Tag: Little Richard

Although the Oscars Passed Over “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” You Shouldn’t

The documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything” tells the story of rock and roll legend Richard Penniman, embracing the contradictions of a complicated person.

LITTLE RICHARD at Wrigley Fields, Los Angeles, 2 September 1956

Surprisingly, director Lisa Cortés’ documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything (2023) was recently passed over by Oscar voters, failing to make the shortlist of contenders for best documentary feature. One may speculate as to a number of reasons it may have failed to garner more support — ranging from early appearances on co-producer CNN’s channel to the challenges of covering such a well-known person. But the important thing is that you should watch the film, available streaming on sources such as Amazon Prime.

Little Richard: I Am Everything in the time provided does an excellent job of telling the story of Richard Penniman, one of the most important figures in the history of Rock and Roll. The film does not attempt to tell a linear story of every event in Little Richard’s life, but it puts together the story in an interesting fashion to help convey Little Richard’s talents and the contradictions throughout his life.

The movie features famous musicians, family members, and Black and queer scholars to piece together the ups and downs of Little Richard’s life and career. The tale shows Little Richard not only as a musical icon, but as an important figure in Black and queer history, even as Little Richard himself struggled with his own sexuality and his music at various times in his life.

As director Cortés states in the press kit for the film, “Tracing Richard Wayne Penniman’s path from 1930s Macon, Georgia through underground Black drag clubs to segregated concert halls and international fame, the film rejects simplification, giving Little Richard his due both as a revolutionary and as a deeply conflicted artist navigating tensions of race and sexuality more heated today than during his rise.”

At various points, including near the end of his life, Little Richard chose a faith that he felt required him to renounce the music and sexuality he had embraced. Watching clips of Little Richard so full of life on stage during his rock and roll years, it can be difficult to see him near the end of his life when he no longer appreciated what he had accomplished. When asked about the turn of events in Little Richard’s life, one of the commentators profoundly replies that an ending does not dictate the full significance of a person’s life.

That is true for all of us, but especially true in the case of someone like Little Richard, whose life continues to resonate and whose music still brings great joy.

Photo courtesy via Magnolia Pictures. What did you think of Little Richard: I Am Everything? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Esquerita, the Man Buried in an Unmarked Grave Who Inspired Little Richard and Rock and Roll

    Esquerita, an early pioneer of rock and roll who influenced LIttle Richard, brought a unique style to the emerging music in the 1950s.

    Esquerita (U.S. singer/pianist), unknown photographer, 1950s or early 1960s from Wikipedia

    A small island off of Manhattan, Hart Island, is the final resting place of more than one million people. Long the cemetery for unclaimed and unidentified bodies, the island holds many in mass and unmarked graves.

    Various pandemics in the city’s history sent many bodies to Hart Island. Along those lines, combined with discrimination and society’s treatment of the poor, Hart Island became the final resting place for many impoverished people who died from AIDS.

    Thus, after one of the parents of rock and roll known as Esquerita died of complications related to AIDS on October 23, 1986, city workers buried him in an unmarked grave on Hart Island. His body remains lost among others on the island to this day (just as many earlier blues musicians, such as Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith, were laid to rest in unmarked graves).

    Esquerita was born Eskew Reeder, Jr. on November 20 in either 1935 or 1938 in South Carolina. He still went by his birth name when as a young gay black teenager in the early 1950s, he met Richard Penniman, who would soon become famous as the legendary Little Richard. Reeder taught Penniman his piano and singing style. The two would stay in touch throughout their lives.

    Esquerita had a deeper voice than Little Richard. But the driving piano and the rock-and-roll whoops of ecstasy as well as the excitement in the music illustrate clear parellels.

    Yet, despite similarities in styles that helped birth rock and roll, their lives diverged widely. Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, the same year Esquerita was buried in an unmarked grave in a potter’s field. Prior to that, in his later years, Esquerita worked as a parking lot attendant and was seen washing car windshields for tips in Brooklyn.

    But Reeder, under the name Esqueriata and other names, made some great music during the early years of rock and roll. Like many other early rock and rollers, Esquerita’s music had its roots in gospel music. But he would develop his own style under the name Esquerita, often wearing makeup, sunglasses, wigs, and a high pompadour.

    Starting in the 1950s and even going into the 1980s, he recorded and performed music, but never found the success or credit he deserved. One of his best-known songs from his early recordings is “Rockin’ the Joint,” where you can hear the Little Richard connection.

    We encourage you to dig a little deeper into Esquerita’s catalog.

    Unfortunately you cannot find his grave to pay your respects. But you can visit and enjoy the great music to hear the legacy left to us by Eskew Reeder, Jr., also known as Esquerita, S.Q. Reeder, Estrelita, Escorita, The Magnificent Malochi, and The Fabolash.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Although the Oscars Passed Over “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” You Shouldn’t
  • It’s Little Richard’s 1964 TV Special
  • Happy Birthday Little Richard!
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    It’s Little Richard’s 1964 TV Special

    It's LIttle Richard

    Little Richard — who was born as Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932 — passed away on May 9, 2020. He is one of the giants of rock and roll, leaving us many great memories and performances. Among those is a wonderful UK television special from 1964 called appropriately It’s Little Richard.

    By 1964, some time had passed since 1955 when Little Richard had a huge hit with “Tutti Frutti.” Like early rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard pondered the relation between the new music and God. And, by the start of the 1960s, he had started focusing on gospel music.

    But he could not stay away from the music he loved, and he soon returned to making secular music too. And in 1964, Grenada Television in the U.K. broadcast a Little Richard special, The Little Richard Spectacular, sometimes called It’s Little Richard. Little Richard had been out of the spotlight and the British Invasion was emerging, but his talent could not be denied.

    Four years before Elvis’s famous comeback TV special, It’s Little Richard, which featured The Shirelles as guests, was so popular and generated so much fan mail that the TV station rebroadcast the show twice. Check out the special, directed by Philip Casson, below.

    Songs on the special included “I’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy” (with the Shirelles), “Rip It Up,” “Lucille,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Send Me Some Lovin'” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Hound Dog,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Jenny Jenny.” The Shirelles performed “Everybody Loves A Lover” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”

    What is your favorite Little Richard song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Happy Birthday Little Richard!

    Little Richard France

    On December 5, 1932, Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia with a father who was a church deacon who owned a nightclub. When Richard was a child, family members nicknamed the small skinny kid, “Lil’ Richard.” He would grow up to shake up the rock and roll world as Little Richard.

    Little Richard first break came after Sister Rosetta Tharpe heard the 14-year-old singing and invited him onstage with her at a concert. His first big hit, “Tutti Frutti,” came in 1955, and it would be followed by other classics like “Long Tall Sally,” “Lucille,” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.”

    In 1966, Little Richard performed a show in France. Fortunately, much of the show was recorded, so you may watch part of the performance below to celebrate his birthday.

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    Elvis Goes Into the Army: March 25, 1958

    At the age of 23, Elvis Presley went into the U.S. Army in March 25, thus suspending his promising career that had already altered the music landscape.

    elvis

    On December 20, 1957, Elvis was drafted while he was celebrating Christmas at Graceland, and three months later on March 25,  the 23-year-old Elvis went into the U.S. Army. During his time in the Army, Presley served as a member of two armor battalions, first completing basic and advanced training with Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas until September 1958.

    Starting in October 1958, Presley served in Germany until March 2, 1960, as a member of the 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor. It was during this time in Germany that he met the young teenager Priscilla Beaulieu, who would become his wife. Elvis left active duty on March 5, 1960 and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on March 23, 1964.

    This newsreel has the story of the induction.

    There were some downsides to these Army years. It was during this period that Elvis began abusing prescription drugs, a practice that would later lead to his death. As Elvis went into the Army, many wondered how his absence would affect his career.

    When Presley returned from the Army, he showed he could still generate pop hits like “It’s Now or Never.” Additionally, he would return to making movies, but he was an adult and further away from his teenage rebel rock and roll years.

    Although Presley would still make great music after his army years, the music scene had changed during the short time he was gone. In addition to the loss of Elvis during those years, Chuck Berry fell into trouble with the law, Little Richard joined the ministry, Jerry Lee Lewis lost his popularity when he married his young cousin, and Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in Iowa in early 1959.

    While the survivors of those years would resurrect their careers to varying degrees, American music was never again like it was before the date in 1958 when Elvis went into the U.S. Army..

    Do you remember when Elvis went into the Army? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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