In a year that has brought many heartbreaking losses, one of the greatest was Little Richard, the undisputed architect of rock and roll who died on May 9, 2020 at the age of 87. Along with his peers, pianist Fats Domino and guitarists Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, Richard secured a place in the rock n’ roll pantheon for Black musicians in the 1950s and managed to hold onto that success for the next 60 years through recordings and live performances. Though a number of compilations have been released in the past that cover his early years with Specialty, OKeh, and Vee-Jay Records, his recordings for Reprise Records in the 1970s have been somewhat neglected. Thanks to the reissue label Omnivore Recordings and producer Cheryl Pawelski, fans can now enjoy expanded CD editions of three of Little Richards’ Reprise releases as well as his 1986 Warner Bros. release, all with new liner notes by Bill Dahl.
Title: The Rill Thing
Label: Omnivore
Release date: September 18, 2020
In August 1970, following a three year recording hiatus, Little Richard released his comeback album, The Rill Thing, on the rock-oriented Reprise label.A month later, the label would lose one of its most famous artists, Jimi Hendrix, who tragically died on September 18, 1970. Hendrix had backed Richard on one of his singles for Vee-Jay Records in 1965 before rising to the top of the rock pantheon. Few other Black artists, however, were able to cross over into rock music after 1970, which had become almost exclusively the domain of White artists. In order to draw a broader audience and reach the Billboard charts, Reprise sent Little Richard down to Rick Hall’s legendary FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Joined by FAME’s newly hired rhythm section—featuring guitarist Junior Lowe, pianist Clayton Ivey, bassist Jesse Boyce, and lead guitarist Travis Wammack—Little Richard was allowed to craft his own sound for the first time as producer.
Using a deeper voice with more edge and grit than the falsetto flights of his Specialty days, Little Richard is perfectly synched with the southern rock of the Muscle Shoals musicians. Highlights include the hard rocking “Greenwood, Mississippi” featuring a searing guitar solo by Wammack; the title track, a ten minute funk jam that was cut in one take; and the biggest hit on the album, “Freedom Blues.” Bonus tracks include two radio spots recorded by Little Richard to promote the album, a remake of his 1956 single “Shake a Hand (If You Can),” and his indelible rendition of The Beatles’s “I Saw Her Standing There.”
Title: The King of Rock and Roll
Label: Omnivore
Release date: September 18, 2020
Released the year after The Rill Thing, Little Richard’s follow up album for Reprise is fittingly titled The King of Rock and Roll. Shifting to a recording studio in L.A. and handing production duties over to his manager, H.B. Barnum, Richard gets down to business. Opening with a royal fanfare and a multitude of screaming fans, the original title track harkens back to Little Richard’s earlier rock and roll sound. The remainder is primarily a cover album, giving one the impression that the artist just wanted to prove he could rock these classics better than anyone, including (and perhaps especially) Elvis, as well as the Rolling Stones (“Brown Sugar”), Three Dog Night (“Joy to the World”), and Creedance Clearwater Revival (“Born on the Bayou”), among others. But the highlights of the album are the tracks where Richard dons his preacher robe and starts sermonizing, with enthusiast responses from the crowd. Bonus tracks on this reissue include the funky instrumental “Mississippi,” Little Richard’s boogie woogie piano instrumental “Open Up the Red Sea,” and a phenomenal extended performance of his original “Still Miss Liza Jane.”
Title: The Second Coming
Label: Omnivore
Release date: September 18, 2020
In 1972 Reprise released The Second Coming, a title that would be impossible to top since Little Richard he had already crowned himself the King of Rock and Roll the previous year, as well as The King of the Gospel Singers in 1962. Produced by Bumps Blackwell, who first worked with Little Richard during his Specialty Record era in the 1950s, these L.A. Record Plant sessions included two other Specialty veterans—drummer Earl Palmer and tenor saxist Lee Allen—both New Orleans natives who provide a second line flair on tracks such as “The Saints.” True to the theme of the album, Little Richard once again preaches on tracks such as “The Prophet of Peace.” Other highlights include the country rock song “It Ain’t What You Do, It’s the Way How You Do It” and the seven-minute instrumental, “Satisfied, Sanctified, Toe-Tapper,” featuring Richard on electric piano and clavinet. Bonus selections include three funky tracks from Quincy Jones’ 1972 soundtrack to the film $ (Dollars): two versions of “Money Is” and “Do it-To It,” both produced and composed by Jones.
Title: Lifetime Friend
Label: Omnivore
Release date: September 18, 2020
After The Second Coming, Little Richard devoted much of his time to the ministry. Though he released a couple of studio albums and a gospel album in the late 1970s, the 1986 Warner Bros. release of Lifetime Friend represented Little Richard’s return to a major label in what might be considered his third coming. Primarily recorded in London, Richard sits behind a grand piano and is backed by a powerhouse band featuring the great Billy Preston on organ, the return of Muscle Shoals musicians Travis Wammack (guitar) and Jesse Boyce (bass), with James Stroud on drums. The album is most notable for its inspirational “gospel rockin’ songs,” from the opening track “Great Gosh A’Mighty” penned by Richard and Preston, to Boyce’s “Operator,” Wammack’s “Big House Reunion,” and Billy Preston’s “One Ray of Sunshine.” Only two bonus tracks are included on this disc—a single edit and extended mix of “Operator.”
For those who only know Little Richard for his early rock and roll hits, these four albums showcase many other facets of the artist’s talents. Highly recommended!
Reviewed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss