Little Richard

Little Richard is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s.

Quotes by Little Richard

• I came from a family where my people didn't like rhythm and blues. Bing Crosby - "Pennies from Heaven" - Ella Fitzgerald, was all I heard.
  • quoted in Hamm (1979). Yesterdays, p.391.
    • Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0335152759.

• "Well, you know I used to play piano for the church. You know that spiritual, 'Give Me that Old Time Religion', most churches just say, [sings] "Give me that old time religion" but I did, [sings] "Give me that old time, talkin' 'bout religion," you know I put that little thing in it you know, I always did have that thing but I didn't know what to do with the thing I had. So the style has always been with me... I always had my little thing I wanted to let the world hear, you know."
  • Little Richard (1970), when asked what inspired him to write 'Tutti Frutti' amd where the style came from.

Quotes about Little Richard

• "I wanna introduce a man that started a kind of music that set the pace for a lot of what's happening today. Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't mind, here is my man, bless his little sweet heart, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Little Richard!"
  • Ray Charles (1989), Legends of Rock n Roll concert in Rome, Italy.

• "Little Richard was a one-of-a-kind show business genius. He influenced so many people in the business."
  • Bo Diddley

• "Little Richard is my idol."
  • James Brown

• "Your music has inspired me - you are the greatest."
  • Elvis Presley (1969)

• "Little Richard is the beginning of Rock 'n' Roll."
  • Smokey Robinson

• "Richard is an original, and the songs he's written and the songs he's done and made famous are just one of a kind."
  • Phil Everly

• "Little Richard represented what I wanted to be. He was, and still is, my idol."
  • Don Covay

• "Richard opened the door. He brought the races together. When I first went on the road their were many segragated audiences. With Richard, although they still had the audiences segragated in the building, they were there TOGETHER. And most times before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together. Up until then, the audiences were either all black or all white and no one else could come in. His records weren't boy-meets-girl-girl-meets-boy things, they were FUN records, all fun. And they had a lot to say sociologically in our country and the world. The shot was fired here and heard around the world." "When Richard opened his mouth, man, everyone could enjoy it. He's got a voice that would make 'em jump up and down... that's the first time I ever saw spotlights and flicker lights used at a concert show. It had all been used in show business but he brought it into our world."
  • H.B. Barnum

• "I love Little Richard. He is a great entertainer and he has done so much for our music."
  • Sam Cooke (1962)

• "If it hadn't been for Little Richard, I would not be here. I entered the music business because of Richard - he is my inspiration. I used to sing like Little Richard, his Rock 'n' Roll stuff, you know. Richard has soul, too. My present music has a lot of him in it."
  • Otis Redding (1966)

• "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."
  • Jimi Hendrix (1966), who played and recorded with Little Richard's band from 1964 to 1965.

• "Little Richard is the Architect of Rock and Roll.”
  • Wilson Pickett, as recalled by Wilson's brother Max Pickett at Wilson's funeral.

• "He is the King of Rock 'n' Roll."
  • Johnny 'Guitar' Watson

• "Little Richard was not only a giant but a pioneer of the so-called Rock 'n' Roll music industry. He had such a unique voice and style that no one else has matched it... Rock 'n' Soul is here to stay!"
  • Quincy Jones

• "I never thought I'd ever meet Little Richard. He was my idol at school. The first song I ever sang in public was 'Long Tall Sally,' at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition! I love his voice and I always wanted to sing like him."
  • Paul McCartney

• "Thank you all very much, especially the rock 'n' rollers, an' Little Richard there (pointing to him) - it was all his fault really." - 1988 (At the Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)
  • George Harrison (1988), accepting induction on behalf of the Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

• "Elvis was bigger than religion in my life. Then this boy at school said he'd got this record by somebody called Little Richard who was better than Elvis. We used to go to this boys house after school and listen to Elvis on 78s: we'd buy five ciggies loose and some chips and go along. The new record was Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally'. When I heard it, it was so great I couldn't speak. You know how you are torn. I didn't want to leave Elvis but this was so much better. We all looked at each other. I didn't want to say anything against Elvis, even in my mind. How could they both be happening in my life? And then someone siad, "It's a nigger singing." I didn't know negroes sang. So Elvis was white and Little Richard was black. This was a great relief. "Thank you God," I said. "There is a difference between them." But I though about it for days at school, of the labels on the records of Elvis and Little Richard. One was yellow and the other was blue, and I thought of the yellow against the blue."
  • John Lennon (1970)

• "I had heard so much about the audience reaction that I thought there must be some exaggeration. But it was all true. He drove the whole house into a complete frenzy. There's no single phrase to describe his hold on the audience. I couldn't believe the power of Little Richard on stage. He was amazing. Chuck Berry is my favorite, along with Bo (Diddley), but nobody could beat Little Richard's stage act. Little Richard is the originator and my first idol."
  • Mick Jagger

• "Little Richard is King."
  • Mick Jagger

• "The most exciting moment of my life was appearing on the same stage as Little Richard."
  • Kieth Richards

• "Once you have seen this man you know instantly that you have seen the greatest Rock n Roll legend of our time."
  • Dick Clark

• "I was a little kid when I heard Little Richard. He was playing piano and singing that song," recalls Green before breaking into the opening lines of Richard's "Jenny, Jenny." Even then, he continues, "I knew he was a classic, one-of-a-kind. I never heard (anyone) with that kind of enthusiasm."
  • Al Green

• "Little Richard, man, was the god! I grew up on Little Richard in the rocking 50's."
  • Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship

• "Well I'd certainly have to have a tip of the hat to Little Richard. I'd say it's sort of a composite guy, because obviously I love Wilson Pickett, and there are a few guys who have that sort of high, edgy thing, Little Richard being the best and the most famous. Wilson even screamed in tune. My voice came out a certain way and I've learned to be that way."
  • John Fogerty (1988), and Rod Stewart, when asked, in relation to his flat-out rock and roll voice, if there was someone he's hearing in his head besides himself.

• "Little Richard - he was the first one that really got to me. Little Richard and, of course, Elvis Presley." "I don't know if it was because of James Brown and Little Richard, I always preferred a high energy vocal, a hard full-force vocal. I liked Little Richard better than Elvis, and I liked James Brown better than the Beatles...but the Miracles were a heavy influence on me, too...[though] I always preferred the more energized vocals." (Late-1981 radio interview from segerfile.com)
  • Bob Seger

• "The first Rock 'n' Roll record I listened to was 'The Girl Can't Help It,' by Little Richard."
  • Rod Stewart

• "The first 45 I ever played was by Little Richard. Even today, I constantly listen to Little Richard."
  • Ry Cooder

• "There would have been no DEEP PURPLE if there had been no Little Richard."
  • Jon Lord of Deep Purple

• "When I was in high school I wanted to be like Little Richard."
  • Paul Simon

• "The man who started rock n roll."
  • Jools Holland

• "In the spiritual poll of Rock n Roll, Little Richard is a tried and true original. Since his beginning, all have picked up from his style and from his music, from the early Beatles to Mick Jagger today. At one time it was all Little Richard's original raving craving thing."
  • Wolfman Jack

• "Little Richard is a great originator. He was right there at the start, a thrilling performer."
  • Chuck Berry

• "Little Richard is twice as valid artistically and important historically as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones put together."
  • Johnny Otis

• "No one person has been imitated more than Little Richard."
  • Pat Boone