“…A Whole Lot Of What They Call The Most…”
It's almost absurd in the
hindsight and distance of 2015 to think of "Tutti Frutti" as a B-Side - yet that's exactly what it was in the UK on initial release.
Wow! Speaking of the same... I can assure you that there's very little about this astonishing run of 26 boppin' Rock 'n' Roll sides that would be considered B-Class material. And in a sea of lesser sounding budget compilations - it's nice to know that this mid-price CD nugget still stands tall on the audio front - remastered to blasting glory from original tapes by one of the UK's premier reissue labels.
Wow! Speaking of the same... I can assure you that there's very little about this astonishing run of 26 boppin' Rock 'n' Roll sides that would be considered B-Class material. And in a sea of lesser sounding budget compilations - it's nice to know that this mid-price CD nugget still stands tall on the audio front - remastered to blasting glory from original tapes by one of the UK's premier reissue labels.
Released by the mighty Ace
Records of the UK on Ace CDCHM 729 in August 1999 (use Barcode 029667172929 in
the Amazon search bar to get the right issue) - here are the wild-man
piano-pounding details for each of his 13 British 45s (As and Bs)...
1. Rip It Up b/w Ready Teddy
(November 1956, London HLO 8336)
2. Long Tall Sally b/w Tutti
Frutti (January 1957, London HLO 8366)
3. The Girl Can't Help It
b/w She's Got It (March 1957, London HLO 8382)
4. Lucille b/w Send Me Some
Lovin' (June 1957, London HLO 8446)
5. Jenny, Jenny b/w Miss Ann
(August 1957, London HLO 8470)
6. Keep A Knockin' b/w Can't
Believe You Wanna Leave (November 1957, London HLO 8509)
7. Good Golly Miss Molly b/w
Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Goin' Back To Birmingham) (February 1958, London HLO 8560)
8. Ooh' My Soul b/w True
Fine Mama (June 1958, London HLO 8647)
9. Baby Face b/w Boo Hoo Hoo
Hoo (I'll Never Let You Go) (December 1958, London HLO 8770)
10. By The Light Of The
Silvery Moon b/w Early One Morning (March 1959, London HLO 8831)
11. Kansas City b/w She
Knows How To Rock (May 1959, London HOL 8868)
12. Baby b/w I Got It
(February 1960, London HLO 9065)
13. Bama Lama Bama Loo b/w
Annie Is Back (May 1964, London HLO 9896)
It opens with "Well
it's Saturday night and I just got paid...I'm gonna rip it up..." and
Richard Penniman of Macon, Georgia does just that. He doesn't actually cool the
pace down until the lovely "Send Me Some Lovin'" (Track 8) and slower
stuff like "Can't Believe You Wanna Leave" are hidden gems amongst
all the mayhem. Even now when "Good Golly Miss Molly" kicks in -
you're floored - how earthshattering it must have been as a kid in 1958 to hear
this joy come out of a radio.
"Boo Hoo Hoo
Hoo..." sounds like great Fats Domino Rhythm `n' Blues. But "By The
Light Of The Silvery Moon" it sounds like he's running out of steam. Far
better is its forgotten B-side - the Chuck Berry-ish "Early One
Morning". Richard gets his mojo back with the rocking duo of "Kansas
City" and "She Knows How To Rock" and more undiscovered
greatness lies in "Baby" with its superb Sax solo and its raucous
"I Got It" flipside (surely one of his most underrated 45s). It ends
four years after his initial splurge in 1964 with the retro "Bama Lama
Bama Loo" and the excellent "Annie Is Back' - but by this time few
were listening.
In 2015 Little Richard is 82 and one of the last surviving original wild men of Rock 'n' Roll. His songs for
Specialty Records of the USA (released by London in the UK) are the stuff of
legend - full of naughtiness, rebellion and sex. And if you want to know why
he's held in such affection - then this is a fabulous place to start...
