Maps of Music

Here's Little Richard (1957)

Where the lyrics of Here's Little Richard take you, and where it was really made.

Richard's debut album was built largely from singles that had already been hits, so many of its songs were already familiar to listeners when it came out.

Key places

Where the New Orleans sessions were cut (1957)

Recording site J&M Music Shop — The source says Tutti Frutti was recorded at J & M Studio in New Orleans, and most songs on the album were recorded in New Orleans. The point is set at city-level accuracy, so the exact building is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Los Angeles studio used by Richard (1957)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The source names Radio Recorders as one of the studios Richard used in Los Angeles, and two album tracks were made in Los Angeles. The point is set at city-level accuracy. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Here's Little Richard: debut studio album by the American musician Little Richard
• Released 4 March 1957 by Specialty Records
• Issued as a 12-inch LP (SP-100) and as three EPs (SEP-400, 401, 402)
• Twelve tracks, produced by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell
• Compiles A-sides and B-sides from hit singles, including "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Rip It Up" and "Jenny, Jenny"
• Six hit songs plus six new songs
• Peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart
• Richard's highest charting album
• His only album to make the US top twenty

Background

• Richard's success began after he signed with Art Rupe's Specialty Records and released "Tutti Frutti"
• "Tutti Frutti" reached No. 2 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart after its November 1955 release
• Follow-up singles "Long Tall Sally", "Rip It Up / Ready Teddy" and "She's Got It" kept the momentum going
• By the end of 1956, Richard had appeared in the films Don't Knock the Rock and The Girl Can't Help It
• Here's Little Richard was Specialty's first 12-inch LP, assembled by Art Rupe

Recording

• Recorded in New Orleans and Los Angeles in a highly collaborative process
• Most songs were recorded in New Orleans; "True, Fine Mama" and "She's Got It" were made in Los Angeles
• Produced by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Richard Wayne Penniman (1932–2020), known as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist and songwriter.
• Called the "Architect of Rock and Roll"; his mid-1950s work laid the foundation for rock and roll.
• Hits: "Tutti Frutti" (1955), "Long Tall Sally" (1956, No. 1 on the R&B chart), followed by a rapid run of further hits.
• Retired from rock and roll for evangelism in 1957, returned in 1962 after a European tour with Don Arden.
• The Beatles opened for him on some 1962 tour dates; he taught Paul McCartney his vocal style.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, its first group of inductees.
• "Tutti Frutti" was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2009.

Influence

• His raspy shouting vocals and boogie-woogie, New Orleans R&B and gospel fusion shaped rock, soul and funk.
• Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and many others cited him as an influence.
• Covered by Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers.

Reception

At release

• Billboard praised the cover art as striking and said Richard's up-tempo wailings would be greeted enthusiastically
• Cash Box described the album as a refresher course of previous rock and roll hits, noting that Richard belts out some of his biggest hits
• The Duncannon Record gave a less favourable notice; its anonymous reviewer admitted being able to follow the beat

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Mark Deming said every song is a classic and that time had not made the debut quaint
• Time's Alan Light described the album in 2010 as a glorious anarchy led by the most distinctive voice of them all
• Record Collector's Terry Staunton, reviewing the 2012 reissue, found the raucous rockers still startling
• Classic Rock's Matt Stock wrote in 2014 that every track is a stone-cold classic
• Michael Lydon described Here's Little Richard as a flat-out classic in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Records

• Peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and spent five weeks on the Billboard Top LPs chart
• Ranked number 50 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums list in 2003, kept in the 2012 revision, and dropped to 227 in 2020
• Listed in Time's Top 100 Albums of All Time in 2010
• Ranked number one in Uncut's 2025 list of the 500 greatest albums of the 1950s
• Issued by Regency in Canada and by London Records in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Miss Ann" alludes to Ann Howard, a Macon woman who ran the club Ann's Tic Toc Room
• The single "Jenny, Jenny/Miss Ann" was released from the album in June 1957 and peaked at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100
• According to author George Plasketes, the album felt fresh but familiar to listeners because it contained previously released hits
• Lydon wrote that the album is one of only a few albums from which the whole genre grew
• "True, Fine Mama" was released as a single in 1958 and again reached both the Billboard pop and R&B charts

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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