Maps of Music

The Second Coming (1972)

Where the lyrics of The Second Coming take you, and where it was really made.

Little Richard's third Reprise album, built around top studio players from two decades, failed to chart.

Key places

Recorded at the Record Plant, Los Angeles (1972)

Recording site Record Plant (Los Angeles) — The album was recorded in 1972 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California, using top players from the 1950s and 1970s. The pin sits at the studio's address. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Second Coming: Little Richard's third album for Reprise Records
• Released in 1972
• Reunited with Robert "Bumps" Blackwell from his Specialty days; the two co-wrote most of the album
• Concept: unite the best rock studio musicians of the 1950s with the best rock studio musicians of the 1970s
• The album failed to chart

Background

• Richard's profile was high in this period, with work on other artists' records and tracks recorded with several acts
• His own records were not selling
• A fourth (apparently planned as third) and final Reprise album, Southern Child, was dropped from release
• The previous Reprise album, King of Rock and Roll, was considered under-produced and too commercial

Recording

• Recorded in 1972 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California
• Employed top players from the 1950s and 1970s

Cover

• Art direction: Ed Thrasher
• Cover artwork: David Willardson
• Photography: Ed Caraeff

Sources: en.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

• Critics considered the album vastly over-produced, yet featuring little of the star himself
• The previous Reprise album, King of Rock and Roll, was considered under-produced and too commercial
• The seven-minute, one-chord instrumental "Satisfied, Sanctified, Toe-Tapper" was a standout
• Richard said the producers did not have him at heart and that the people there thought he was not their main singer
• He also said The Rill Thing was a good album, and that the Reprise albums were not pushed by the company

Records

• The album failed to chart
• His own records were not selling in this period

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The tracks to all of Richard's Reprise sessions, including the Southern Child album, were finally released on CD in 2005 by Rhino Records.
• He also recorded "But I Try" with The James Gang, unreleased until 2013, and "Rockin' With the King" with Canned Heat in late 1971.
• Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, his collaborator from the Specialty days, co-wrote most of the album with him.
• Richard said he left Reprise because the producers did not have him at heart.
• Southern Child, the fourth (apparently planned as third) Reprise album, was dropped from release.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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