, where his father was a deacon. He began singing in church as a child with such volume and enthusiasm that he earned the nickname “War Hawk.” As he got older he learned to play alto saxophone and got a part-time job selling soft drinks at the Macon City Auditorium, affording him an opportunity to see influential performers like Cab Calloway when they came into town. He made his first on stage appearance there at the age of 14, opening for Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She heard him singing her songs, set him loose in front of the audience and even paid him afterwards.
From there, a career was born, but it wasn’t an easy road to riches. While still working in a gospel idiom, though already sporting a pompadour, it wasn’t until early 1955 that the legendary phrase “awap bop a lup bop a wop bam boom,” changed his life.
Asked about the song’s creation, Little Richard told Rolling Stone: “I was washing dishes at the Greyhound bus station at the time. I couldn’t talk back to my boss man. He would bring all these pots back for me to wash, and one day I said, ‘I’ve got to do something to stop this man,’ and I said, “Awap bop a lup bop a wop bam boom, take ’em out!’”
His previous recording deals yielded little success, so he put together a demo to a new label, Specialty Records, for an irresistible and somewhat lewd track called “Tutti Frutti.”
During a recording session in September, Little Richard worried once again that the material he was getting down on wax wasn’t his true voice. During a break, he sat at the piano and banged out a fierce version of the song he’d originally sent in, “Tutti Frutti.” The producers recognized it was a hit, though brought in a new lyricist to erase the more transgressive sexual connotations. “Tutti Frutti” is an Italian term for “all flavors.” It originally went: “Tutti Frutti/Good booty/If it don’t fit, don’t force it/You can grease it/Make it easy”.
According to writer Parke Puterbaugh, Little Richard “blew the lid off the Fifties” more than any other performer: “His outrageous personality captured the music’s rebellious spirit, and his frantically charged piano playing and raspy, shouted vocals defined its sound.” Little Richard himself called what he had “the thang.”